Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003 - 2:44 a.m.
We awoke early to start our hike through the Pampas. We first put on old converse tennis shoes the company provided. Then with sunscreen, bug spray, long sleeved shirts, camera and water we were ready. We followed Louis, who wore a hat and cloth below it, making him look like an Arab. Some people took walking sticks, we pulled our socks up over our pant legs to keep insects and things from unwanted entry. Louis went on ahead. At first the path was through like jungle, but soon gave way to the fields of the Pampas, there was waist high grass, a few trees scattered around and in the distance. It could've been Africa. We walked in single file down the path, eventually it opened up and we walked as a group. The ground was uneven with lots of little holes, perfect design for twisting an ankle. We stepped carefully. There were a bunch of grazing cows. Not the big fat black and white ones from N.America but solid white or brown with horns and so skinny the skin clung to the bones. The animals stared at us and then slowly walked away.
We kept trekking, sometimes the underbrush would try to snatch our feet and send us sprawling, but never succeeded in a face plant or twisted ankle. Eventually we arrived at a small muddy creek where we stopped to rest and Louis and another guide wading int he twater, waving wooden sticks back and forth like a blind person with their cane. They were lookig for an anaconda snake. A few other people joined them, including Emma, Imke and Yaniv.
Not long after that we were all admiring the young snake that our guide found. It wasn't very big or old,maybe 2 or 3 years old and 1 meter long. The dull brown colors on top contrasted with the light yellow belly underneath. Our guide held the snake at the head and near the tail. Then we took turns holding it and taking photos. Not everyone held it but most people got their photo taken with it. some opten to let Louis hold the sharp end instead. Not me. I got familiar holding snakes at the Science Center. However, I was still a little nervous since this guy was a wild one (but at least anacondas aren't venemous). I waited my turn and then got to have it put around my neck. It was apparent when it was Itai's turn that he doesn't like snakes, but he held it anyway. It was funny. Some people enjoyed starting the Israeli girls (like Efrat) when they stood next to the serpent.
Then we let the little guy to and went to find bigger older ones (we watched him slither back into the muddy water and disappear). Soon we did find more in another place in the river nearby. The second one was perhaps 2 meters long. I held this one too. But less people held this guy than the one previous. Then we found the big daddy. He was maybe 3 meters long and had a large almost triangle-shaped head. Only a few people held this guy. I opted not to hold him myself (the boas back at the Science Center always made me a little nervous). But we got several group shots. Emma and Imke, the two ozzie girls, never hesitated to hold the snakes.
At one point when someone was passing the snake to someone else, one person held the head tightly and Imke said "Careful! Can it breathe?" While I don't advocate clutching a snake's head too tight I also know that snakes have a special organ (Jacobson's organ) near the nose that allows them to breathe when they are eating a huge meal and basically have their mouths stuffed. I learned this when I was doing the snake demos back at the Science Center a couple years ago.
Louis said snakes breathe through their skin, which I don't think is exactly true. Also he told us that the alligators that bask in the sun with their mouths open do so to help warm up their bodies (since they're cold blooded). But I think they do that to help keep their bodies cool in the hot sun.
Later, on the walk back, Louis said we'd go back a different way and try to find a cobra snake. "Todo es possible, nada es seguro" (All is possible, nothing is for sure) seems to be a popular moto for many in the jungle and Pampas.
As we were walking along, sometimes the path got really muddy. A few people, and a few times (including me) stepped in the wrong place and got their foot or feet all muddy. At one point I was afraid I would pull my foot out and the shoe would be stuck fast.
Just before we got back to camp, after leaving the fields of wais high grass and swamp lands, Louis caught a venemous rattlesnake. However, I immediately noticed there was no rattle. Louis said that in the Pampas they have rattlesnakes that don't have rattles. This snake was a darker color, almost black, maybe 1.5 meters. We touched it and took photos but this one Louis didn't let go of the head. He did tell us that if someone got bit that they have the anti-venom back at camp.
