Sunday 21 May 2017

Coca – Swim with Piranhas! La Selva Amazon Lodge 6th May 2017


Saturday 6th May 2017

Coca – La Selva Amazon Lodge

Up very early – 5.30 start for breakfast, then donned our Wellies, and went for another walk through the jungle to eventually reach a clearing with an enormous Kapok tree. Next to the tree was a metal staircase which worked its way around the branches to a platform right up in the canopy. From there we spent a couple of hours armed with our binoculars and Jairo’s telescope to spot all varieties of birds and a troupe of monkeys. 

Once back at the Lodge we all messed around doing various activities.  Jude and I went for a swim in the lake – surprising warm, but with hot patches then very cold sections – like a thermal reaction for some reason.  Iain and I then took a canoe around the lake to explore the surrounds – lots of turtle basking in the sun on low branches, smelly turkeys, and lovely scenery.

Back for a three-course lunch made by an excellent chef, then the rest of the hotel guests disappeared and we had the whole place to ourselves for the remainder of the stay!  Seriously pampered service!  The afternoon was very hot and humid, so we swam again then entertained ourselves fishing for piranha in the same lake where we’d just been swimming!  Iain caught a large sardine, Gunna a large piranha and Terry caught the majority of fish.  I caught nothing but managed to feed the contents of the lake with my raw red-meat bait which was nibbled off as soon as it went in the water!

Another canoe ride up the river and we were lucky enough to see a troupe of monkeys leaping around the trees and eating any fruit in sight.

Over dinner it started to rain so we had a few drinks expecting the evening canoe ride to be cancelled.  It wasn’t, so in the drizzle, we started off on a 10person canoe – very wobbly and not helped by the wine we’d consumed. Also no life jackets so not the most sensible decision.   We were paddled around and saw lots of swifts and some bats, but not much else. No sign of any sloths. The rain got a little heavier so we called an early halt.

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