Alligators, Caimans, Piranha, and thankfully no Anancondas!

So, next on the list we flew to the Bolivian Amazon Basin. It was quite novel for us to be travelling by plane for once, and it was a bit like flying in a cigar tube with wings - only about 15 seats and you had to almost crawl to your seat it was so tiny! Mind you the views we got over the Cordillera Real range (including the mountain that Richard climbed) was awesome! It really is very dramatic scenery. Before we left La Paz, and also whilst in Rurrenabaque we managed to catch up with Claire from home and her boyfriend James. Again, fantastic to see a face from home and share a beer or two!

Once we landed in Rurrenabaque and the door opened it was like being hit by a wall of heat! I don´t know whether we have just got used to really cold places but it felt MIGHTY hot! It was like landing in a completely different country and we kept having to remind ourselves we were still in Bolivia.... the landscape, the vegetation, the houses, everything!

After a 2 hour trip by 4x4 on an extremely dusty and bumpy road (we looked blonde by the end of it!) we got to the river and were met by our canoe. We then had another two hours downriver to get to the camp. By now we had realised that there were only the two of us on this tour! Its usually nice to meet and chat with others on these kinds of tours but actually it worked out really well. We had the guide to ourselves, the freedom of the whole camp to ourselves, and the space on the canoe. The canoe ride itself was pretty fantastic.... loads of huge alligators, caimans, capybara families, pink dolphins, turtles, and allsorts of birdlife (various kingfishers, herons, storks etc). There is literally something to see around each corner. I knew there was the possibility of seeing all these things but had no idea just how much there was!

That night we got taken to a bar to watch the sunset over the pampas..... it was all set up for a beautiful pink sunset and suddenly the sun completely disappeared up in the middle of the sky. We were enjoying our beers and suddenly felt very sober when we realised this was due to the amount of smoke in the air from the burning of the forests. However the boat ride back to camp in the dark was worth it.... there were dozens of bats flying around us munching on the bugs that were munching on us! Our torches picked out hundreds of alligator and caiman eyes at the waters edge too which all made for a pretty spooky ride back!

The next morning we were off anaconda hunting. Yep, because you want to hunt those buggers down don´t you?? Once we were kitted out we went down to get into the boat and spotted a HUGE caiman floating nearby. We were informed by our trusty guide Tombo "Oh thats Phillipe", and he started calling him in. It turns out they have been feeding Phillipe the Caiman for 7 years now, since he was little! As they took the bucket of scraps down to the water, he started coming onto land. He was about 3 metres and pretty healthy looking and the nearer he got, the further Rich and I retreated back towards camp. When you get close to those creatures they are just amazing. Such strength! Phillipe seemed pretty happy with his lot and waddled back into the water after chowing down on last nights pasta !?! Not sure about the ethics of this but I actually got to feed Phillipe the next morning. However the nearer he got (and he was coming right for me) I ended up chucking the food at him and running back to safety... a complete girl but let me tell you, he is one big caiman!!!

So anyway, I wasn´t too keen on this anaconda hunting malarkey. It basically involved tromping around the pampas in wellies and increasingly mind battering heat, poking around the water with a big stick looking for huge snakes. Tombo informed us that if we saw one we should pin it down with the V part of our stick (yeh right).... I showed him that my stick didn´t have a V and he thought that was hilarious! I really wasn´t too happy wading around in knee high water or shoulder high grass waiting for a wapping anaconda to pop out at me and Tombo also thought this was hilarious and spent the next two hours creeping up behind me or tapping me on the back of the legs and shouting SNAKE! What a joker he was! Oh how we laughed! After 2 hours of torturous heat we agreed that no anacondas were coming out to play today (phew) and it was back to camp for lunch.

That afternoon we were taken to a spot on the river to swim with the pink dolphins. Tombo assured us that this was a "safe" part of the alligator, caiman, and piranha infested muddy river. It was really cool to watch the dolphins porpoising but there was no-way-Jose that I was getting into that water. I bet Tombo that he wouldn´t get in and one belly flop later he was frantically doggy paddling around (see picture). Not to be outdone, Richard had no choice but to follow although he was not a happy soldier (see picture)! They lasted about 5 minutes max. Tombo was out of puff and Richard spotted a caiman nearby and decided he was done for the day. Not so much swimming with the dolphins but swimming near to where you see them. I think its a battle of bravery that little excersion!!

The last day was piranha fishing..... just upstream from where they were swimming by the way! Man, those little fishies are vicious! There is a definate knack to it but as soon as you put your line in they are biting like crazy and unless you whip your line out at the appropriate time your hook comes back meatless. For a while it was more like piranha feeding than fishing! Richard got one but it was so piddly he had to throw it back. Tombo and Brian(the camp warden) were pretty nifty fishermen and were catching a few. Then I caught two of the little blighters! I was in full gloating mode with Richard as he took my picture with my piddly piranha catch. Then, just as he was about to take the picture with one hand, and without even taking an eye of the camara he whips another piranha out of the water with his other hand, and continues to take the photo!!! That boy!! If he doesn´t win the game its pretty safe to say he will always completely outcool you!!

Phew, take me back to the highlands!

Cath

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