On the morning of the 2nd we headed to Madidi's office in Rurrenabaque before being escorted to a small wooden canvas roofed motorboat moored by the muddy river bank. There we loaded on our bags and were introduced to our guide 'Alejandro' (Alex). Large knife strapped to his waist and bandana around his head, he looked like a young Bolivian Rambo! We spent just over 3 hours on the boat heading further into the jungle, Alex fuelled by an obvious addiction to coca leaves, who turned out to be a rather chatty fellow and talked to us non stop for the majority of the journey. For his age of 27, he seemed to have many stories of near death experiences at the hands of jaguars, snakes and spiders and tourists falling off cliffs with other guides... He seemed friendly though and had bags of energy and enthusiasm; just what we wanted in a guide, so we were looking forward to seeing what adventurers he would take us on through the jungle.

As the boat wound its way up river we eventually arrived at a large sandbank with a hastily built wharf made from timber running out to a point deep enough to moor the boat. We quickly slipped on the wellie boots we were provided with and made our way up the muddy bank. At the edge of the jungle was a large sign stating we were entering the 'Serere Reserve'. The reserve sits in its own private area of rainforest, covering four thousand hectares of the Madidi Mosaic, one of the richest areas on the planet for wildlife and biodiversity. It took about 30 minutes to reach the main lodge on foot, Trevor already realising he'd made a big mistake not putting mosquito repellent on as he attempted and failed to disperse a large swarm of the biting blighters! Leading through the jungle to the lodge we passed a group of raucous squirrel monkeys dashing and jumping between branches, along with a minute but brightly coloured frog that Alex informed us was highly poisonous. Already sweating in the jungle's humidity we arrived at Serere lodge, a 3 story wooden building that looked like it was an extension of the surrounding jungle rather than a man-made structure. In place of solid walls there was only transparent netting, the result meaning that even though you were mostly safe inside from mosquitos and other pests, you could see everything going on outside in the encroaching jungle. On arrival we were greeted by the presence of several orphaned animals that staff at the lodge were looking after. These included; two rather affectionate tapirs (think cross between a rhino and a pig), a capybara (the world's largest rodent) which liked being scratched behind the ears, several mischievous, agile, long limbed spider monkeys including a baby only several months old, and two parrots which wouldn't stop squawking, all making for quite the reception committee! The lodge was set about 20m back from a small lake which, according to Alex, was filled with alligators and caiman measuring up to 5m in length... Alex then took us to our hut about five minutes through the jungle, built in the same netted style as the lodge. We were excited about spending our first night there surrounded by the sights and sounds of the jungle! Chatting to another guest at the lodge we were warned about keeping food and other items on display in our hut as roving bands of monkeys were often trying to break into them to scavenge for food and cause general havoc. A common habit apparently was for them to eat candles and toothpaste, and steal the lids off the top of shampoo bottles, quite why is anyone's guess...

That evening after a simple dinner of rice and fish we set off with Alex to explore the lake on a small leaky boat tied up at the bank. It was getting close to dusk and was a perfect time to go caiman and alligator spotting as the sun went down. By this point we were well lathered up with mosquito repellent, though the swarms of mozzies didn't seem to notice. We had little luck until it went dark when, with torches on, we soon realised the larger submerged critters had been there all along! The eyes of several large caimans and alligators, reflected off the light from our torches all around us along the river bank! Alex explained that caiman eyes reflected orange and alligators' red, and several spotted were at least a couple of metres in length, the former being larger and more of a threat to humans. Sophie by this point was making sure all limbs were well away from the side of our rickety boat! That night we slept surprisingly well despite the surreal surroundings, a cacophony of animal noises and thin mesh separating us from the jungle and all its inhabitants!

