Los Llanos trip - day 2
Trip Start
Nov 08, 2008
1
64
73
Trip End
Feb 07, 2009
Los Llanos, Andes, Venezuela
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
We have breakfast of scrambled egg with tomato, onion and a green veg, arepa (cornbread), melon, juice and coffee.
Today the sun is shining as we drive along the dusty road to an inland waterway. The guides from the camp attach the outboard motor and we get in the boat. Its funny seeing Juan negotiate this with underarm crutches. As we go along we see hawks, white necked blue herons, cattle heron, night herons, tiger herons, cormorants, ibis, kingfisher, a prehistoric bird that can climb back to the nest with hooks it has on its wing/elbow joint. Apparently it doesnt have a predator as it smells and tastes horrible!
We also saw iguanas, turtles and dozens of caiman which slid into the water as we approached.
Ramón our guide, catches a pirania on a line, kills it, puts a stick through it (so it will float ) and throws it in the water below a hawk. The bird swoops down and snatches its free lunch which now is in no position to bite!
The other amazing thing we saw were fresh wate dolphins. They are a pale pinkish cream, have the traditional nose and horizontal tail fin but smaller dorsal fin. They swam around while we watched and tried to get photos.
We made a land visit to a family house that still uses a fire stove made of a raised clay platform with conical shaped forms on top of which a pot is placed. They had ducks, chickens and two puppies. They were rather on the thin side but Birgitte flies into a fit about how cruel the family are not to feed the dogs. Juan remains diplomatic as she tries giving them water. The dogs are confused by her actions and run. The ducks enjoy the water though. After 10 mins of animal rights, she goes into the hut and gives the woman 20 Bfs (~8 Euro) and tells her to buy food for the dogs. We leave very soon after this back to the boat and back to our starting point.
On the way back Alexander and I ride on the roof of the car. There is a fanastic view of red ibis. The bird, in addition to its long curved beak, is a crimson red all over. When a flock takes off it is amazing to see. Its at this stage that Alexanders camera gives up the ghost. It had trouble focussing in warm weather lately, now the motor is clicking but not working. His Christmas/birthday present hasn't even lasted until his birthday! Well, it has taken over 4000 photos and a hundred movies! But we shall have to do something when we get back. The upside, is that I now have his full attention! We saw some caiman within 10 meters of us and some capibarra. Someone check my spelling. They are the largest member of the rodent family and look like giant guinea pigs! Ramón jumps out and checks some flooded pools along the side of the road for Anaconda. I hope they are paying him enough! No luck though. They are tricky to find. We drove back along the bumpy road to the camp, had dinner, more beer as the ice is almost melted in the cooler, and went to bed.
