Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
This tiny building in the middle the small green lawn is the lodge! Altitude: 1397 metres.
Tag Archives: Bolivia
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
I was lucky to see these incredibly beautiful and unique mountains on my way in and out of the reserve! In the rainy season you might not see anything but clouds here. There is no other way to get a view like this from inside the park – the sheer cliffs make all the peaks […]
Green-cheeked Parakeet (Pyrrhura molinae)
The green-cheeked parakeets were quite hard to see up close, as they were usually in the dense canopy when in the valleys. Not in dead trees, like the mitred parakeet seemed to prefer. Altitude: 1064 metres. It sounds like this:
Tillandsia samaipatensis
This species can grow to huge specimens with enormous inflorescences that dangles in the wind from the sheer cliffs of Refugio Los Volcanes. The specialised root system ensures the plant is glued to the face of the rock. Native range is Bolivia. Altitude: 1062 metres.
Mitred Parakeet (Aratinga mitrata)
This is perhaps the most numerous of the parakeet species here, and I saw many flocks of them escaping the various birds of prey. They nest in cracks and holes on the cliffs, and here it appeared at least 2 couples had their nest. A perfect spot it seemed, as they had this dead tree […]
Streaked Flycatcher (Myiodynastes maculatus)
If you know of a dead tree, or a tree with a dead branch nearby – just wait there for a while and you’re bound to find flycatchers or other birds with a need to have an unobstructed view. This is from the only lookout point in the park, so this flycatcher both had an […]
Cleistocactus samaipatanus
Finding cacti on the sheer cliffs of Refugio Los Volcanes was a surprise to me! I saw their red flowers from afar, but assumed totally different species. Some were several metres long, like this one, and only limited by the ability to withstand the gravity and wind. Altitude: 1062 metres. Native range is Bolivia and […]
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
Due to the topography there is so far only this one spot from where you can truly enjoy the park! The other one is at the gate of the park, but that location is outside park. Here you only see the preserved park – all around you! I spent a few hours here, and it […]
Tropidurus melanopleurus
The female of the species, and as the male, it’s effortlessly roaming the sheer cliffs of Refugio Los Volcanes. Amazing how they seemed totally impervious to the strong wind – they effortlessly ran up, down or sideways while catching insects and checking out their competition. The walls were full of lizards, so apparently there is […]
Tropidurus melanopleurus
From afar the sheer cliffs seem to only house plants, but a closer look reveals an abundance of lizards! Amazing how they seemed totally impervious to the strong wind – they effortlessly ran up, down or sideways while catching insects and checking out their competition. The walls were full of lizards, so apparently there is […]
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
Bromeliads, cacti and a number of other species are living on these sheer cliffs! Defying gravity, wind, water and erosion! During my stay the wind was very strong, making it very difficult to hold my camera still, an the plants were rustling intensely in the wind. Yet they hold on through the heaviest of rains […]
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
The valleys are densely forested, but you’re always reminded of the unique environment this is. As seen here the walls are all around you – in some areas they are somewhat far apart, in others they are but narrow gorges. All mammals and humans must use the same routes to navigate their way through this […]
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
Here the sand is unable to accumulate due to the bedrock and thus the fast movement of the water. In the rainy season this will be an impassable, raging torrent. Altitude: 973 metres.
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
The only passable sections of the river is the rocky ones, or where the sand has dried up due to very low water levels as seen here. In many small streams elsewhere I found fish or crustaceans, but this river does not seem to have either at this elevation. Altitude: 1036 metres.
