Safari in Los Llanos

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To get from Santa Fe to the swampy lowlands of Los Llanos we had to take a number of buses into the night.. we arrived a 6am in a small cowboy town in the and it was already hot. A quick toastie and coffee for breakfast and then head in the pickup truck to the ranch. We stop to help Tony (our Guide and new found friend) change the tyre on Ramone´s truck(Ramone is the ranch owner who will be our host for the next 6 days). Bit early for festivities but we have a couple of cold beers to help with the thirst!
Journey to the ranch takes about 3 hours with me and Debs and Tony in the back of the pickup cleaning the flies from our teeth. Tony is a very knowledgable and experienced guide as he grew up in Los Llanos and his enthusiasm to teach us is great, he is akin to Australia´s Steve Irwin - the crocodile hunter. He tells us that he has worked for National Geographic in the past… Within an hour he proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have chosen an excellent guide for this trip.

We freshen up at the ranch/camp, then try a spot of fishing whilst lunch is prepared for us. Debs manages to hook the most vicious, biggest and rarest pirhana in the country, so this is added to the lunch menu. Tony shows me how to get the best meat from the head. So he can remove the jaws, which he gets the ants to clean so Debs can retain these as a prize.

After lunch we head out in the truck again, we stop by a swampy pool at the roadside. Ramon has brought his 2 kids with him (girl of 8 and boy of 5). Ramon and Tony head into the water, each with a pointed stick of 1.5m in length. They wade around putting the sticks in the water ahead of them to be sure that they are not going to step on any Caymans(alligators). After 10 minutes there is a bit of hushed rapid Spanish and Ramon signals for us to be quiet. We approach with the kids to see Tony leap into the water like a mad ejit to grab something. Ramon has in his hands what must be a tail and then Tony stands up out of the water with the head of something grasped in his hands. With surprisingly little fuss they emerge from the water with an Anaconda. “Help grab the end!!” Tony shouts to me, but I am routed to the spot..”Grab what? the huge snake!!??”, I reply. Realising that the boys are struggling, we step in to help lest the beast escapes and attacks someone.

We lay the snake out on the ground so we can admire the full length of her, all 6 m. She is pregnant. Tony provides a factual rundown on the anaconda which is above average in size but they do get bigger!! The kids hop about the snake nonchalantly with no sign of fear but are aware as told by their father that it could eat them both and then some…
The guys want to take the snake back to the ranch (Yes the one that we are staying at) and release her in the water there as she is too close to the road and also farmers might machete the anaconda as they are afraid of them. So the snake is loaded into the truck, we decide to wait for the truck to come back rather than ride back to the ranch with the beast.

The truck safari continues as Tony spots a sleeping tree anteater slumped like a drunk between the branches of a nearby tree, then a pair of porcupines sleeping in the higher branches (I didn´t even know that they could climb trees). We drive for another few miles then Ramone lets a shout out to Tony, the truck screetches to a halt and the boys are off across the fields chasing a giant land anteater. Me and Debs and the kids follow and we are able to get right up close to take a few shots with the camera. The first thing that comes to mind is that we are chasing something out of Sesame Street. It is a huge furry muppet-like creature with a baby on it´s back that resembles a Gonzo backpack. What a weird day….

Next day we are taken up the river in a canoe. Again Tony is pointing to every tree and bush were there are Iguanas, snakes and dozens of eagles and other birds of prey to see. Further up river we see pink river Dolphins that are almost completely blind and use highly tuned sonar to fish for pirhana and other fishes. We are cruising at a fair rate of knots when Tony hurls himself into the water again and emerges with a rare turtle which he brings onto the boat so we can get a better look.

Another truck trip provides us with the opportunity to see 100s of Cabyparas, the worlds largest rodents that look like small brown bears as they run across the fields of a mango farm that we visit.
We also try a spot of horseriding with Tony and we are galloping a breakneck speed, crossing rivers that reach halfway up to the saddle with the horses stalling as they are well aware of the caymans and the snakes in the water.

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