A big thunderstorm hit the area in the middle of the night. First the flashes lit up the sky, later came thunder, rain and lots of wind. Staying in houses mainly constructed from wood and palm tree leaves meant that it felt pretty close to us. Nothing happened though but the show was impressive.
Waking up at the lodge in the early morning gave the opportunity to watch and admire the alligators on the banks of the river below our board walk. They would float around in the water trying to sneak in on competing alligators and suddenly they would fight - one of them loosing and having to flee. And then also listen to the cacophony of the birds singing in the morning each trying to overdo the other.
We had breakfast and were given rubber boots. We were going out in the fields to look for animals particularly anacondas. The fields turned out to be very muddy after last nights rain. In fact they turned out to be more like a flooded swamp. Given the limited supply of big rubber boots our new Australian friend - Roger - decided to wear only his hiking shoes. Big mistake. He was the first to get stuck in mud and loose his shoe. And then get reunited with the lump of mud that was now his shoe.
Our guide found the smallest possible Anaconda for us after a few minutes. It was trying to swallow a fish three times the size of its mouth. They start early. We hiked on in search of a bigger snakes most of us trying to maintain balance. Suddenly Malene lost balance and soon after Jes. Being a bit soaked and very muddy is apparently a guarantee when hiking the pampas.
Suddenly there was a big splash since our guide had disturbed a big alligator and it was now all over the place twisting its body and tail violently. Everybody ran for their life - mud not being an issue.
We did a big detour around the alligator not to disturb it and then headed further into the swap still looking for a big anaconda. After some three hours and our guide being all over the place we returned home not having found it. Muddy and with tired legs.
After lunch it was time for a short siesta. We had spent a lot of time looking for snakes and we still had to head up river this afternoon to fish for piranhas and catfish. We sailed a bit up the river and our guide found a place that wasn't too crowded with alligators where some of us could fish from the boat and others from the bank of the river.
We got fishing lines and hooks and the most important - meat. And then we realised how quickly meat disappears in a muddy river in South America. You just felt a little pull in your fishing line and by the time you recovered the hook the meat was gone. And so it went on for some time. We did catch some fish, many of them being too small to keep so they got back in the water.
Mikkel caught one that was just big enough for dinner so it was kept together with a few others. Not the biggest meal tonight we expect. We headed back to the sunset place and watched another Pampas sunset before dinner and heading to bed. Long day and tired legs.
Waking up at the lodge in the early morning gave the opportunity to watch and admire the alligators on the banks of the river below our board walk. They would float around in the water trying to sneak in on competing alligators and suddenly they would fight - one of them loosing and having to flee. And then also listen to the cacophony of the birds singing in the morning each trying to overdo the other.
We had breakfast and were given rubber boots. We were going out in the fields to look for animals particularly anacondas. The fields turned out to be very muddy after last nights rain. In fact they turned out to be more like a flooded swamp. Given the limited supply of big rubber boots our new Australian friend - Roger - decided to wear only his hiking shoes. Big mistake. He was the first to get stuck in mud and loose his shoe. And then get reunited with the lump of mud that was now his shoe.
Our guide found the smallest possible Anaconda for us after a few minutes. It was trying to swallow a fish three times the size of its mouth. They start early. We hiked on in search of a bigger snakes most of us trying to maintain balance. Suddenly Malene lost balance and soon after Jes. Being a bit soaked and very muddy is apparently a guarantee when hiking the pampas.
Suddenly there was a big splash since our guide had disturbed a big alligator and it was now all over the place twisting its body and tail violently. Everybody ran for their life - mud not being an issue.
We did a big detour around the alligator not to disturb it and then headed further into the swap still looking for a big anaconda. After some three hours and our guide being all over the place we returned home not having found it. Muddy and with tired legs.
After lunch it was time for a short siesta. We had spent a lot of time looking for snakes and we still had to head up river this afternoon to fish for piranhas and catfish. We sailed a bit up the river and our guide found a place that wasn't too crowded with alligators where some of us could fish from the boat and others from the bank of the river.
We got fishing lines and hooks and the most important - meat. And then we realised how quickly meat disappears in a muddy river in South America. You just felt a little pull in your fishing line and by the time you recovered the hook the meat was gone. And so it went on for some time. We did catch some fish, many of them being too small to keep so they got back in the water.
Mikkel caught one that was just big enough for dinner so it was kept together with a few others. Not the biggest meal tonight we expect. We headed back to the sunset place and watched another Pampas sunset before dinner and heading to bed. Long day and tired legs.
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| Alligator guarding its place on the river |
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| Morning view from the lodge |
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| Ready for the pampas |
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| Mud+shoe+stuck=not good |
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| Flooded muddy pampas |
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| Small but hungry anaconda |
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| Pampas chic |
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| Getting deeper |
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| Mud, water and where is the next alligator |
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| Storch |
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| Angry alligator bubbling from its nose |
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| More bubbles - time to leave |
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| Nothing to see here |
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| Back in the camp |
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| Fishing for piranhas |
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| Caught one - too small |
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| Just big enough for dinner |
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| No fish and no bait |
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| Back at the lodge |
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| Another pampas sunset |
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