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
The incredible red cliffs are like nowhere on earth – beautiful and insurmountable! Over the aeons the mountains have slowly lost grains of red and deposited it on the valley floor and in particular around the rivers and streams. It looks like idyllic sandy beaches, but they are no place for a human! The sand […]
Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus)
This bird is so well camouflaged that even though you know what to look for you will easily miss it. As a visitor you’ll need help from the locals, as their daily routines interact with its way of life, and the observant locals will at one time or another see it. In this case it […]
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
It’s amazing how plants are able to survive on the vertical cliffs! Not only is there little nutrients, but the wind is sometimes really strong, and with the relentless rain of the wet season it’s a constant movement that will loosen any grip. Adding to this large chunks come off regularly, as seen here as […]
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
Perhaps the most beautiful of all features seen from the lodge! Here you can see holes in the wall – used for nesting by some of the species of parrots living here. What a view!! Over time this red will be dulled by algae, and then again a big chunk of the side will come […]
Scarlet Peacock (Anartia amathea)
The only butterfly species I encountered here, and only in the open fields of the lodge. Altitude: 1036 metres.
Masked Yellowthroat (Geothlypis aequinoctialis velata)
The song is very similar to the Willow Warbler, and I was enjoying it every day of my stay here. When looking for sound recordings I haven’t been able to find one that sounds like this one did, and it is perhaps yet another variation of this species. The recording below resembles European Pied Flycatcher […]
Plush-crested Jay (Cyanocorax chrysops)
A common but truly beautiful bird! I found this one very busy eating from this tree, and you can see it’s focusing on the Cecropia fruits rather than me. Altitude: 1036 metres. It sounds like this:
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
The clouds are moving away as the early morning is progressing. The red cliff is there one minute and gone the next. It’s a landscape like nowhere else. Altitude: 1036 metres.
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
Early in the morning, and the clouds are really low – no sign of red cliffs. Altitude: 1036 metres.
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
Everywhere you’ll see chunks of mountain missing. It may look artistic or even beautiful, but when this chunk dropped off, everything in its path was destroyed! I saw countless boulders strewn around the valley floor and in the river. Altitude: 1036 metres.
Refugio Los Volcanes, Amboró National Park
When you first get a glimpse of the red sheer cliffs of the park, you know you are entering something truly spectacular. It’s like a fortress, and because of this natural barrier, even the humans have not established a mobile network here! If you come unannounced, you’d better bring some fireworks, as you cannot reach […]
Military Macaw (Ara militaris)
As I’m photographing a Plumbeous Kite I hear the calls of Military Macaws! I’ve just entered the fringes of Amboro National Park in which Refugio Los Volcanses resides, and I see this magnificent macaw – my very first sighting of the species. I am standing on a steep slope prohibiting me from moving closer to […]
Plumbeous Kite (Ictinia plumbea)
Getting to the Refugio Los Volcanes is a steep descent in dense forest-clad slopes. You hear birds constantly, but seeing them is difficult unless they are perched like this kite. Altitude: 1228 metres. It sounds like this:
Gomphrena sp
I spent very little time on the Cerrado or grassland sections of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, but on my way back to the village of Florida I stopped a few times to shoot some of the more conspicuous plants.
Gomphrena sp
I spent very little time on the Cerrado or grassland sections of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, but on my way back to the village of Florida I stopped a few times to shoot some of the more conspicuous plants.
Linda’s Emperor (Doxocopa linda)
This is from the airstrip in Florida, and being next to Noel Kempff Mercado National Park there are so many different species of butterflies everywhere. The airstrip is no exception! The number of Adelphas was so large, that even back home I am unable to identify the few I managed to photograph! Thanks to Kim […]
Euphorbia sp
I spent very little time on the Cerrado or grassland sections of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, but on my way back to the village of Florida I stopped a few times to shoot some of the more conspicuous plants. Help me identify it – leave a comment!
Euphorbia sp
I spent very little time on the Cerrado or grassland sections of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, but on my way back to the village of Florida I stopped a few times to shoot some of the more conspicuous plants. Help me identify it – leave a comment!
Prestonia erecta
I spent very little time on the Cerrado or grassland sections of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, but on my way back to the village of Florida I stopped a few times to shoot some of the more conspicuous plants. Native range is Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Prestonia erecta
I spent very little time on the Cerrado or grassland sections of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, but on my way back to the village of Florida I stopped a few times to shoot some of the more conspicuous plants. Native range is Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Aspilia leucoglossa
I spent very little time on the Cerrado or grassland sections of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, but on my way back to the village of Florida I stopped a few times to shoot some of the more conspicuous plants. Native range is Bolivia and Brazil.
