Giant Fern Forest

After leaving Santa Cruz we went to the Samaipata area to meet some more Peace Corps Volunteers and attend a town festival. Some by choice and some by chance, we saw 4 or 5 PCV sites while I was in country. Each person has a unique set up and some places are definitely more comfortable than others. We were lucky that one of Rupp's friends could take us for a hike through the Giant Fern Forest while we were visiting.


The pictures don't really do the place justice but I am sure you can imagine what it is like hiking through a forest of giant ferns.

The path was actually well worn down. But in the dense forest it was hard to see many vistas so this landslide area provided a nice viewing point of the terrain.

The ferns themselves were beautiful. And the wildlife showed itself every now and again. The area we were hiking in was a multi-use area so we did encounter some cattle along the trail.

Rupp and I did our best to spot some new life birds. My favorite on this hike was the Blue-Crowned Trogon that gave us killer looks. That red beast flashed right out in the sea of greens and browns.

We had a lunch of cheese and bread at this overlook. That's Amboro National Park in the distance. The park covers an area of over 630,000 hectares and lies within three distinct ecosystems: the foothills of the Andes, the northern Chaco and the Amazon Basin. It has over 700 species of birds and only 50% of the park has been thoroughly explored. If I ever go back to Bolivia I would love to take a camping expedition inside of the park. We originally had one planned but due to time constraints we decided to only make day trips around the area.