Cookeina tricholoma, a true beauty!
No mascara needed to bring out these eye-lashes.
A view from the bow of a traditional river-going canoe on Rio Beni. River-going canoes are the best means of travel in the upper Amazon basin. Bolivia, Jan. 2006 © Larry Evans
Clitocybula azurea in Ecuador's Amazon Rain forest. © Ecuador, Daniel Winkler Feb. 2011
Lago Chalalan seen from the Jungle Lodge. Jan. 2008 © Larry Evans
An Onicidum orchid growing epiphytically in Jatun Sacha Preserve, 2010 © Daniel Winkler
A curious capuchin monkey (Cebus sp.) ready to jump. © E. Hendley
There is some gold! A Kichwa lady washing gold. A days work generates about $20. While this artesian gold washing is relatively harmless, some gold exploration operations recklessly destroy nature and culture in the Amazon region. Napo River, Ecuador, Feb. 2010
© D.Winkler
A Scarabaeus digested by a Cordyceps 'martialis' group. Cordyceps is one of the most disturbing and useful sorts of medicinal mushrooms ever discovered, growing here on a scarab beetle. The Upper Amazon basin is a world biodiversity hotspot of these insect-eating fungi. Jan. 2007, Madidi, Bolivia © Larry Evans
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Amazing Amazon
MushRoaming - Bolivia
Jan. 20 - Feb. 2, 2012
We are teaming up again with Fungal Jungal's Larry Evans, an expert on Amazonian fungi, also starring in the fungal cult movie "Know your Mushrooms".
MushRoaming Bolivia's Rainforest
After last year's awesome tour to Ecuador's rainforest, in 2012 we will explore Bolivia from the Altiplano down to the Amazon Rainforest. We will spend a week in the jungle and also dedicate time to the incredible biodiverse Yungas region on the steep Andean slopes.
Arrival and departure from La Paz, Bolivia's historic center.
Cost
$2300
All expenses on the ground including accommodations, food & transfers & river boat transportation and canoe excursions. Flights within Bolivia (possibly we fly one time at around $120) are not covered. Single room extra charge $350.
Participants will need to organize their own flights to Quito. (Miami - La Paz starts at $650, LA - La Paz $850). Flights within Bolivia are not covered.
Tentative Itinerary
Day 1 - Friday Jan 20, 2012
Meeting in La Paz in the morning for grand tour. Visit street markets, witches market, etc.
Day 2
Leave in the morning to nearby Altiplano to see the Agaricus, Concha, and puffballs that are found there. Visit with a local family. Spectacular mountain vistas. Evening in the historic and scenic town of Coroico.
Day 3
Hiking the Yungas, the cloud rain forest zone located between Altiplano and the Amazon. Possibly horseback riding (if Reynaldo is there) looking for mushrooms including psilocybes on the hill, evening in Coroico.
Day 4
Another day in the perpetual spring of the Yungas, hiking to the waterfalls or in the nature preserve. Our accommodations feature sauna, pool, balcony bar, and other amenities.
Day 5
Descending the Eastern slope of the Andes further into the Amazon region via Sapecho and on to Rurrenabaque. Stops for funga, flora, fauna and vistas.
Day 6
Breakfast in Rurrenabaque. Take off upriver to Chalalan. Fantastic 5-hour canoe trip through the rain forest of Madidi National Park. Arrive Chalalan, settle in, hike jungle trails, dinner.
Day 7
Many options to explore the pristine rain forest around Chalalan, be it an all day or half-day jungle hike, canoeing on Lago Chalalan, birdwatching, or just soaking in the jungle atmosphere around the lodge. Guided services offered for all adventures. Daniel is offering a photo work shop: "how to get the most out of your digital camera", bring a small tripod for optimal results.
Day 8
Mushroom foraging with personal local guide (2 guests per guide). Opportunity to collect, photograph, label, preserve, and hopefully identify what is likely to be hundreds of specimens including elusive Cordyceps. Larry already obtained collection permits from the Bolivian government for our group. Specimens will be vouchered and go to the National Herbarium in La Paz.
Participants who are not inclined to documenting their finds that thoroughly can enjoy a great day in the rain forest with their guide. After all we are there for the fun and collecting is an option, no requirement.
Day 9
Collecting trips will range between the Tuichi and neighboring river basins, in primary tropical rainforest. Sunny mornings and a cooling shower in the afternoon makes for an ever-changing procession of mushrooms on the logs and insects of the jungle.
Day 10
Troops of wild monkeys pass through the area in their nomadic pursuit of fruit and insects. Herds of wild peccaries, both white-collared and white-lipped, can be tracked by the local guides. Crocodile-like caimans bask on the riverbanks.
After a lazy afternoon on the lake or napping in a hammock, we will take a midnight jungle hike to visit with the nocturnal residents of the upper Amazon. A variety of carnivorous invertebrates and stinkhorn mushrooms are usually found.
Day 11
Return to "civilization" in Rurrenabaque, explore its surroundings and visit downriver locations. Fishing for piranha option.
Day 12
Depending on the weather, drive or fly from Rurrenabaque to Oruro. Drive to visit the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat and stay in a hotel built of salt. Probably very few mushrooms to be found.
Day 13
Uyuni Salt Flats, experience this extreme high altitude salt eco-system and its life forms, return from Uyuni to La Paz.
Day 14 Thursday Feb. 2, 2012
Group disbands in La Paz to fly home or go further.
Note: You do not need to know mushrooms, but it surely helps if you enjoy finding them.
Should you have problems with high altitude travels, please let us know and we will work out an itinerary that minimizes or excludes high altitude exposure.
Also see Daniel's Tibet tour page re high altitude issues and how to deal with them.
For questions and payments please inquire with:
and check out
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While on a night walk we found many Veiled stinkhorns, Phallus indusiatus [the former Dictyophora indusiata seems to be out again after DNA research]. Ecuador's Rainforest, Feb. 2011. © Daniel Winkler
Supersized inflorescence of one of many Heliconias (Helliconia sp.), a member of the banana family (Musaceae). Ecuador, Feb. 2011. © Daniel Winkler
Lentinus crinitus, the Fringed Sawgill is a beautiful mushroom, especially when young and is also an edible. It is a member of the Polyporaceae, which have only a few gilled mushrooms amongst them. © Daniel Winkler Feb. 2011
 A Capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris), the world's largest rodent, likes to hang out near water in the rain forest. With a little luck we can see them in the wild during our canoe ride to Chalalan lodge. © Daniel Winkler Feb. 2011
What looks like a bizarre piece of art is a weevil being digested by a new, so far undescribed species of Ophiocordyceps. However DNA testing indicates that this species is closely related to O. curculionium, an insect parasitizing fungus. Found during the MushRoaming Ecuador trip in Feb. 2011. Napo, © D.Winkler
2011 MushRoaming group in front of a rain forest giant. From the left organizers Larry and Daniel and the participants Betsy (Lloyd is missing here), Reba, Milton, Bellamie, George and Sharon and local guide Alberto.
Pycnoporus sanguineus is a beautiful wood rotter common all over the tropics and beyond. Margarita Island, Venezuela Dec. 2007 © Daniel Winkler
A Psilocybe, probably P. cubensis growing in horse manure. These dark spored agarics are common in tropical South America. Strangely, indigenous people do not seem to have had a use for them, although they discovered and used more psychotropic plants than any other culture.
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Searching through the wreckage where a giant tree branch has fallen, Larry and Ricardo look for unusual fungi and lichens not encountered on the forest floor.
