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Being in the rainforest brings with it a huge variety of other activities that can involve a planned trip or just a mini adventure that occurs on a day to day basis. This picture to the left shows Joe one of the expedition leaders with a tiddly little Piranha(!) that he had caught in an ox bow lake. Piranha is an incredibly tasty fish to eat and hopefully you will get the chance to catch and eat one. Fishing for Piranha is unusual in that you thrash the water surface with a branch then throw in a load of old meat and gristle to attract the fish. Then you bait a hook with a lump of meat (no fat as they dont eat the fat) and hurl your line out into the melee, slowly you pull the line back hoping a fish takes fancy to it. If you feel a bit give a good hard tug to make the hook stick then reel it in taking care not to put your fingers in its mouth. Killing Piranhas is tough so the quickest way is to open up their brain casing and stir it around a little. Please note that you need to use a section of metal leader on the hook as they can bite straight through the line! |
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One day we were asked to help the local people move a new canoe to the river bank. We drank "chicha" with them to give us super strength! Chicha is brewed from fermented Yucca plant and traditionally is made at the beginning of the week by chewing raw yucca to release the sugars and then spitting it into a bucket. By the end of the week the Yucca has fermented into a potent brew. The canoe was hollowed from a tree trunk and it required a substantial effort from about 20 of us to reach the river by which time we were knackered. A few days later when the river level rose we went back to the site (in the background of this image) and launched the canoe to tow it up river so the last of the work could be done on it. |
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This fer de lance is one of South Americas most deadly snakes. One evening one of the family brought this snake to camp. He had killed it between our camp and the childrens school hut. The children dont tend to wear shoes so if they stood on it they would have been killed within minutes. Whilst it seems cruel to kill these animals they are very plentiful in this area (we saw two in ten weeks around camp) and it is important for the local peoples existence to minimise these threats to their lives. |
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Luis, one of our guides, is a particularly forward thinking individual. He had set up a small Turtle sanctuary for the freshwater turtle species Exspansa and he invited us to visit it. We went an weighed the female turtles (shown to the right) which weighed in at about 35kg! Unfortunately they are particularly tasty (so I am informed) and they have been wiped out both up and downstream of this community. They have also been decimated in Columbia but Luis has set up a trade (with the help of outside organisations) where he gives young hatchlings of this species to the Columbians in exchange for equipment such as radios and solar panels, thus improving the communities lifestyle and helping ensure the survival of this endearing species. |
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