Jungle unhindered: where in the world? (1 Viewer)

[opisska]

actually another vote for Suriname. A friend of mine (not too much into wildlife, more into adventure) went to Suriname. I have seen pictures of him in his plastic canoe, having to pull to boat in shallow sections with some small torrents, and also pictures of e.g. a Harpy eagle just above their boat on a small side river, Giant otters, Blue-and-yellow and Scarlet macaws, monkeys, Tapirs, tarantulas, fer de lance, ...
He said he stayed like a week just trekking from A to B but had arranged a pick-up in B.

It was around the Kabalebo river, you'll need to fly in here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/K...0314!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d4.405633!4d-57.2269249

He was trekking on foot, or boating from A to B multiday? Sounds like the second, how did he get the boat there? I am getting the feeling this could be a good application for my inflatable boat, transportable by airplane

 

[temmie]

he got the boats from that lodge I guess. They were hard plastic red kanoes. Quite sturdy as they had to pull them over some rocky low streambeds from time to time (but he commented that river was unusually low).

So mostly boating, but ofcourse quite possible to do hiking in between from the river. Best to bring a machete I guess!

the possible drawback for you can be that you can fly in there, but that airstrip is really only for that lodge, so maybe you have to book a package (which is, typically, very expensive). I can ask what he did and how much he paid. He is the adventurous kind of guy that doesn't want to splash the cash too much on expensive things.

 

[opisska]

Great, if you could get any info, this sounds like fantastic intel, especially if you have a free-spirited traveller lile that as a contact!

 

[Arbu]

we made a nice chastity setup from two nets above the bed here

The mind boggles...

 

[opisska]

After a 15 month pandemic break, we are fully vaccinated and our search continues. We are now in Costa Rica, one of the few countries you can now go to easily. It's a small country, but with some wilderness. Sadly, we have missed the glorious times when one could roam Corcovado freely by about a decade and now the plague of "guided only" entry has already spread here. Similarly, the largest tract of wilderness in the country, La Amistad, is also guided only besides a very small stretch of trail. It's still quite nice here - first of all, we have taken the suggestion of having own boat to practice and we have spent an entire day floating around the Sierpe wetlands freely, which was frankly amazing. Boating really is a good way to get access to nature without anyone bothering you. Secondly, we discovered an intriguing network of trails heading south from Rancho Quemado - it's quite a hilly terrain and the heat is particularly oppressive here even for tropical standards, so we have only scratched the surface of the area doing just day trips.

There are some splendid birds to be seen - in San Gerardo, we nailed the Resplendent Quetzal and nearby the Vulcano Junco, Osa had Scarlet Macaws everywhere, but also Red-caped Manakin, Black-Cheeked Ant-Tanager, Black-thorated Trogon, Yellow-billed Cotinga, Great Curassow... and our mammal watching nights produced Tropical Screech, Black-and-white and Spectacled owls. As for mammals, we found a Three-toed Sloth on a night drive next to the Bahia Drake road, saw all 4 species of Costa Rican monkeys in a few hours daytime drive from Carate, some Coatis, a Raccoon, three species of squirreles, Common and Woolly Oppossum... and some VERY fresh Tapir tracks, but both the Tapir and the Tamandua have eluded us - which makes me again sad for the fate of Corcovado, because I know how easy they are around Sirena.

Now we are waiting for a replacement car, as ours lost somehow the rear diff and now only works with diff lock at all, but it doesn't lock anything (and we had to be dug out of a river by a construction caterpillar) and we will now cross the whole country in one go and do Tortugero, because we have the boat

 

[albatross02]

Thanks andy! However I have actually been to Khao Yai in 2014 and besides a few short trails, everything was strictly guided only. Also camping seemed to be allowed only in the central campsite, with hundreds of locals. It was pretty nice nevertheless, we enjoyed it, but still quite restricted. (The enjoyment may have been increased by the fact that we discovered how to bypass some "guards" and do stuff that was guide-only on our own.)

Tent place is in Kaeng Krachan und Nam Nao in Thailand. There are not much ways but especially Kaeng Krachan many birds.

 

[albatross02]

Sepilok in Borneo, if you stay in a homestay close to the entrance. Danum if you go to the smaller ecotourism resort. Costa Rica offers some places where you can effectively walk on your own. Some places in Argentina, like roadside camping in Uruguay (not the Uruguay country but a reserve).

