Los Llanos
The Llanos is a region of Venezuela that is full of wildlife and much more. We were on safari at the Hato El Cedral, a 130,000-acre cattle ranch in the middle of the Llanos - central Venezuela's seemingly infinite floodplain of rivers, marshes and prairie. The plains fizzed with aquatic wildlife and dense flocks of birds. But, hidden somewhere, was the mother of them all: the giant anaconda.
The Llanos covers nearly a third of Venezuela - a mind-boggling 240,000 square miles. It's a kind of surreal Norfolk Broads without cabin cruisers.
Tales of the near-mythical status and size - as much as 20ft in length - of the anaconda had fired our imaginations. The llaneros, the cowboys of the plains, describe how the monsters devour cattle whole with a single bite, after first intoxicating them with a deadly gas.
But it was Lebsky who sent our anxiety levels soaring. He told our small party - which included a French family, and Sara and Antonio, a likeable couple from Bologna - that hunters had killed a huge anaconda in Venezuela's Orinoco Delta the previous month; on cutting it open they found the body of a man.
I preferred to concentrate on the anaconda's usual dietary predilections as I scrambled down the levee to join Lebsky by the pool. They are partial to deer and capybaras - which they constrict, suffocate and gradually digest through distended throats - and can survive for months between meals. "I hope we find one that has eaten recently," said Antonio, a food-hygiene biologist. No one laughed.
Lebsky was right. A huge female anaconda was coiled asleep by the shallows of the pool (the females are the Amazons of the animal world, growing to five times the size of their male counterparts).
Casting aside their wellies, Lebsky and our driver, Victor, splashed across the boggy ground and emerged wrestling the anaconda. It was like a cheesy scene from an episode of Tarzan, only the snake had momentarily forgotten the script. She had seen them coming, and had started to slip into the pool's turbid water. She was no match, however, for our dynamic duo. Lebsky took a firm grip behind her head and Victor grappled with her midriff as the lower portion of her body began to coil powerfully.
They needed an extra pair of hands, which proved to be mine, as the Italian couple were changing a film and the French contingent refused to leave the truck. I grasped at her soapy skin and was soon sporting several tightly wrapped loops around my forearm.
Eventually I managed to wedge her tail underneath my armpit, and we unfurled the 14ft anaconda like a scaly pennant. Her strength was impressive; the convulsive tremors surging through her body were palpable.
It was impossible not to admire her. Despite the truculent curses issuing from the pinky-white depths of her mouth, we were able to examine closely her beautiful markings of olive bands with ringed custard-yellow dots that resembled false eyes. Her middle was swollen, but not with the remains of some macabre meal - she was pregnant, and would shortly bear up to 75 live young.
Given her condition, and our tiring arms, we released her back into the pool and, none the worse for her ordeal, she skulked beneath the lily pads.
We returned to the homestead for lunch. Guests stay in a neat compound that backs on to the main corral. The comfortable cabins are shaded by an almost continuous canopy of ceiba and mango trees, and clustered around a central swimming pool and a dining room dressed in crisp white table linen.
The cook's bell summoned us punctually. Beef was served at every meal: shredded for breakfast, steaks for lunch, bourguignon for dinner. But what else could I expect? This was a working ranch, and the llaneros who maintained the 17,000 head of cattle were genuine cowboys.
Owned by the Rockefellers in the 1950s, the ranch opened to tourists about 13 years ago. The abundance of the wildlife stems from the inhospitality of the landscape and a gritty cattle industry that makes few demands of the land. There are 1,200 anacondas on the ranch, the birdlife is possibly the finest in South America, and the rare and widely persecuted Orinoco crocodiles are making a tentative recovery.
After staging a mini-rebellion at the prospect of yet more beef, Lebsky suggested that we fish for our dinner. Close to the compound we boarded a motorised launch and were soon skimming along the silvery channels between islands of grassland that had been marooned by the winter rains.
As we drifted close to the riverbanks, turtles would belly-flop into the water, and at times the shallows heaved with egrets, ibises, spoonbills and herons. On the banks spectacled caimans, a species of crocodile, struck static poses - jaws agape, offering just a modicum of menace.
Victor soon landed the nose of the boat on a sandy bank and dished out fishing lines. The quarry was piranha.
Known as caribes - meaning flesh-eaters - they are an abundant, popular food source. On cue, Victor produced the bait - a tender cut of beef.
He was the first to land one. The piranhas were larger than I expected, the size of a saucer, with distinct halves of apricot and silver. They were lean and bony, so we needed to catch several each to make a decent meal. That was no problem as the water around the boat soon bubbled unnervingly.
The guests proved inept anglers; the only bites we got were from opportunistic mosquitoes. Fortunately Lebsky and Victor saved the day.
Dinner secure, we returned home just as the sun was losing its enthusiasm for the day. Close proximity to colossal serpents, crocs and flesh-eating fish had added bite to this magical place. They say in this region that if you stare hard enough you can see the curve of the earth. In the Llanos, I felt that anything might be possible.
written by ESTELLABranch35, September 06, 2010
-
- +0
-
-
written by supranzshoes, September 29, 2011
UGG Adirondack UGG Alto
uggs botasWhen you're in the corner and have got no cash to get out from that point, you will require to take the personal loans. Because that will help you unquestionably. I get bank loan every time I need and feel good just because of it
UGG Bailey Triplet botão
-
- +0
-
-
written by The Bolivarian Patriot, October 04, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by gucci handbags outlet , October 26, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by north face apex bionic jacket, November 02, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by ugg outlet, November 12, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by ugg boots uk, November 12, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by Quality Replica Watches, November 24, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by North Face Winter Jackets, December 12, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by cheap nike shoes, December 26, 2011
http://www.cheapnikeshoesb.com/ This is a very nice article, perhaps the best I’ve ever seen Their Causes, and of course everyone’s opinion is not the same, and this can only represent my personal opinion, but it is very important to me I like it. Of course, this is very grateful of the efforts for it. Thank you! michael kors outlet http://www.mymichaelkorssoutlet.com/
-
- +0
-
-
written by tory burch boots, December 26, 2011
We have been reading the articles on your website and are very impressed with the quality of your information. Perhaps this is one of the best posts that I have ever seen. Interesting post, keep it up!
-
- +0
-
-
written by michael kors handbags, December 28, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by ugg classic short boots, January 03, 2012
-
- +0
-
-
written by breitling blackbird replica, January 15, 2012
-
- +0
-
-
written by rolex swiss, February 04, 2012
-
- +0
-
-
| Next > |
|---|