Bolivian Amazon - Anaconda Hunt

Some mornings you wake up, grab a big coffee and newspaper and head for the sofa. Other mornings you get up and crawl through an Amazon swamp and hunt for Anacondas.
At times say "Ken, how the crap do you keep getting yourself in these situation"? Standing knee deep in water that is home to Anacondas was one of those times.

Just as we began the sky's opened up adding a little more misery to the day. There were quite a few groups together today and as we progressed more and more people lost their nerve and returned to base.

We trekked through the marshland and at places the water was up to my thighs, filling my gum boots. We crossed into what they called a tree oasis where most of the bad boys would be found. We were warned that there was a good chance they were to high in the trees because it was the rainy season. Sure enough and well thankfully the only thing we found was a big old nasty looking toad.
Then just to get us going Victor started his tourist scary stories about water vipers and yellow tree snakes. With the knowing grin he just waited to see if anyone would bite. Sure enough there were a few "really" "are they dangerous' "do you have anti venom", to which we just turned and walked out of the oasis. Funniest guide I have so far.

Well the fun of the morning deserved an ice cold beer at 10 am. We still had much to see and do including swimming with the Pink River dolphins..well I will take the photos.

These are not your jumping playful sideshow bob dolphins that you think of. These are kinds of creepy. They break the surface and dive and very seldom jump. The water as I said is ink black so jumping in is a heart attack waiting to happen.

When in the water the dolphins will bump into you from below, nip at your feet then from out of nowhere appear right beside you. It is not for the faint of heart. Some folks dangled their feet over boards and the pink mammals from hell would come up and nip their feet. How is that fun? They were fun to watch and more fun trying to photograph. I have learned that sometimes it is better to put the damn camera away and enjoy the experience.

It was a good day and time to kick back with yet another cold beer and the jungle bar. However not paying attention to my surroundings I kicked off my pants and boots and put on shorts and sandals. That was a dinner bell for the mosquito's and ants. The bad thing, besides being eaten alive is that you do not feel the little buggers. What you do notice is about an hour later a series of constellations all over your legs and particularly the feet. Holy itchy!

I swear I could hear these Bolivian jungle bugs giggling while they slurped up the deet that I had lathered on my legs, arms and face. One adventurous mosquito landed on my shoulder and said Deet¨really, you gringos are hilarious.