Joche Wizlo: Day 20 Madidi

Jo ended up sleeping outside on the hamomock, which was where I found him the next moring. We had a jungle to go explore, so we packed our bags, stored them in lockers at the hotel, and headed off to Machquipe to meet our guide.

Our guide, Jesus, ended up being a great guy who seemed really experienced. He led us down to the river, where we boarded a boat that would take us upriver to Machequipe's lodge.

First, we made a stop to visit a native family who ran a sugar cane operation. Part of the Machequipe experience was to see how some of the families who lived in the forest around Rurre lived their lives. Jo and I were unsure about this, since these things can eithe be really cheesy or really cool. Turns out that it was really cool, so I'm glad we stopped.

This contraption turned sugar cane into sugar water, but more on how it works in just a bit.

We visited the sugar cane fields, where we learn how to tell when a sugar cane is ripe and ready to be cut down. When the stalk is yellow, the sugar will be at its sweetest.

This is our wonderful guide, Jesus, preparing a sugar cane for us to try. Jo had had it before, but I was a sugar cane virgin and, let me tell you, it was SO GOOD!

Mmmmmm.

Jesus and our host harvested some ripe sugar cane so they could demonstrate how the sugar water was squeezed out of it. The cane is inserted into these giant turning cogs...

While some seksi men push the attached handle.

I had a go at feeding the sugar cane into the machine. I have to say, I had an easy job compared to Jo.

Sugar water! This is not the end of the process for the families who make their living from sugar can. From here, the sugar water will be refined to make a sweet, dark syrup, almost like honey. They sell this end product at the markets on Sundays.

Our host gave us a coconut shell full of the freshly squeezed sugar water, with lemon juice added. It was delicious. It tasted like lemonade.

After thanking our host for the memorable experience, we headed back on the boat and continued on upriver.

When we got to the Machequipe lodge, we promptly started exploring the perimeter, seeing what jungle finds we could discover.

Leaf cutter ants. Both Jo and I could watch these little guys for hours. They were working just outside the little bungalow where we would be staying.

A very spiny tree, covered in webs.

A HUGE walking stick.

Ants that seemed to be sucking some sort of liquid out of this plant.

And, the find of the day, an ANTEATER! When I first spotted this guy I thought it was a monkey, but it turned out to be a tree dwelling anteater, raiding a termite nest.

Isn't it cute?

Jo and I were thrilled to death about seeing the anteater, and couldn't wait to see what else we would find out in the jungle. We didn't have to wait long to find out. After a delicious lunch, we headed out on a walk with Jesus.

A spider's nest. These things were everywhere in the jungle.

Another walking stick. We never tired of these guys.

Pretty flower.

Awesome butterfly. The inside of its wings were neon blue and pink, but the darn thing wouldn't keep them open long enough to get a good shot.

Berries? Flowers?

This is actually a but that looks like fungus.

A walking palm.

This is a cacao tree. You know: what they make chocolate from. I liked this tree very much. I wanted to lick it, but Jo thought our guide might find it strange, so I refrained.