Amazonian tribe member

Photo: iStock

Roughly a third of Bolivia sweats away in the Amazon Basin. This vastly untrodden region is strewn with swamps, rainforests, savannas and quicksand. It's an often lawless land that is home to missionaries, rubber-tappers, gold miners, hardened loggers, cocaine-cookers, anacondas, giant cats and curious monkeys. It's a jungle out there, and for man and beast alike, it's truly a matter of survival of the fittest. Here's some quintessential Amazon experiences to make you feel like Tarzan or Jane.

Fish for pirhanas
They wouldn't think twice about eating you, so the laws of karma dictate that you shouldn't think twice about eating them (although most of the lurid yellow pirhanas that splash around in the murky rivers of the Bolivian Amazon are far too small to eat you alive). In many Amazon-tributary rivers you can actually wade waist-deep into the rivers to fish for these slippery little suckers. As well as nibbling on the bait, these pirhanas will probable try and nibble on you too (this feels like an annoying pin prick), but if you're a lucky fisherman/woman you'll soon show them who's boss. Pirhanas are a particularly sly fish and their razor-sharp fangs usually succeed in ripping off the bait well before you've hooked them. Your best bet is to use a very small hook (raw beef makes ideal bait) that the pirhana can easily wrap their dentures around. When you've finally reeled in dinner, cook up your catch with a bit of oil, lemon and salt. For all your efforts, there's not a lot of flesh on these pirhana's bony bodies, but gee are they tasty! 

Build a raft and sail to the Amazon
For those with too much time, too little money, excellent Spanish, a masters degree in Patience and a PhD in Survival Skills, sailing to the Amazon Basin in a boat you built yourself is the only respectable option.

The bleak gold-mining town of Guanay (70km from Caranavi) at the junction of the Tipnani and Mapiri rivers is the best put-in for drifting downstream to Rurrenabaque, the Amazon's most buzzing town. The locals in Guanay are a friendly enough bunch and for a small fee will help you build your boat. A raft is ideal, using buoyant wooden logs sourced from local trees and then tied together with rope. Make sure your raft is large enough to accommodate two people, your backpack and a really big bunch of bananas. Although you're going to be soaking wet most of the time, it's still best to wear long-sleeved clothing to protect yourself from biting sand flies and relentless sunshine.Grab a couple of big sticks from the forest, and off you go, punting downstream to the Amazon Basin!

Camp by the riverbank or at indigenous or gold-mining settlements. Fish your breakfast, lunch and dinner. The journey could take up to a week, depending on the wind and how many rests you take. It's a tranquil and stunning journey (save for the occasional rapids), floating past traditional communities, thick tropical forests, banana plantations, the odd cargo boat, weekly leaky canoes carrying perplexed tourists and local children playing in car inner tubes.

For the truly adventurous, it's possible to raft past Rurrenabaque, continuing along the Beni River to the town of Riberalta which lies at the confluence of the Madre de Dios River. From here, irregular cargo boats might be able to take you along the Madre de Dios to Peru. Emphasis on might. In the jungle, anything's possible – and impossible.

If you're heading upstream from Rurrenabaque, keep in mind you're drifting into the domain of territorial, fearsome-looking caimans. And while their man-eating reputation doesn't rival that of of crocodiles, one look into their cruel yellow eyes and you'll be punting upstream faster than you can say 'Crikey'.

If you really wanted to go all out, you could drift more than a thousand kilometres through the Beni province, cross into Brazil, and eventually end up at the Atlantic Ocean. Now that's one epic journey! 

Live with an indigenous tribe
Befriending and living with an indigenous Amazon tribe sounds like the stuff of Nacional Geographic-style fantasies. But if you're willing to put in a few hours of volunteer work a day, it's relatively easy to organize. The Spanish-speaking Tacana community, which consists of around 200 people, live on the doorstep of the awesome Madidi Nacional Park, about 40 minutes upstream from the town of Rurrenabaque. In an effort to generate an income that doesn't destroy their environment or culture, the Tacana community have set up the fairly upmarket San Miguel de Bala ecolodge. But they need help – with working in the fields, processing sugar cane juice, making handicrafts and with learning English - and that's where you come in. For US$10 a day, you can live, eat and sleep with a family in their basic lodgings constructed from palm leaves and bamboo. You'll have a few hours off each day to explore the surrounding rainforest, swim in waterfall pools and swing in hammocks. Volunteers must commit for a minimum of 10 days.

For more information see www.sanmigueldelbala.com 

For pictures see: http://picasaweb.google.com/SanMiguelDelBala/TheVillageLaComunidad

Swim with pink river dolphins
Throw away all your preconceptions about sleek, graceful dolphins frolicking in crystal clear water. The pink river dolphins (known as bufeos) that play on the riverbends in Bolivia's Amazon Basin are as ugly as hell, and as many have noted, bear more resemblance to giant penises than to Flipper. The Rio Yacuma (accessed from the town of Rurrenabaque) is the place to swim with these curious creatures. Many tour operators in town offer three-day 'Pampas' excursions which include sunset dolphin-swimming. Keep in mind that the water is murky, surrounded by steely-eyed caymans, and you'll probably be nipped by small pirhanas as you play with the dolphins.