Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting Around
TAM and Amaszonas
micros
(B$6, 10 minutes) shuttle between the airport and airline of-
fices in town. Moto-taxis around town cost B$3 per ride; there is a convenient
parada
(taxi stand) at the corner of Comercio and Santa Cruz. The ferry across to San Buenaven-
tura leaves from the port area every 20 minutes (B$1) or so from 6am to midnight, though
services are less frequent after 6pm.
SAN BUENAVENTURA
Sleepy San Buenaventura sits across the Río Beni, watching all the busy goings-on in Rurre, content with its own
slower pace. If you're looking for fine Beni leather goods, visit the store of well-known leather artisan Manuel
Pinto on the main street. Avoid purchasing anything made from wild rainforest species. The
Centro Cultural
Tacana
(
892-2394; west side of plaza; admission B$5;
Sun-Thu)
has a handicrafts store and celebrates
the Tacana people's unique cosmovision.
Parque Nacional Madidi
The Río Madidi watershed is one of South America's most intact ecosystems. Most of it is
protected by the 1.8 million-hectare Parque Nacional Madidi, which takes in a range of
habitats, from the steaming lowland rainforests to 5500m Andean peaks. This little-trod-
den utopia is home to an astonishing variety of Amazonian wildlife: 44% of all New
World mammal species, 38% of neotropical amphibian species, almost 1000 species of
bird and more threatened species than any park in the world.
The populated portions of the park along the Río Tuichi have been accorded a special
Unesco designation permitting indigenous inhabitants to utilize traditional forest re-
sources, but the park has also been considered for oil exploration and as a site for a major
hydroelectric scheme in the past. In addition, illicit logging has affected several areas
around the perimeter and there's been talk of a new road between Apolo and Ixiamas that
would effectively bisect the park. Though the hydroelectric scheme has been abandoned,
the debate continues over whether road building and oil exploration will be permitted, and
most suspect that if it is, illegal loggers will be quick to capitalize on the improved access.
