After little sleep I rose from bed slightly groggy but eager to hit the jungle. We headed out on the powered canoe at 830 and after about 30 mins we reached our destination, a small inlet amongst trees and reids.

 

We were greeted by two stocky guys in uniform, our guides. We were split into two groups, English speaking and Portuguese. My guide was Marcel, an ex soldier trained in jungle survival and tactics, a freindly chap.

 

We were each given a long thick stick to help us through the jungle. We headed off into the thick of it trekking through the rainforest until we reached a small clearing. Marcel started pulling things from his pack while the tour guide from the resort was translating saying we were going to learn how to make fire.

I learnt how to start a fire using a shotgun shell and bits of wood. Not that I would ever be likely to have a shotgun shell but ah well. The old trick of rubbing two sticks together works just that little bit better when you add gunpowder!

 

One of the girls in the group was shown how to light a fire using a battery and some steel wool. Again the chances of me having steel wool is pretty unlikely, ah well.

 

The rest of the tour was spent trekking through the jungle learning to spot certain trees, plants and signs of wildlife. We would stop at these small clearings and learn something new. Like how to make some traps, and how to make a bed and shelter and not get eaten by the bugs.

 

We came accross a termite nest attached to a tree which are actually quite common when you look for them. I slapped my hand on the nest and the termites covered my hand in seconds. Taking my hand off I then rubbed all the termites into my skin and up my arm. This is a natural insect repellant. Apparently the termite scent or blood or whatever that you rub into your skin confuses the mozzies and so they leave you alone. It works... The only downside is your arm is covered with tiny marks from all the dead termites squished into your skin.

 

This was an excellent tour. A lot of fun. I even climbed a tree by wrapping palm tree leaves around my feet...

 

We got back to the resort at 12 and had lunch then hit the pool for an hour or two. I ordered a caprioska but the guy had no clue what he was doing and what he made tasted horrible. So I asked for another. This one was made by the other bar dude but was still horrible. So I went with guranana and mammas smuggled vodka. 

 

I headed back to the room and sat out on the balcony watching the birds flitter by. I took off my shirt to soak up some more sun and promptly passed out in the chair, either from the tunes playing on my ipod or from the alcohol, or maybe I was just tired from the tour.

 

We headed off again at 430 for the next tour. We were split into two seperate boats, one for the French and Portuguese and the other for the English.
Traveled about 30mintues up river and found a nice spot to try our luck at Pirahna fishing!

 

Our rods were long thin bamboo sticks with a line attached to the end. The hook was attached to a hook extended, just another long piece of metal so that the fish couldnt bite through the line.

 

I baited my hook with a chunk of red meat and dropped the line in. Instantly i had a few bites and the bait was gone. Damn their quick! The next one I dropped in close to the boat and kept it close to the surface. I couldnt see them because the water is so dark and because they are so quick. 

 

I wasnt having any luck and after the first 20 minutes all went silent, no bites nothing. Mamma and the tour guide were at the front of the boat (stern?) and had caught a few tiny little biters. I figured Id have better luck up front. I sat on the nose of the boat and put my bait on the thick branch of the tree we were tied to. I cast out into the reeds and knew I had found the right spot.

 

I got some huge bites and knew something big was down there. I pulled up two babies, one black and one red pirahna. But I had to get the big one. After losing my bait to it a few times I was determined to catch it. And when I did my bamboo almost broke. Got ya! I exclaimed. The guide said to leave him in the water a while, be patient and let him get tired or ill have an energetic biter to deal with. Sure enough after about 2 minutes the fish gave up the fight and I pulled it onboard. Everyone gasped as they saw the size of it, a real big bugger!

 

The guide showed me how to hold the snappy pirahna properly so as not to get bitten. Someone decided to put a stick near its mouth and snap! it chomped straight through it, very impressive.

 

We headed off about 15mins further up river and the guide stood on the foot of the boat with a spot light. We had started hunting Kaimen! It took a little while before he caught the red eye reflection from a baby Kaimen. Creeping slowly into the reeds the guide put the light down then lurched over the side of the boat and snapped up the little bugger.

 

The baby croc was pretty calm which was probably because the guid had a death grip around its throat. We each got to hold the croc before it was released back into the dark waters.

 

We kept on with the hunting and I moved to the front to get a better view. It was pitch black by now and the mozzies had started to bite a good hour ago, if only I had a termite mound near by...

 

The guide was continuously searching with his spotlight but not glimpsing any reflections, but then after about 10mins of searching he spotted another croc. This one he siad was a bit bigger than the last as the eyes were wider apart.

 

We slid into the reids and I started filming with my camera, the guide leaned over the boat and again snatched out a Kaimen, this one considerably larger than the last. It was a 3yr old and about a meter long. we didnt get to hold this one unfortunately, but all got a good look at it before it was released.

 

We returned home at 8 and had a much needed dinner.

I headed back to the room to shower and spray myself with insect repellant before reading my book for about 2 hours, im getting stuck into it! I then watched a documentery on my iPod about the Amazon and was suprised at how familiar it all looked. Im in the Amazon!!!! Watching the doco makes me want to explore deeper into the jungle. I'm going to have to come back here for sure :)