ALERT: AVOID INDIGENA TOURS IN BOLIVIA

I have been an idiot most of my trip through SA and it paid off when I found myself in a hospital in Rurrenebaque after taking Lonely planet's expert advice and taking a jungle tour through Bolivia with the group Indigena. The cost was 600 Bolivianos for 3 days. What I did not know at the time was that my entire group would be exposed to lethal amounts of Salmonella. Usually I avoid dangerous/uncooked foods but the tour promised safe food and not only that, the food they gave us was TOO Little --so the hungry group was forced to eat all the salad and other stuff we might have opted out of. I cant stress enough how this tour cheaps out with food, by giving too little and very unsafe food. I came back from the tour and everyone in my group was feeling sick. I found myself vomiting profusely and had to be carried to a hospital. There, I found out I had so much salmonella in me that if I was not treated immediately I could have Died. Died! I spent hundreds of dollars in the hospital and when I finally got out, I immediately went over (with my group who had also been violently ill) and demanded my refund

To this we got a violent reaction from indigena. They told us salmonella took 8 days and they've had "experience" with travelers on the tour trying to get their money back for this and just werent going to do it anymore. We sat there and argued and told them to go to the Dr if they pleased and ask him.

As a side note when I told the Dr I had just come back from Indigena Tours, he nodded and said "oh of course". so this happens ALOT.

The company made me call the manager in La Paz who proceeded to yell at me and tell me that it was no way his companies fault. The manager in Rurre then told us to go ahead and call the cops because we were NOT getting our money back, much less the cost for hospitalization. So we waited and finally they agreed to go to the Dr. and ask him. They did and at first the Dr agreed with us, but then the men ganged up on him and proceeded to scream at him until he said yes, maybe it was possible it took us all a week to get sick.

Then the manager from La paz said to us (and this is priceless) "Okay so you probably did get sick from our food, but I dont think its fair to refund you ALL the money because you still got a tour out of it"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the end, because I had a flight to catch and I was still barely able to walk and exhausted from arguing, we took a 100 boliviano refund, out of 600, and out of hundreds of US dollars in medical fees.

NEVER DO INDIGENA. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH at ALL.

Not only that, the tour itself is not good. I never once felt safe or like the guide had anything under control. We went hunting for an anaconda and when they found one, they proceeded to grab it and poke it while everyone took pictures and turns holding it. That's illegal in Bolivia. Then he tried to catch a cobra for us. A Cobra. But before he had given us NO warning that there were cobras where we were hiking. All he said was "don't worry anaconda is not poisonous". No word on Cobras at all.

Also while hiking, 4 of us got stuck and lost and the guide was too far ahead to even know about it and we were literally abandoned.

I nearly died because of this tour and no one should ever have to go through that, and not for a lously 100 bolivianos.