In many places, once you go to the forest, nobody will notice whether you go on the track or off the track. Khao Yai is not good because it is very rugged, and you want to see things, not climb hills.

I sympathize with your dislike for over-restrictive ecotourism aimed at idiots.

Calilegua is excellent for birding, Parc Proviciales Uruguay, El Ray to but without car difficult to reach.

 

[njlarsen]

After a 15 month pandemic break, we are fully vaccinated and our search continues. We are now in Costa Rica, one of the few countries you can now go to easily. It's a small country, but with some wilderness. Sadly, we have missed the glorious times when one could roam Corcovado freely by about a decade and now the plague of "guided only" entry has already spread here. Similarly, the largest tract of wilderness in the country, La Amistad, is also guided only besides a very small stretch of trail. It's still quite nice here - first of all, we have taken the suggestion of having own boat to practice and we have spent an entire day floating around the Sierpe wetlands freely, which was frankly amazing. Boating really is a good way to get access to nature without anyone bothering you. Secondly, we discovered an intriguing network of trails heading south from Rancho Quemado - it's quite a hilly terrain and the heat is particularly oppressive here even for tropical standards, so we have only scratched the surface of the area doing just day trips.

There are some splendid birds to be seen - in San Gerardo, we nailed the Resplendent Quetzal and nearby the Vulcano Junco, Osa had Scarlet Macaws everywhere, but also Red-caped Manakin, Black-Cheeked Ant-Tanager, Black-thorated Trogon, Yellow-billed Cotinga, Great Curassow... and our mammal watching nights produced Tropical Screech, Black-and-white and Spectacled owls. As for mammals, we found a Three-toed Sloth on a night drive next to the Bahia Drake road, saw all 4 species of Costa Rican monkeys in a few hours daytime drive from Carate, some Coatis, a Raccoon, three species of squirreles, Common and Woolly Oppossum... and some VERY fresh Tapir tracks, but both the Tapir and the Tamandua have eluded us - which makes me again sad for the fate of Corcovado, because I know how easy they are around Sirena.

Now we are waiting for a replacement car, as ours lost somehow the rear diff and now only works with diff lock at all, but it doesn't lock anything (and we had to be dug out of a river by a construction caterpillar) and we will now cross the whole country in one go and do Tortugero, because we have the boat

Hello Jan, regarding flights, what route did you take to CR??

Regarding the anteater, I saw it a number of years ago at Tirimbina by the lodge. There was access to the forest when you stayed there.
Niels

 

[opisska]

Hello Jan, regarding flights, what route did you take to CR??

Regarding the anteater, I saw it a number of years ago at Tirimbina by the lodge. There was access to the forest when you stayed there.
Niels

Lufthansa from Prague through Frankfurt, very fast and convenient.

Tirimbina was considered, but there is no access in the night.

 

[njlarsen]

Thanks. Living in the Caribbean it does not help me directly, but hopefully will help someone else coming from Europe.
Niels

 

[opisska]

Not entirely in the spirit of my original search, but since we already had the boat, we headed to Tortuguero to try the waters there. The first impression made me consider abandoning the already paid for reservations for national park entry and go elsewhere, because already at the docks for the boat to get there, we were exposed to hordes of touts and sellers of blue sky, but the actual boating was splendid. One just needs to reserve a timeslot for entry and pay online, then show the PDF at the entrance and then you can go as you wish. There were other boats, mostly just tours with people sitting and a local paddling or using an electric engine, but it was mostly quite and nobody went as deep as we did, so we had a lot of jungle to ourselves. There was Russet-naped Wood-rail making a nest next to the water and a small group of Sungrebes, also a Spectacled Caiman and two kinds of turtles. Not really a place for off-the-beaten-path exploration, but a good experience anyway. Obviously we could also have rented a kayak or canoe here and paddle ourselves, this is available, but the inflatable boat is better for wildlife photography and offers complete independence, as there is no set time of return.

 

[opisska]

The answer is French Guiana. After all the years seeing all kinds of obstacles people invent to prevent free movement in rainforest, the simple concept of having a network of French-style hiking trails, but in rainforest, is surprisingly surprising.

Yes, the irony in the fact that the solution to my problems is colonialism is not lost on me.