Aspilia leucoglossa
I spent very little time on the Cerrado or grassland sections of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, but on my way back to the village of Florida I stopped a few times to shoot some of the more conspicuous plants. Native range is Bolivia and Brazil.
Headlight Beetle (Pyrophorus nyctophanus)
What an amazing sight! In the middle of the jungle in absolute darkness – a towering structure more than 2 metres tall – is dotted with countless tiny green lanterns!! This is the time of a very strange and deadly event – for the flying termites, that is. The towering structure is a huge termite […]
Wandering spider (Phoneutria reidyi)
Deep inside Noel Kempff Mercado National Park there are few traces of human activities, and no other way to sleep than making a campground for the night. There are several campgrounds, but as this is the jungle and few visitors come here, they are quickly reclaimed by nature. This location is at the very end […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 14 (Melastomataceae)
I observed new (to me at least) and different species of plants wherever I looked, and even though I left the the plateau the very same trail walked up, I saw new and interesting plants all the time! With the enormous diversity of flora in this park, one would need years to see and photograph […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 14 (Melastomataceae)
I observed new (to me at least) and different species of plants wherever I looked, and even though I left the the plateau the very same trail walked up, I saw new and interesting plants all the time! With the enormous diversity of flora in this park, one would need years to see and photograph […]
Cliff Flycatcher (Hirundinea ferruginea)
A perfect spot for a flycatcher – a dead branch overlooking a wide area of land. It seemed at ease with humans approaching, and was busy chasing prey, grooming and stretching wings in various postures. It sounds like this:
Red Tanager (Piranga flava rosacea)
The color of this bird is like a flash of red in a sea of green! This bird definitely wants to bee seen, and despite several species of bird of prey, the visibility does not seem to be a disadvantage in this landscape of scattered trees and open landscape. Altitude: 671 metres. It sounds like […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 13 (Heliantheae)
I observed new (to me at least) and different species of plants wherever I looked, and even though I left the the plateau the very same trail walked up, I saw new and interesting plants all the time! With the enormous diversity of flora in this park, one would need years to see and photograph […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 13 (Heliantheae)
I observed new (to me at least) and different species of plants wherever I looked, and even though I left the the plateau the very same trail walked up, I saw new and interesting plants all the time! With the enormous diversity of flora in this park, one would need years to see and photograph […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 12 (Heliantheae)
I observed new (to me at least) and different species of plants wherever I looked, and even though I left the the plateau the very same trail walked up, I saw new and interesting plants all the time! With the enormous diversity of flora in this park, one would need years to see and photograph […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 12 (Heliantheae)
I observed new (to me at least) and different species of plants wherever I looked, and even though I left the the plateau the very same trail walked up, I saw new and interesting plants all the time! With the enormous diversity of flora in this park, one would need years to see and photograph […]
Cuphea myrtifolia
Altitude: 767 metres. Native range is Bolivia to Brazil.
Ichthyothere terminalis
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Many of the plants species were in full bloom. Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Altitude: 806 metres. Native range is tropical south America.
Ichthyothere terminalis
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Many of the plants species were in full bloom. Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Altitude: 806 metres. Native range is tropical south America.
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 10 (Anthurium sp)
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Many of the plants species were in full bloom. Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Please help identify it – leave a comment. Altitude: 806 metres.
Palicourea coriacea
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Many of the plants species were in full bloom. Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Altitude: 806 metres. Native range is Bolivia and Brazil.
Palicourea coriacea
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Many of the plants species were in full bloom. Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Altitude: 806 metres. Native range is Bolivia and Brazil.
Spiranthera odoratissima
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Altitude: 806 metres. Native range is Bolivia and Brazil.