If you get bit by a venomous snake, he said, you need to drink a lot of water with sugar and get the anti-venom as quickly as possible, hopefully within 15 min of getting bitten (Life lesson #4,742)
After we got back to camp, removed our shoes and filthy muddy socks & had lunch we had free time for a couple hours. Amir got the guitar out and some people napped or chilled out by the river watching the alligators lounge about. Some people got quite close to them. The ozzie girls had no fear of them. Sometimes people tossed bread into the water and the fish would congregate and then the alligators would snap and catch the fish.
After a couple hours we got ready for our next excursion--to go swimming with the dolphins and then go fishing for pirranahs. First we got in the canoe and rode for about 45 min straight. The weather was great; nice and sunny. After awhile, we slowed down and Louis turned off the motor and thumped the side of te wooden canoe. After about 5 minutes the surface of the water broke and we saw the spine of a dolphin. They aren't very big, light grey and pink! We tied the boat to one shore and went swimming. Some dove off the canoe. Some (like myself) exited on land and then carefully manuvered through the rich, thick, maramelo colored mud to enter the water, which was cool and relaxing in the afternoon heat (and a relief from all the bug bites). We persued the dolphins, swimming with them in the deep cool river. It was a little like hide and go seek. The dolphins would appear at one end of the river, we'd all bob along towards them and they'd swim off and disappear. Then they'd reappear maybe 5 minutes in a different area and the whole sequence would repeat. It was awesome.
We all got tired physically of swimming and treading water. Soon we continued on our way, went about 20 minutes along the river and stopped in a different place to go fishing for pirranahs. We tied the boat to shore next to a fallen tree and had some shade. Louis gave us simple fishing lines with hooks possessing some kind of meat. We threw the line into the water and starting hand "reeling" the line back. you could feel light tugs on the line when the little pirranahs were chowing down on the meat. I was one of the first to catch a fish--the little guy was about the length of the palm of my hand. I didn't know what to do with it. Amir took it off te hook for me, but then it was flopping around in the mud and silt at the bottom of the canoe. Someone said it was too small and throw it back. I hesitated, debating what to do. Finally, after it stopped thrashing around I thought it might be dead anyway, but I picked it up and tossed it back in the water (careful of it's mouth and sharp teeth). I watched it zoom away, it was still alive. (Later I met a fellow traveler who was bit on the ankle by a pirranah while swimming in the Pampas river. He had a cool scar to prove it). Soon I realized that this was the normal size of the fish we caught but by this time I was bored with fishing so I hung out and took some photos (becoming the self-proclaimed group photographer). Inbar was swinging her hook and line like a pendulum but not getting the same distance as some of the others who wadded it up and tossed it like a mini baseball. Louis and Emma caught the most pirranahs, which we dined on for dinner that night.
The sun was sinking lower in the sky. Soon we were off again to go see the sunset. We rode in the boat maybe another 15 minutes, stoppped and got on land. We climbed up the steep muddy river bank and walked about 20 feet to a grassy clearning, the edge of the Pampas. But there was a low cloud cover and we couldn't see the sunset. We had missed it.
Then we returned to camp in te dusk. It was our last night in the Pampas. Someone made a campfire after dinner. I expected we'd all sit around the campfire with the guitar and sing songs, but for whatever reason Amir never emerged from the shack, other Israelis were inside singing with them. I sat outside around the fire with Imke, Emma, Liat, Itai and Louis. I told the others about S'mores, which they had never heard of before. In my experience, neither Brits, Ozzies or other nationalities know about S'mores (gram crackers, marshmellows & chocolate).
Later I had Emma help me find the Southern Cross. It took about 20 minutes for me to find it.
We found out that the next day was Efrat's birthday and they were going to celebrate it at midnight. At that time we all went inside the shack and sang Efrat Happy Birthday. We were up singing and laughing for awhile before one by one we went to bed.
