Correspondence

Thank you for this great webpage about Bolivia, it is a great idea and easy to forward the information and images to the young people, sons and daughters of bolivians that lives in USA or other parts of the world. Thank you again.....

As a native Bolivian having spent most of my life outside my country, I have never had an effective way to share with others the beauty and richness my poor Bolivia holds. You have provided this tool and it is with much pride that I have passed the Bolivian Geographic web site to friends and family. Thank you and congratulations!

I have also spent some time in Salar Uyuni and have the most incredible memories and some pictures of the spectacular sunset/sunrise there. It is an extraordinary experience. I hope you will include this natural wonder something soon!

Just to say that this is a really great website. I am a student in England and I visited Bolivia in the summer and realised how much it has to offer. It is a truly amazing country and this website really reflects that. It's really helped me with some schoolwork I had to do on ecotourism too, so thankyou!

Thank you indeed for your efforts, yours, and the team. Please add me to your list, is it published only in English, or is there Spanish version also? My mother does not read or speak English and she is so anxious to read all these material, she was raised in the Amazon area, Cobija, Pando, north of Bolivia. Have you been there?

Again many thanks Jonathan, wherever you are. I am thinking to go to Bolivia, and for sure, if this happens, I will go to visit Rurrenabaque and Amboro. Cross my fingers.

Warm regards,
Marj.

Keep up the good work, as a Bolivian born person who has lived most of my life in the US, and only in the last 10 years I have been getting reaquiented with my country, it is wonderful to see the beautiful and positive side of Bolivia.

Great web site. As an ex-pat, trekker/writer-type myself--I'm a freelance journalist in Argentina--I admire your enthusiasm for Bolivia. One day I hope to get there myself. Probably next trekking season. Keep up the good work.

Posted: September 10, 2001
From: Dr. Andrea Cocucci
Re: Research within Amboro National Park

Junto con 3 colegas integro un laboratorio de investigaciones sobre la biología de la polinización en la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Todos somos univesitarios o investigadores del Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas (CONICET).

Estamos realizando un proyecto sobre la polinización de las angiospermas silvestres de las yungas y el chaco, en particular sobre la importancia de murciélagos y mariposas nocturnas (esfíngidos) como vectores de polen. Por ahora el estudio se ha restringido a la Argentina pero sería interesante extenderlo a áreas similares al sur de Bolivia.

Nos interesaría conocer qué permisos son necesarios para realizar muestreos dentro del parque. Ya que durante la semana del 17 al 20 de septiembre estaremos en Amboró con el fin de hacer un reconocimiento del área para la realización de futuros muestreos, nos sería útil también conocer si hay infraestructura disponible para alojarnos (o cuáles son las áreas permitidas para acampar dentro del parque).

Dr. Andrea Cocucci.

BG replied: September 10, 2001

Muy estimada Dr. Andrea Cocucci,

Pienso que lo mejor es comunicarse con el director del parque Amboró, Sr. Osvaldo Aramayo o Alain Muñoz (responsable de comunicacion) de Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN) en Santa Cruz. Tel: (591 - 3) 556800 Fax: (591 - 3) 547 383. E-mail: amunoz@fan-bo.org Casilla de Correo (fisico) 2241. Kilometro 7.5 Carretera a Samaipata (Antiqua Carretera a Cochabamba). FAN tiene mucho que ser con el PN Amboró, y es cierto que Sr. Muñoz podría explicar qué permisos son necesarios para realizar muestreos dentro del parque y el asunto de alojamiento.

Despues de terminar sus estudios dentro del parque, por favor mandenos unos detalles para Bolivian Geographic Online, o, si le interesa, podemos escribir un articulo sobre su proyecto

I looked at your website yesterday and was very impressed. You have done a marvelous job on it. I sent your address to several friends who have lived in Bolivia, and I am sure they will also be impressed.

Posted: June 7, 2001
From: Ivan Fisher & Susan Starling, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Re: Working in Amboró National Park

Thank you again for the information you supplied us upon Amboró National Park, Bolivia, regarding volunteer scientific work. As a result of your advice, we contacted FAN [Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza], and were consequently directed to the Director of Amboró Park, Sr. Osvaldo Aramoyo. Having met him today, we are traveling to the park tomorrow to commence 10 days of scientific research within the Chunta region! Thanks again for your invaluable advice.

We look forward to further updates from you regarding the Chunta region of Amboró National Park. Be safe.

Posted: June 2, 2001
From: Ivan Fisher & Susan Starling, Cochabamba, Bolivia
Re: Working in Amboró National Park

This is just a note to thank you for the incredible amount of useful information, which you provided us, regarding conservation work at Amboro National Park.We are setting off to Santa Cruz tomorrow, and will keep you informed on any developments. Thanks again.

Posted: May 30, 2001
From: Ivan Fisher & Susan Starling, Cochabamba, Bolivia
Re: Working in Amboró National Park

As two biologists with an interest and experience of rainforest conservation, we are keen to spend time performing voluntary conservation work, in the Amboró National Park, Bolivia. Having seen your email address on the website Boliviangeographic.com, we wondered whether you would know if this were possible, and whether you could point us in the right direction. We are currently in Bolivia (Cochabamba), and are having difficulty in obtaining this information. If voluntary conservation work is not possible, we would still very much like to visit the Park. Is it possible to visit the Park independently (ie without tour), and have you any idea how much the entrance fee for the Park is? We would be extremely grateful if you could shed any light at all on these subjects.