Spiranthera odoratissima
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Many of the plants species were in full bloom. The scent from this flower is simply amazing – sweet, deep and intoxicating! I wonder what the fruit looks like! Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Huanchaca Plateau
I was hoping for a thunderstorm, as the dark and fast approaching clouds looked promising! Unfortunately for me, there was no thunderstorm – only strong wind and a brief shower. Typical of this time of year, before the wet season has really kicked in. It was as the rain was pouring down I startled what […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Huanchaca Plateau
The plateau is of sufficient height to create its own weather, and during the later parts of the dry season the showers appeared like clockwork after noon. The wind picked up, and the sky darkened fast. I was hoping for a thunderstorm! Altitude: 835 metres.
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Huanchaca Plateau
The temperature was very high, and I found it hard to cool down, as the plateau is open and without any cooling shades. That was until I arrived at the edge of the plateau. Here the updrafts were very strong, and I was dried in seconds! Adding the incredible view I really enjoyed dangling my […]
Tropodurus chromatops
This species is a specialized climber, preferring the sheer cliffs of the Huanchaca Plateau and the strong winds there. The wind brings with it lots of insects, and that’s perhaps the reason it mostly prefers a vertical life? The only species I found here during my very short stay.
Eriope crassipes
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Many of the plants species were in full bloom. Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Altitude: 839 metres. Native range is much of South America.
Eriope crassipes
As I visited at the end of the dry season, the plateau was lush and green. Many of the plants species were in full bloom. Huanchaca Plateau is also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Altitude: 839 metres. Native range is much of South America.
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Huanchaca Plateau
From afar the plateau looks flat, but it’s far from it. It’s dotted with strange formations like this one – shaped by rain, wind and sun. If this was in northern Europe I would assume the large rock was left behind by a glacier, but this is in fact a natural horizontal crack in the […]
Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus)
This was my first steps on top of the Huanchaca Plateau (Caparú Meseta), and what a welcome! The deer just looked at me and went on chewing for some time, and then leisurely went away. Apparently it did not get our scent, and without it it I was perhaps just another animal? Altitude: 821 metres.
Palicourea sp
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Please help me identify it – leave a comment. Altitude: 822 metres.
Palicourea sp
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Please help me identify it – leave a comment. Altitude: 822 metres.
Jacaranda rufa
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 822 metres. Native range is Bolivia and Brazil.
Jacaranda rufa
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 822 metres. Native range is Bolivia and Brazil.
Stachytarpheta gesnerioides
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 819 metres. Native range is Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Stachytarpheta gesnerioides
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 819 metres. Native range is Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Lippia lupulina
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 803 metres. Native range is Brazil to Argentina.
Lippia lupulina
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 803 metres. Native range is Brazil to Argentina.
Cayaponia espelina
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 795 metres. Native range is Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Cayaponia espelina
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 795 metres. Native range is Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
As I’m sitting on the edge of the sheer cliff to cool off in the strong updrafts, this juvenile was checking me out a couple of times. Usually you only see them soar high above, but this is sufficiently high for many of the local vulturs to be level with you during their many “patrols”. […]
Wild Pineapple (Ananas sp)
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. This species is also found on the pampas part of the park. Altitude: 795 metres. Please help me […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 01
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 733 metres. Please help me identify it – leave a comment.
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park plant 01
As I got close to the Huanchaca Plateau I noticed many new types of plants compared to further down the slopes of the plateau, and it seemed to increase as I closed in on the plateau itself. Altitude: 733 metres. Please help me identify it – leave a comment.
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park – Huanchaca Plateau
This is the first glimpse of the plateau also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú). Altitude 734 metres.
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
At 700 metres elevation you are closing in on the plateau and here you can see the Chaplin lake (Laguna Chaplin) in the distance. To the bottom right, you see one of the lower parts of the Meseta (also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú)). As the rainy season is underway, you’ll see rain showers […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
As you walk upwards to the Huanchaca Plateau (also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú)) you will see more and more of the large park, and this is my first glimpse of it! Here you can see the drier pampas in the distance, and the dense jungle closer to the Meseta.
