Fri. 2nd November 2012
The day began, after a frugal breakfast – not even any jam to have on our bread and marge, with horse riding. It must be 10 years we have been on a horse so it was back to basics. Whilst Dave’s horse gave him the illusion that he was in control, I know who was boss between me and my horse! We did however come to an agreement. If I let it eat grass, follow Anthony on his horse but keep away from Paul’s horse it would be placid! However, I was still a bit freaked when one of the horses threw its rider for no apparent reason.
The horses were trained to walk single file and no overtaking, which was quite tranquil plodding along admiring the scenery and we were able to see some of the wildlife. We saw monkeys, egret, red and green macaws to name a few.
Lunch was spaghetti, rice and beans again. The dessert looked a bit like tapioca but was all caramel – almost (but only almost) too sweet!! After our exertions of the morning, there was then some time to rest in the daytime hammocks. Lots of inquisitive colourful birds and two lizards came to see us.
At 1:30 it was off again in the truck, this time armed with rods to go piranha fishing to catch our supper. It took 1 1/2 hours to get there as we kept stopping to see and photograph the wildlife. There were more owls, caiman, otters, storks, spoonbill and heron but the armadillos got away before the guide could point them out to us.
When we finally arrived at fishing pool the caimans lazing on the shore and in the pool watched us approach. We all said that under no circumstances would we wade into the water with them watching and loitering. However, we soon did as the competition heated up to catch the first piranha. Zaida soon caught one and the challenge was set. Others then followed suit and Dave caught two. They were annoying little teasers who knew how to nibble the bait without being hooked so frequently after feeling the rod twitch we came up empty handed. After almost two hours the cry went out ten more minutes and I still had not caught anything. Just as I was giving up the nibble on my rod stuck and I had caught a beauty. They are mean looking and have teeth to avoid.
Between us we had a good haul (though we did lose one to a caiman as we tried to land it – clearly weren’t going to argue the point with the caiman) and we happily set off on our long trip back to the farm. As it was getting to the cool of the day, the wildlife began to come out and we saw a toucan, a rhea and an otter feeding on a caiman while a whole host of other caimans looked on. Apparently these otters are so big, strong and aggressive that the caiman defer to it.
Once showered and refreshed it was off for a beer, but restaurant area was inundated with insects and bugs that continued to annoy us all evening. The piranha were tasty but not much flesh on them so we filled up on more rice and spaghetti. After supper, we went outside and sat around a campfire which at least seemed to keep the bugs at bay. However, the toilet block was crawling with bugs so visits were kept short and many preferred to use the eco-toilet!
The night time noise of the frogs, monkeys and other creatures was quite deafening – it sounded a little like a Gran Prix racetrack. Soon we headed for our hammocks as some of us had agreed to be up at 5:30am for an early walk to see the sun rise. It seemed to be a competition between the nightlife outside and the snorers inside over who could make the most noise.