Wednesday – Santarem & Piranha Fishing on Lake Maica
Today we arrived in Santarem, in the Para Region of the Amazon, and I was on tour again.
After breakfast, I was down on the quayside for just gone 9am, along with about 7 other tour escorts drafted in to take care of the enornously popular excursion that is billled, quite simply, as ‘Piranha Fishing on Lake Maica’. Mine was the first boat to be loaded with passengers, a bonus for two reasons; firstly, just as we’d finished loading my boat, the heavens opened, and everyone on the quayside got right royally drenched (we were under cover). The other reason came later; being the first boat to leave meant we were also the first boat to return, meaning everyone on my boat (including me) got to Marco’s ahead of everyone else, for lunch.
The trip started out quite rocky. The rain persisted for a while, which made the first part – a viewing of the meeting of the waters – a little uncomfortable. Some folks sat huddled in their waterproofs, looking quite dejected and wondering what they’d signed up for. An early sighting of some pink dolphins seemed to perk them up, though, and as we headed past the town of Santarem, towards the area known as Lake Maica, the wind dropped, the water calmed down and the sun came out.
Lake Maica is an area festooned with small waterways. There is a lake there of sorts, but with the rising and lowering of the waters, there are only a couple of times in the year when it might be seen as a lake in the traditional sense of the word. Our guide (who received the second ‘Excellent’ of the cruise from me… and I NEVER give out ‘Excellent’s in my escort reports), told us that there are only two seasons in the Amazon; a Dry Season and a Rainy Season. The rainy season lasts from about October through until April; at its height, the river would be another 3 or 4 metres higher than we were seeing it today, a height visible as a dark watermark on many of the trees we could see alongside the river.
We potted along, enjoying the sights of traditional houses on stilts, with boats tied up alongside, waving at their occupants who waved back, as they went about their business. We saw water buffalo, horses, and domestic fowl and pigs, and on a couple of occasions, we saw monkeys high up in the trees, a couple of sloths, and lots of egrets. We saw other birds too, but no-one on board my boat seemed to be able to identify them (we needed a ‘birder’). When we finally arrived at the appointed location, a member of the three-man crew jumped out and tied the boat up, nylon fishing lines wrapped around flat pieces of wood were handed out to everyone, the hooks already primed with small lumps of meat, and we proceeded to try and catch piranha.
I didn’t start out well. I managed to get my hook caught on the blue plastic sheeting around the edge of the boat, and couldn’t for the life of me break it free. Fortunately, one of the crew saw me struggling with it and freed it so that I could continue in my quest for fish. Unfortunately, my fishing skills are, frankly, rubbish, and I didn’t catch anything. Not only that, there wasn’t a great deal of nibbling or tugging going on, either. Some people did catch fish, though; our boat caught a grand total of four… two piranha and two catfish. Despite the title of the tour, the fishing is only a small part of the experience. It’s a bit of fun, nothing more, with some quality wildlife spotting thrown in (although, bizarrely, the Shore Excursions team still received an official complaint from someone that they hadn’t caught a piranha).
It’s one of my favourite tours, which I’ve had the fortune to be able to escort on several occasions before. Although the weather looked like it was going to spoil things at the very start, it soon settled into the excursion that I hoped it would be. Disappointingly, though, I didn’t see an iguana this time around (one of the other boats did), and I’m still waiting to spot an annaconda.
After lunch, I went for a walk into Santarem.
With the current wintery weather, such as it is, back at home, I’m unlikely to ellicit any sympathy if I tell you that I managed to get myself a bit sunburnt this afternoon. The walk into Santarem, which takes about 25 minutes, is quite exposed, with very little in the way of protection from the sun; I did wear a hat and carry water with me, though.
Just before the fish market (which is only open in the mornings, and closes at lunchtime), there’s a large area of rough trees and tussocky grasses, alongside which there are always lots of interesting old boats moored. As on previous occasions, there were locals working on their boats, fixing them up, or baling them out, and as I looked across the rough area, I noticed a large green lizard shoot across a patch of sand, and I figured it might be worth climbing down there and having a closer look with the camera. Needless to say, I didn’t see any more lizards, but there were several large birds that seemed agitated at my presence, and proceeded to dive-bomb me. Recognising the behaviour from a trip to the Farne islands last year with Tracey, I realised that they were probably nesting in the ground around that area, and were simply trying to protect their young. I bid a hasty retreat and continued on my way into Santarem.
There wasn’t a great deal to see in the town. I looked in the cathedral and meandered around the markets, and then started to make my way back. I found Susan and Rebecca (the Shorex team) in one of the small bars along the waterfront, and joined them for a couple of beers before heading back to the port, with 15 minutes to spare (all-aboard time was 5:30).
The day seemed to be over before it had begun. We’re on our way again, with our next scheduled stop being Boca Do Valeria, tomorrow.
