I took the two hour bus trip from Santa Cruz to the small town of Buena Vista (sharing the bus with all sorts of agricultural produce). Arriving in the pleasant colonaded main square I sorted out my trip into the Amboro national park, a three day, two night camping and trekking adventure, which would begin the following morning.
Transport into the wilds was by 4WD accross rivers and steams.
Amboro national park is special because here amazon meets Andes foothills and the dry Chaco plain, all having distinct ecosystems. The area I went to was one of the high headwaters of the Amazon and covered in virgin rain forest.
From the jeep we trekked 4 hours into the jungle, following, and very often, walking in a broad river. As we walked deeper in the rivers course was very often in a deep canyon with hig red sandstone cliffs either side.
Amboro is famous for it's butterflies with more types being recorded here than in any other location. I think that may go for all insect types, particularly the biting ones, for even with my jungle strength insect repellent, they just seem to regard that as a personal inconvience.
Camp was set up under a sandstone overhang on a sandy river beach. Went to sleep listening to the sounds of the jungle.