We were up at 8am for breakfast of fruits, cereal, eggs and toast, after which we packed our bags for two days of hiking and one night in the jungle. Our energetic guide Alex was already bubbling with coca fueled excitement and anticipation. Machete in hand he lead us from the lodge and into the humid jungle wilderness. We snaked our way through the jungle for several hours, on the ground we carefully stepped over long lines of leaf cutter ants transporting leaves to their nests, spotted several species of birds, stumbled upon the nest of a small jungle chicken, and even saw a large snake slither past roughly 2.5m in length. We also spotted several species of monkeys and heard the thundering call of the world's loudest land animal; the howler monkey, reverberating miles through the jungle. Alex was informative, stopping often to give us information on various flora and fauna, making Sophie a fan out of palm leaves, and on one occasion cutting a vine for us which contained huge amounts of safe drinkable water. We arrived at our camp for the night at 4pm by a lake referred to locally as 'Pinky'. We quickly cleared an area about 10 metres from the bank and set up our very basic mesh tent while Alex placed a branch from an ant infested tree nearby which he informed us would keep away deadly snakes! We gathered wood and Alex started a small fire ready for cooking a very late lunch of beef, onion and pepper kebabs with potatoes all cooked over the fire. After eating our fill we all sat by the bank while the sun sank over the trees, fishing for piranhas using leftover meat as bait and only using a line and hook. It took a bit of practice casting without a rod and on more than one occasion we got the lines tangled in surrounding trees or stuck on bushes near the bank. The first of us to catch anything was of course Alex catching 3 piranhas, before Trevor managed to catch a catfish too small for eating which had to be thrown back. Alex quickly used Trevor's knife to kill each fish, Sophie turning away and wincing while he went to work gutting them ready for the fire. In the eerie darkness of the jungle it was fairly difficult to feel relaxed sitting by the river bank, and that evening we saw light reflecting in the eyes of a huge caiman which Alex estimated must have been around 5m in length just across the lake from us. We also had to cope with the encroaching insect life, in the form of a column of army ants in the day, one of which managed to bite and sting Trevor on the elbow. In the evening the mosquitoes were back with a vengeance, and no amount of repellent managed to keep them away. By the time total darkness had fallen, a quick flash of torchlight on the bank behind us revealed the reflections of numerous small eyes peering out from a hoard of tarantulas that were using the cover of night to hunt for prey... Alex cooked up the piranhas which were surprisingly tasty, Sophie eating only the choice bits while both the boys stripped the fish bare. Tired from the day's activities it wasn't long before we retreated into our tent for sleep. We hadn't brought sleeping bags or roll mats, only our thin liners, more for protection from bugs as it was fairly warm and humid at night. Alex on the other hand made do with just a sleeping bag and net, sleeping right on the bank of the river in the open...we weighed up that he would get eaten first by the caiman!

That night's sleep was, as you can imagine, fairly broken. Several times in the night we awoke to the sounds of rustling and presumably large animals moving through the undergrowth. We were pretty safe in reality however as most animals steer well clear of humans and if not, Alex's loud snoring or large knife would have scared them off! Slightly worn and tired by the morning we headed over to the bank to find Alex cooking a breakfast of pancakes and fritters. After breakfast and some more failed fishing we packed up camp to start the hike back to the lodge. We sighted no jaguars on the way back but did see plenty more insects and animals; large bullet ants measuring 2cm in length which deliver one of the most painful bites in the insect world lasting 24 hours, a species of frog little more than 1cm in length, a poisonous brightly coloured worm, several species of large and colourful butterflies and some rather noisy capuchin and squirrel monkeys. Eventually we made it back through imposing jungle to the lodge, looking forward to a nice shower to wash away the jungle 'grime', and a cold coke! That afternoon was slightly more relaxing when we had a go at making traditional wooden jewellery from palm seeds, Alex showing off his quite remarkable ring engraving skills with the spider monkeys also taking avid interest in the afternoons' activities, trying to steal anything we put down or just simply climbing all over us and falling asleep. In the evening we watched the sun set over the lake before going to sleep, greatly appreciating our bed again back at our hut.

The following morning was spent exploring another area of the reserve with a brother and sister from Switzerland who seemed to think they were experts on all matters 'jungle', much to everyone's frustration including our guide Alex. We passed several large trees, one which was used by indigenous people for shelter and communication over large distances. Picking up a large stick Alex proved this by hitting a hollow concave section of the trunk and producing a loud drumming sound which reverberated around the jungle. On our way back to the lodge we also discovered some Jaguar tracks that had been pretty fresh, but sadly (or luckily depending on how you look at it) we sighted no jaguar. Later that day we headed out on the lake for another shot at piranha fishing, this time from a boat and we both struck lucky. Sophie caught a small yellow piranha which she threw back as she didn't want to kill it, and Trevor caught a 'red-bellied' piranha which he decided fair that he kill himself, all the time trying to avoid its' razor sharp teeth. We all took turns paddling back to the lodge and as the sun went down and watched large bats skim across the lake catching insects. Trevor enjoyed his piranha with dinner and later that night Alex took us on a night walk through the jungle. Unfortunately one of the orphaned tapirs decided it wanted to come along, and therefore any chance of remaining quiet and inconspicuous went out of the window. Every time we stood still to listen for signs of wildlife our tapir friend came stumbling through the undergrowth breaking branches and creating quite a noise. It also kept about 20 metres behind us in some vain effort to give the impression it wasn't following us on purpose. On occasions where we turned off all our torches, it would get scared, pine and then rub its small wet trunk on Trevor's leg, much to his initial shock! While we didn't see much in the way of any large animals we did hear them in the distance. We did however see, yes you gussed it, more insects including several large tarantulas and a spider known locally as the 'wind' spider which has very poisonous venom. Walk finished, we headed to our hut to bed and upon opening the door a large bat swooped in and began to fly around in a panic. As we couldn't catch it we spent the night under our mosquito net listening to it fly around manically, intermittently squeaking and on occasion flying into the net...most relaxing!

