Eating fish with teeth

Last night we were treated to the night sounds of the jungle, mainly frogs and bugs of every imaginable size.

Up with the chickens this morning, we had a great breakfast before we packed up our gear into a tiny dugout canoe for our trip further upriver. Our gear was precariously balanced in the small boat, and strict concentration had to be maintained at all times while getting in, getting out, or moving even an inch in the boat or else we would be piranha feed. A couple of times we got stuck on a submerged log and Gary had to get out into the water and free us.

For the next 3 hours, Nigel and Gary rowed us up the river with their homemade oars (I spent the morning using an old tuna can to bail the water out of the boat). It was so beautiful. Just the three of us and the whole huge quiet jungle. The sounds of birds & monkeys were a constant source of pleasure. We saw tons of different types of birds, including many kingfishers, and some teeny tiny monkeys high up in the trees. Definitely the highlight was seeing 2 endangered Giant Otters. They were playing on a huge log over the water, gave a little bark, splashed into the water, & paddled a bit before disappearing. It was quick, but a real treat anyway. The Giant Otter population once spread from Venezuela to northern Argentina. Today only isolated pockets of otters, estimated 2,000-5,000, are left due to fur hunting and habitat destruction.

After nearly 3 hours and very sore butts, we reached our camp for the next 2 nights. Really it was just a spot in the jungle that happens to have a bit of flat land and is raised up above the water level. We unloaded our gear and set up camp while Gary cooked lunch. It didn't take long to set up camp since all we had to do was hang up the hammocks in some trees. After lunch we went out in the canoe to fish for piranha. These fish are so hard to catch because they take a nibble out of the bait as fast as lightning and then are off. But we did catch quite a few of them, and 2 of the 3 species. Of course there were the 2 or 3 big ones that got away. It was a lot of fun.

We got back to the campsite just as it was getting dark. We had a quick bath in the river...this time we DEFINITELY were not getting in that water, after seeing the piranhas close up. They have so many teeth, which look like little shark teeth. As it got dark, the daytime animals went to bed and the nighttime animals came out, changing the sounds of the jungle. And much to our surprise and delight, our campground was full of fireflies. The small ones are like the ones we've seen before, with their little butts glowing. With the larger ones, it's their eyes that glow. Very cool. They made the campsite look like a fairy wonderland.

Gary fried up the fish for dinner. We expected them to taste muddy, since the Amazon water is brown and full of sediment, but they were quite good. A lot of bones though. After eating up our fill, we pretty much just went into our hammock caves (we had full mossie nets around them) and went to bed. The noises of the jungle were so loud that it was almost deafening. And it was so dark out once we blew out the candles making the millions of stars in the sky stand out so brightly.