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Today we are in Santarem, which is one of the major cities on the Amazon. This will be the last stop on this massive river. For more information on this area click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapaj%C3%B3s.
One of the reasons we booked this circle South America cruise was to get the opportunity to check off some of our “bucket” list items. Margaret wanted to see Machu Picchu…I wanted to go to Antarctica and the Amazon. One of the things I really wanted to do on the Amazon was to fish for piranha! My brother is into fishing big-time…it is one of his favorite activities. I thought this was something I could do for him so he could vicariously experience this unique opportunity through me.
So, in an attempt to fulfill my bucket list, we decided to take the River Tour and Eco Maica Lake excursion, which listed “piranha fishing” as one of the activities on the tour.
We arrived at the dock at about 7:30 am and boarded the river boat for our ride up the Tapajós River to see their version of the Meeting of the Waters – here the Tapajós River (black) meets the Amazon (whitish-brown) – because they are different temperatures, densities and pH levels — the water takes a while to mix together. The locals like the darker water because it is a less hospitable environment for mosquitoes and it is also better to use for showers, washing dishes, etc. The native Indians drink the river water…but our guide told us we shouldn’t try it. No problem there – we’ve got plenty of bottled water from the ship!
We had some friendly dolphins playing near the boat as we crossed the lake and we were able to get some great action shots of them jumping and playing.
After we traversed the lake, we went down a tributary and got a glimpse into how the locals live. Most of the houses here are built on stilts as the river rises at various levels throughout the wet season. Those living along the riverbank spend their time fishing and raising water buffalo, chickens and children. It seems most of these folks have 6 or more offspring — our guide said they don’t have electricity, so that means no television which equals lots of children!
We even saw a herd of water buffalo cross the river — that was quite a sight!
Finally we arrived at the location where we would start fishing. We baited our hook with some raw pork and then dropped our fishing lines into the water. And, as is typical with fishing…we wait…and wait. Finally someone at the other end of the boat starts to shout “I got one! I got one!”. We all ran to see what he caught and it looked like it was a blue gill! We really thought it was a blue gill…so we were looking at it up close and holding it by the hook (fingers way to close to the mouth) and then we found out from one of the crew that it actually was a piranha! We paid it a bit more respect realizing it could have bitten our finger off! Thinking back on it I guess we should have known…I don’t think blue gills like raw pork…
We dropped our lines back into the water and waited some more. One of the crew caught another fish off the very back of the boat and then put both the piranha into a bucket of water to keep them alive. We thought this was “catch and release” so it didn’t make sense why they weren’t just throwing them back in…
Margaret made a suggestion that I throw a scrap piece of bait into the bucket to see the piranha “in action”. So I did and was promptly caught in the act by of the crew. But instead of reprimanding me…he baited a hook, dropped it in the bucket and handed me the line! So I actually got to check off a bucket list item by fishing for piranha in a bucket! The irony of it all…
And believe it or not – I still couldn’t catch one! (Hopefully my brother isn’t laughing too hard at me right now…can’t even catch a fish swimming around in a bucket!)
After about 30 minutes we pulled in our lines and started our trip back to the Mariner which included a water front tour of the city. About mid-way back we smelled something cooking and it turned out they were down below frying up the piranha (so much for catch and release) and it was good, it tasted like fish!
All in all this was a great tour — we got a good overview of the area and the fishing was a lot of fun.
Santarem Picture Gallery: http://travelwithdm.smugmug.com/Travel/South-America/Santarem-Feb-7-2010/25178591_H4XDGJ#!i=2065198260&k=DFsJnDD
Marlene Shirley - That was quite the fish story! I don’t know if Wayne was laughing, but I sure was. So was the piranha just not hungry or are you just really a lousy fisherman? Are they really not as agressive as they portray them in the movies? I thought of how funny it was that your “bucket list” fishing experience turned out to be in a “bucket”! Sounds like a grand time. Love, Marlene
Marlene Shirley - That was quite the fish story! I don’t know if Wayne was laughing, but I sure was. So was the piranha just not hungry or are you just really a lousy fisherman? Are they really not as agressive as they portray them in the movies? I thought of how funny it was that your “bucket list” fishing experience turned out to be in a “bucket”! Sounds like a grand time. Love, Marlene
Marlene Shirley - P.S. I love all of the pictures, but the dolphin one is my favorite. What a great shot!
AJG - hi there!! catching up on the blog using the LIFR methodology – Last In First Read – awesome adventure story and we loved the pictures of the action dolphin and the water buffalo crossing! what a never to forget experience, among many! love that you can share it with us – so we can live vicariously thru you too! PS – I’m glad we have electricity – 3 kids are a perfect quota!! XOXO Astrid and Ron
AJG - hi there!! catching up on the blog using the LIFR methodology – Last In First Read – awesome adventure story and we loved the pictures of the action dolphin and the water buffalo crossing! what a never to forget experience, among many! love that you can share it with us – so we can live vicariously thru you too! PS – I’m glad we have electricity – 3 kids are a perfect quota!! XOXO Astrid and Ron