La Senda Verde

To escape the debilitating effects of the Altiplano, Peter and I traveled to the Yungas of Bolivia, a region of more temperate cloud forests at a lower altitude. We chose to stay at an animal sanctuary called La Senda Verde, The Green Path, that accepts tour groups and overnight guests.

Dropping from 15,000 feet to a more reasonable 3,800 was refreshing and invigorating. I was in my element - warm and happy to be surrounded by verdant forest, though the constant screeching of the parrots and macaws outside my window was a bit hard to bear!

This sanctuary was started in 2003 by Vicky Ossio and Marcelo Levy, eco-resort owners, when someone wanted to sell them a monkey. Not wanting to perpetuate the illegal trade in animals, they pleaded with the captor to just give it to them. That was the start of a new life dedicated to saving rescued creatures and today they have made a home for over 700 animals from the Andes and the Amazon, and the number continues to grow.

The male spectacled bear, oso andino, has a huge enclosure to roam, though he liked to come down for treats!

This beautiful jaguar was recently rescued and a large enclosure is currently being built for him

One of the pleasures of La Senda Verde, besides seeing large forest animals up close, was hunting insects with my cameras: butterflies, leaf hoppers, grasshoppers and inchworms are all here but decked out in a variety of shapes and colours that I've never encountered before.