It was our final morning in the jungle and it turned out to be a very eventful one but for all the wrong reasons! Sophie had woken up feeling slightly under the weather. We didn't have much to do that morning so we just relaxed in the lodge, Sophie having taken to one of the hammocks to get some rest. Trevor went outside to explore and get some final pictures around the lake, especially of the tapir who had decided to go for a comical looking morning swim and the capybara who was gnawing on a nearby tree. While talking to another guest Sophie appeared outside the lodge to let Trevor know that lunch was ready, and after a brief chat she mentioned she was going back inside. The next several minutes were a bit of a panicked blur. Suddenly another guest opened the door to the lodge saying 'something' had happened in a rather raised and panicked voice. At first more curious than concerned, Trevor entered the lodge thinking perhaps one of the monkeys was causing some antics inside, only to find Sophie sprawled on the floor with most of the guests and staff crowded around her! He quickly discovered she had fainted and had badly hit her face on the hard floor, blood visible and a nasty looking cut across her nose and around her mouth. By this point she had just gained consciousness and was fairly disoriented and distressed, asking for help. Shocked and obviously very worried Trevor tried to comfort her and eventually with assistance got her over to the sofa to lie down as she wasn't able to walk. The next hour was spent trying to apply various bandages to Sophie's nose, and ice to stop any swelling. Our guide Alex made sure the wounds were clean in case of infection and and applied a strange leaf to her nose which apparently would assist with stopping any swelling. An English lady named Patricia was also a great help providing some practical guidance and advice which was greatly appreciated, and she also brought Trevor food while he was looking after Sophie. Luckily we were leaving that day, but when the time came to head to the boat Sophie was burning up with a high temperature and was unable to walk. Much to her embarrassment she required carrying by staff to a nearby cart used to transport the luggage, and was pulled out of the jungle on a bumpy journey to the awaiting boat, with only a breif chance to say thanks and goodbye to our worried guide. The boat trip was another long 3 hours back before we arived at Rurrenbaque. The staff at Madidi office had been well breifed on Sophie's condition and one of the team was ready there to carry her off the boat and straight into a waiting taxi while Trevor lumbered behind with the bags and made it to the office before realising Sophie was waiting in a taxi near the dock. Quickly heading back and jumping in, we arrived at a small doctors surgery and were seen almost instantly. The staff spoke little English, so we had a difficult time getting across Sophie's symptoms with our basic Spanish. After cleaning her various cuts from the fall the doctor (or nurse, we werent sure) informed Sophie she would require an injection of strong antibiotics, which we agreed to after checking the needle and syringe were new and fresh out of the packaging. Their recommendation was Sophie stay the night at the surgery, but it was fairly hot and stifling inside, so when she had the strength we caught the taxi back to our hostel. Sophie went straight to bed while Trevor went on a scouting mission for a pharmacy and bought the long list of tablets that she would require for the next week or so. The diagnosis was a possible case of salmonella poisoning, though we never knew 100% if this was accurate. The staff at Madidi Travel were excellent during all the drama, and even dealt with the airline so we could get our flight back to La Paz a day later to give Sophie more time to recover further. Over the next days Trevor went into town and brought back food and drink, and we made another trip to the doctors for a further check up, with Sophie quickly showing signs of improvement. It's easy to take for granted the level of care we receive back home; if Sophie had required hospital treatment it would have taken hours to travel out of the jungle and get a flight back to La Paz to reach a proper hospital!

On the 8th of August we flew back to La Paz and stayed at the same hotel we were in previously. Our trip to the Amazon had been an amazing experience and we'd managed to see some unique and beautifully preserved wildlife for 5 days in the hot, humid and almost claustrophobic rainforest. While it all ended in a rather dramatic fashion, we both look back at the trip as one of the highlights of South America, despite Sophie getting salmonella poisoning and picking up a few war wounds that will hopefully fade away in time! The experience adds to our growing belief that while we have been very fortunate to enjoy a year travelling, it certainly isn't always easy and can often test you to the limit!