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Published: August 28th 2011
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While many think of the Amazon bush as being all thick and dense jungle, there are actually vast areas known as the pampas. These areas are most easily explained as swamplands. It still has areas with rivers running to the final Amazon River, but these take their own sweet time and go really, really slow to get there. In the winter, which is the dry season, these rivers shrink up to small areas where dense populations of wildlife live. The animals and fish like the slow moving waters.
Unfortunately, in the case of Bolivia, to get to them does not mean taking a pretty, scenic boat ride. It means three and a half hours of the bumpiest, dustiest road I’ve ever been on in my life. When we passed a car going the opposite way, it would stir up so much dust that it created a “brown-out” of zero percent visibility. We would have to stop and let the dust settle.
I once again had chosen to go with the Mashaquipe agency that had taken me upstream into the deep jungle. I have to say, kudos to them. I saw a couple of other agency tours in jeeps. While
Pink dolphin
I got this photo off the web. They were too hard to catch on film. a jeep sounds much more adventuresome to ride in, I was quite happy in my Mashaquipe mini-van. All the jeeps had their windows and tops down (it was really hot), and the dust was blowing so bad that the riders used handkerchiefs to breath through. I, on the other hand, sat cool and comfortably in my mini-van, with the windows up and the air conditioning blowing. This wasn’t even the best part. Barry Manilow was belting out songs on the CD player. Who could ask for more?
While on our drive, again I had a guide with me, we happened on this anteater lying in the road. It was in the middle of a foot high dust “divider”. What respectable anteater would lie down there? We stopped the car to find out, and saw that his little paw was hurt. He had probably been hit, and was so stunned that he hadn’t moved. My driver and guide patiently and carefully caught him. The anteater was not happy with this, and stood up in protest, only to fall back over. After patiently and gently grabbing hold of him, they set him off in the bush along side the road, where
The elusive Toucan
I was lucky to see one he could have a chance. He meandered off, and hopefully had many happy anteater days to come.
Once getting to the pampas, it was time to climb in a dugout canoe type boat, crank up the four-horse power engine, and putter up and down the river. For hours and hours my guide, Marcelo, and I quietly glided up and down stream. I would never have believed how much wildlife I would get to see. Several times I nearly had to pinch myself and say, “Who am I, that I get to do these kinds of things?”
Here’s what I saw: Hundreds (and this number is not exaggerated) of caimans. Caimans are the “alligator/crocodile” of South America. Monkeys, turtles, toucans, kingfishers, and many other exotic birds I don’t know the names for. Capybaras, which look like three feet high guinea pigs, are known as the world’s largest rodent. I also saw pink dolphins. Yes, they really are pink. It’s from the plankton they eat, just like what makes flamingos pink. If I wanted, I could have swam with them. However, with count of 20 caiman on the banks in close proximity, and piranha underwater, I elected NOT to swim.
Marcelo told me it was quite safe to swim, as long one is not bleeding, as that is what makes piranha attack. Furthermore, caiman are never known to attack humans as long as they are not provoked. I still didn’t feel the need to jump in the murky brown water, however, some people I met back at camp had swam with the dolphins.
During this trip, I also got to fish for piranha. I have to say, the only place I’ve had more fun fishing is the Aegean Sea with my father-in-law and husband. To catch a piranha, all you have to do is put a little bit of beef on a hook, throw the string in the water, and wait a minute or less. The piranhas smell the blood of the raw meat and start attacking. Within 30 minutes, Marcelo and I had caught ten piranhas. I had no problem putting my bait on, but those piranha teeth were enough for me to always have Marcelo take the fish off the hook.
Guess what we had for lunch that day?
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