Agathina Emperor (Doxocopa agathina)
A beautiful butterfly I also saw in Bolivian Amazon. The blue is changing with the angle of the light, so sometimes it seems to have very little blue, and in other angles it’s really striking. This is by the stream/waterfall we cross on the way to the Huanchaca Plateau (also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de […]
Smith’s Pixie (Melanis smithiae)
The very first of the species for me in Bolivia, and one of countless gorgeous butterfly species here in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. This is by the stream/waterfall we cross on the way to the Huanchaca Plateau (also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú)) and is sometimes used as a camp when it’s not […]
Peruvian spider monkey (Ateles chamek)
During my 2 weeks in the Bolivian Amazon I only had this very brief encounter. They are always on the move, so dependent on the size of the group they can pass you in less than a minute. As the encounter happens in a dense jungle and I’m looking high up in the canopy, it’s […]
Chamaecostus acaulis
An incredibly fragile inflorescence. It’s a kind of ginger and is edible. I found them in many dense groups on the jungle floor not far from where the landscape is rising towards the walls of the Huanchaca Plateau (also called Caparu Meseta (Meseta de Caparú)). Native range is Bolivia and Brazil.
Blue-throated Piping Guan (Pipile cumanensis)
I saw the species in Madidi as well, and although not really disturbed by my presence they are hard to see in the clear as the jungle in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park is dense and dark. On the ground they prefer more distance and are harder still to see or photograph. Listed by IUCN […]
Mesentina Sister (Adelpha mesentina)
The diversity of butterflies here is staggering, and only when I got home did I see that what I briefly in the field thought of as the same species of Adelpha indeed was not, and needs an expert’s help to identify! Thanks to Kim Garwood for identification.
Spix’s Guan (Penelope jacquacu)
The second species of Guan I saw in this park, and both in the trees. When on the ground they are quick to run and hard to see as there are few clearings in the dense jungle of Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. It sounds like this:
Amazon Cracker (Hamadryas chlöe)
A very short encounter while my guides used chainsaws to clear fallen trees off the dirt road on our way to the base camp. The crackers are sometimes sitting so high on trees you need a telephoto lens to capture them – this one was briefly sitting low on this trunk – time enough for […]
Mesentina Sister (Adelpha mesentina)
Identifying the Adelphas is not easy, and in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park they are so plentiful that your analytical skills are really put to the test. Thanks to Kim Garwood for identification.
Mesentina Sister (Adelpha mesentina)
The diversity of butterflies here is staggering, and only when I got home did I see that what I briefly in the field thought of as the same species of Adelpha indeed was not, and needs an expert’s help to identify!
Green Mantle (Caria mantinea)
A very tricky butterfly to follow, and when my salty pants seemed the only interesting spot to land I was out of options and had to accept that this would be the only shot I would get. With much more time, I would of course get some decent shots of this magnificent butterfly. The amount […]
Adelpha sp
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park has the river Paraguá as a natural border in the west, and on the shores of the river you’ll see a large number of insect species, including butterflies. So even though the community of Florida is cattle land, and typically has human waste of different categories, the proximity to the […]
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park beetle 01
An incredibly strong color blue beetle, that according to my local guide produces a terrible smell as a defense. I didn’t check, so I don”t really know. Please help me identify it – leave a comment.
Heraclides torquatus
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park has the river Paraguá as a natural border in the west, and on the shores of the river you’ll see a large number of insect species, including butterflies. So even though the community of Florida is cattle land, and typically has human waste of different categories, the proximity to the […]
Polydamas Swallowtail (Battus polydamas)
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park has the river Paraguá as a natural border in the west, and on the shores of the river you’ll see a large number of insect species, including butterflies. So even though the community of Florida is cattle land, and typically has human waste of different categories, the proximity to the […]
Ruby-spotted Swallowtail (Heraclides anchisiades)
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park has the river Paraguá as a natural border in the west, and on the shores of the river you’ll see a large number of insect species, including butterflies. So even though the community of Florida is cattle land, and typically has human waste of different categories, the proximity to the […]
Rothschild’s Swordtail (Protesilaus earis)
The different species of Protesilaus can be difficult to identify, but if you think of the thick black bars on the forewing as a barcode, you actually have a way of separating them. The particular of this one is that the fourth bar (counting bottom-up) is almost non-existing. Noel Kempff Mercado National Park has the […]