Thank you for your e-mail. The best thing is to get in touch with Hermes Justiniano at Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN) in Santa Cruz as a departure point. He has a passion for the park, and may have some angles as to how your backgrounds might best be used. Unfortunately, I don't have a listing for FAN, but if I can find one I will forward it to you ASAP. Also, it may be of worth to simply travel to Buena Vista (6 hours from Cochabamba on the new Santa Cruz road) and look up zoologist Dr. Robin Clarke, who, I believe still lives in Buena Vista, a couple hour drive northwest of Santa Cruz, and runs Hotel Amboró. He will have one scoop on what is going on in the park, and is one of the people directly responsible for the preservation of the park. We have also sent an article to you from Geographical Online, "Two Sides of the Park Fence", that should help you in your endeavors.

To visit the park, it is best to hire a guardaparque (park guard) out of the Park Headquarters in Buena Vista (anyone can tell you where it is), as it reinforces their value in the park scheme. Be careful, however. Not all of the guardaparques are equally committed to the task of guiding, as pay and morale can sometimes be low. We used a young man named Juan, who did an excellent job. I don't know what the current fee into the park is, (but if anyone reading this knows, please send BGOM the information). Your questions motivate me to create a National Parks Section on this website with such information.

Posted: May 25, 2001
From: Cesar Bernardo Peredo Videa, photographer specializing in the Pando, Bolivia
Re: Website

I had the chance to visit your website and read the Bolivian Geographic Magazine online. Congratulations! It is an outstanding magazine for all that love Bolivia and want to know more about it....

Kudos to Bolivian Geographic. Finally Bolivia will have a decent online English publication. Allow me to make a suggestion. The region I loved most in Bolivia was the Salar de Uyuni. Perhaps you'll cover it in future issues? A great source for Uyuni is Tonito Tours. I met an American, Chris, in La Paz who really helped me a lot. He's a great reference point and others should know about their website: www.bolivianexpeditions.com

Ironically, the message prior to this comes from Chris Sarage from Tonito Tours (www.bolivianexpeditions.com). We hope to showcase some of his work on the Salar de Uyuni and farther afield in the Fall 2001 Issue of BGOM. Thank you for your suggestion.

Hi there, I love your site. Ron Mader was right, it is a great resource. I've been living in La Paz for 4 years and run the Tonito Tours office. We specialize in Uyuni and the Southwest Circuit. I'm from Massachusetts and my wife, Sussy, is from Uyuni. I'd appreciate a link to our site if you could. I would also be interested in contributing in the future photos and articles about the Salar de Uyuni. Thank you, Chris Sarage www.bolivianexpeditions.com .

... Loved this issue and hope there are many great ones in store in the future. As an aspiring journalist, I'd love to contribute to the magazine at some point. I'd like to suggest my cousin's website as a link, www.net2bolivia.com, another great site for pictures. Hope to talk to you soon!

Thank you for visiting Bolivian Geographic and for the link to more photos! We encourage any of our readers who have a specialized interest in Bolivia to send in ariticles and photos. We look forward to hearing from you again soon. The deadline for our Summer 2001 Issue is mid-June.

...I just found your web site and I think the online magazine of Bolivia is great. Well good luck and keep up the great work....

What a fantastic site! I'm looking forward to regular updates, and heaps of photographs.

...Congratulations on your magazine. What you are doing is very special, I can try to send you some pictures that I have of Bolivia.

Congrats...I think the first issue of Bolivian Geographic is GREAT!! Keep up the good work... our country needed something like this.

...It looks great...You're going to get great feedback on it...I have passed the link on to friends who have asked about Bolivia and sadly enough I can't begin to give them as much info as I'd like...but here you've saved me...lol...How about a book next?

I'm in love with it! I'm forwarding it to my brother as well, who is an avid photographer and might have some great shots to submit.

Wow!!!! I'm impressed. Cool, awesome, I absolutely loved the website. It reminded me of the hiking guide [I worked on in the Himalayas]. Now I wish I could visit Bolivia, too.

...Please add Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking www.gravitybolivia.com to your site. Alistair [the operator] is a great guy and I work with him on many MTB trips....Gracias.

Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking has been included in our list. Please feel free to forward any other site suggestions.

I am really impressed....I will be checking back at this site often for updates, and I've already passed the news on to a couple of friends....

Posted: April 9, 2001
From: Andrés Mercado, Cochabamba, Bolivia
Re: BG in Spanish

Your new site is a tribute to Bolivia. However, as a native of Bolivia, I find it distressing that you do not provide readers with a full Spanish version option. Do you have any plans to include one?

Thank you for your interest in our site. Yes, we intend to launch a Spanish version by the end of 2001. At this time, however, we feel that BG will receive the best exposure through an English medium.

There are many fine pictures on your site. Do you have availability in larger formats? If so, what would be the cost? I am interested especially in the pictures of birds.

Although we are not yet able to offer our readers access to large-format, high resolution copies of our featured images, that service will be available at a later date through our secure server. However, feel free to contact our chief photographer Mr. Derksen at jon.derksen@centralokacademy.com . You may be able to arrange something with him.

Enjoyed perusing you site. Might even give Bolivia a whirl this winter. Small suggestion. As an online magazine you should include letters to the editor and/or a bulletin board where people can field questions. Keep it up!

We appreciate the suggestion, and if you are reading this, it will be on our new Letters/Messages board.