Our first day we just settled into our new accommodation; a mini village raised on stilts to cope with the changing water levels, where the shower water was browner than the rivers. The next day was Anaconda hunting. Wearing big boots that had seen better days we headed into the long grass. While our guide waded into the swamp where the water reached his waist, the rest of us stayed way off to the side, keeping to where we felt the snakes were least able to hide. None of us could honestly say we thought the concept of Anaconda hunting could be considered a sensible past time, but it sure sounded cool on the brochure. Interestingly enough, waiting for the endless search to produce results, I got chatting to an American girl on my tour. Turned out she did voices, and was actually the actor who did the English voice for the main character of Dragon Ball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball). Unfortunately I had to admit to never having watched it, but I knew it was similar to Pokemon.
Soon, deep in the swamp, our guide raises a long slithering reptile above his head as he shouts with joy. The first snake he found was not our target, but instead a cobra. This was not as disappointing as it sounds because, finding an Anaconda an hour or so later, we realized that at this size cobras are the far more dangerous species. Our guide demonstrated how to extract poison from the cobra’s mouth, as well as how the Anaconda could attempt to strangle our arm. It was a pitiful attempt, but we soon went quiet hearing how this tiny animal is able to swallow a baby calf whole. Because of this incredible ability the Anaconda will only eat on average once every three months. Our guide also described how he had been bitten by cobras so often that his body was now totally immune. The first ever bite had caused him to go blind for a day, but now he could barely feel it when it happened.
The next scheduled event was swimming with dolphins. These freshwater dolphins are famously pink and swimming beside them is apparently safe. We were promised that the big (arguably man-eating) aligators wouldn`t approach due to their fear of these scary dolphins; we could only assume it was the pink colour that got to them. Either way, when it finally came to it, all a little nervous dressed in swimwear, there were no dolphins to be found. The spot at which we were meant to find them was a section in the river much wider than anywhere else. As we sat in our boat waiting to see them arrive, large scaly crocodiles were clambering in and out of the murky river in every direction. After a while however, convinced by our Steve Irwin style guide, two members of our group chose to jump in and try the warm water. I wimped out, but after our piranha fishing the following day, I never regretted my decision. They launched themselves into the zero-visibility water and as their heads once again emerged they spun around frantically, their eyes darting to check that their scaly onlookers hadn`t made any significant movements. Luckily they had not, and as our guide had promised they came out unscathed.
The piranha fishing commenced the following day. We were each given a string of nylon with a hook attached to the end. Our choice of bate was not worms, but instead small chunks of raw cow, and it was incredibly effective. Within seconds of our hook hitting the water you could already feel a swarm of piranhas tugging on the string, and only a few seconds later the beef would be gone. They are cunning animals, never biting on the hook like fish back home, but with them attacking in swarms fishing becomes very easy. You wait for the swarm to attack, then quickly yank the string backwards as hard as you can. Odds are that one gets in the way and within an hour we had all caught between five and fifteen each. The little buggers had frighteningly sharp teeth and would bite at our fingers as we tried to delicately remove the hook lodged in their cheek. Then finally as we were finishing up, as our guide went to pick up a few loose piranhas flapping on the floor of the canoe, one finally got the bite it was looking for. Blood flowed from his hand. A large chunk, 2cm in diameter and a mm deep, had been removed from his index finger. The crazy guy merely laughed as one of the girls desperately tried to bandage him up. All I could think about however was that if one bite did that much damage, what could a swarm of them do in 30 seconds. And thus I am still very pleased with my decision to stay in the boat the previous day.
The morning ended with us tucking into our fried piranhas; absolutely delicious, but surprisingly little meat for such a carnivorous fish. I then headed back in time to catch my mini plane leaving from Rurrenabaque airport. Of course, I use the term "airport" very loosely, as it could better be described as a field (or opening between the trees) with matching shed. I was pleased to find a friend, Paul, who I had met a few days previous was also on the plane. We were both knackered and neither of us had showered in 3 days. We decided to do what any reasonable pair of gentlemen would do in this situation. We bought beers, ordered pizzas... then booked into the La Paz `Ritz´ hotel(http://www.theritzlondon.com/). At only $45 per night for two double beds, ensuite bathroom, a kitchen, mini bar and lounge with cable tv... it would have been a crime not to.
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