We arrived at the lodge after about 5 hours of travelling through the jungle in a variety of transport and a chance to meet up with our fellow adventurers. We arrived in early afternoon and after a couple of hours to get over the trip and “enjoy” our new environment our new environment it was time to head off for into the jungle for our first adventure.
Top of my list was always the river adventures, so I was glad it was the first thing on the itinerary. By a coincidence our companions in the canoe were all the French people on the trip, Antoine the physio from La Plagne and champion photobomber in the pics, Genevieve and Jean the fragile looking 70 something adventurers from Paris but were tough as old boots, and of course the long suffering Wooksie who was well outside her comfort zone in the jungle.
We all piled into the small wooden canoe with our guide Ismail, who was also the Brazilian jujitsu champion at one time, which is why his knees are all strapped up. So, we headed back out into the lake to navigate the shallow channels surrounded by wading birds and eventually we made it back out to the main river and ready for action.
Piranha action
A few hundred metres up the track we pulled over to the bank and tied the canoe to the branch of a tree hanging in the river. Ismail then handed out our tools, which were 2m long thin branches with fishing line on the end, no reels or sophistication here, the hook was tied to the line with a strip of wire, which gave us the first indication of how sharp the teeth of the piranha would be.
The bait was the skin from the chicken we had had for lunch, which made sense because it is tough, so it would be difficult for the fish to get it off the hook. So armed with our fishing rods, I ended up helping the others put the chicken on their hooks and into the water we cast.
Within seconds the fish attacked the bait, with really violent attacks that had the rods shacking, but these cunning little fish weren’t easy to catch as they ripped the skin off the hooks but eventually, I swung one over the side of the canoe.
This raised new problems, firstly we had to get these violent little critters off the hooks, which we did by shaking the fish off the hooks. This created the next problem, what did we do with the fish in on the floor of the boat. My pal Antoine took no chance and put his feet in the air so they couldn’t bite his feet whilst leaving me to deal with the problem.
As we were getting short of bait, we just used the fish as more bait, so basically the Piranha were now eating their mates. Then Wooksie caught her first fish and helpful swung it out of the water and into my lap – brilliant, a deadly fish in my lap. I shook the fish off the hook, so it was now loose on my seat. I decided to flick it back into the river, after a couple of efforts I said to myself “stop faffing around and pick it up”, it is this lack of personal risk management that has got me into trouble before and duly I picked it up and was immediately bitten by their infamously savage teeth.
With blood all over the seat, Ismail decided we had had enough fun for one afternoon, and it was time to take a break and get my finger treated.
We pulled in our gear and headed up the river.
Riverside pub
After 10 minutes enjoying the tranquil surroundings we saw our destination, a barge moored beside the river. This was an unexpected sight and as we drew closer we realised that the barge performed many functions.
It was the local supermarket for the riverside communities, it sold beer to acted as their local pub, the owner was installing a big new TV so it was about to assume the role of local cinema too, and lastly it was also the local hospital and I had my injury dressed.
So, we sat back and enjoyed a relaxing beer as the sun went down over the river, we sat back and enjoyed a couple of ice cold beers. Just behind us was another canoe from our lodge who pulled in and joined in the fun.
Strangely, Ismail suggested that it was safe for swimming and people should jump in for a dip, which the young people did. Luckily, I was told I shouldn’t jump in due to my find, and to be honest I was very grateful for the excuse not to enter the water with those fish only 1 mile away!
After an hour it was time to head off for our next adventure, the day wasn’t over yet.
Crocodile hunt
The freshwater crocodiles in the Amazon are called Caymen; they grow to about 3 metres and live along the riverbanks eating anything that wanders past their nests.
The sun went down very quickly and before we knew it, we were heading back through the dark. The method for finding the creatures is to shine a torch along the banks and the beam catches their eyes and reflects their location.
We didn’t have much luck until we entered the narrow creek back to the lodge. Ahead of us the other canoe suddenly ran into the shallows and their guide jumped out and splashed around in the narrows.
We passed their boat and the hunt intensified, suddenly Ismail jumped over the side of the boat into the muddy shallows, and then reappeared with our Caymen, not a full grown adult but a stroppy teenager with a bit of attitude.
As we examined the beast in the canoe it was quite difficult to capture the moment because of the high powered lights, but it was lots of fun and our French friend Genevieve insisted on waving at it rather than touching it.
The adventures of the evening were not quite over. As daylight came to an end there had been rumbles of thunder and gathering storm clouds were ominous, then as we put the Caymen back in the water there was the first crack of lightening and a warning about what was to come on the way back.
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