Llanos - the land of giants part 1

Leaving the Amazon was a big tug on the heartstrings but there again it’s been like that everywhere. I've made so many friends, some of them fellow travellers but most of them locals who just seem to take me into their hearts, I feel so welcome everywhere I go but as they say home is where the heart is and heading north to Venezuela, it now feels like I'm starting to make my way home. Before I get home though I have many gob smacking experiences ahead not least of which is getting into, through and out of Venezuela. Heading north out of Brazil and into Venezuela by bus should, in theory, be a pretty uneventful event, and to an extent it was. The problem lies with the route I took through what turns out to be bandit country - yes that's right the last hundred kilometres to the boarder is evidently very lawless. About 1,000 sq klm of northern Amazonia has been handed over by the government to Indigenous Indian tribes who are basically autonomous and set their own laws. Excellent you may think, I know I did, but the only trouble with that is that they live deep in the jungle far from the road I was travelling, which leaves a corridor of what is essentially no mans land in which bandits are known to operate. This essential piece of travel information didn't come to light until the bus was well on its way and had stopped at a service station for a pee stop. As we got back on the bus the driver made an important announcement telling us about the bandits and instructing us to keep the windows shut at all times and put our passports in a safe place. I remember just smiling to myself and thinking "yes Ropper this is your life - every day is an adventure" I really wasn't that bothered, thinking that this route is travelled daily by buses and lorries - it can't be that bad or the authorities would be doing something about it, and I had seen soldiers on route. It was only when the driver informed us that four soldiers had been found dead not too long ago with poisonous darts in them that I really started to feel uneasy. It turns out that they were not on our road but deep in the jungle searching for Bandits and had gone into an area that they weren't permitted to. Still worrying though as I had the blowpipe that I made in the jungle, stashed away in my rucksack somewhere in the hold of the bus. All's well that ends well though and the trip to the boarder went off without any signs of trouble and it was reassuring to see lots of armed soldiers all along the route. The boarder crossing was a surprisingly simple one for South America but the journey to Boa Vista took a lifetime because we were stopped so many times by the army. Every time they stopped us they checked our passports and searched the bus for what, don't know but they weren't very friendly looking so I resisted smiling and making wise cracks, though it was hard. The less said about Boa Vista the better, it's a really unwelcoming town full of armed men who look menacingly at you as you pass. The armed men in question, apart from soldiers and police, were security guards, every shop, bar and street corner seemed to have one, I couldn't wait to get out the place. As a first impression of what to expect from Venezuela, was not a good one and the next town I stopped at, Santa Helena, did nothing to change impression. Fortunately, Cuidad Bolivar, was better and after all I was heading for the next "must do" on my itinerary - Angel Falls. To get to angel falls I first had to go to Canaima which completely changed my opinion of Venezuela. Sleeping in my hammock in a purpose built shelter, beside a Lagoon with several impressive waterfalls roaring out a constant reminder of nature's untameable power, and Monkeys, Toucans and hummingbirds acting as though I wasn't even there, was another one of those " if my mates could see me now" experiences. The flight over Angel falls two days later was to say the least disappointing, It hadn't rained for some time and the volume of water flowing over the falls was at an all time low reducing it to a trickle and the flight itself was just a quick fly past giving you no time to take in the immensity of the 1 klm drop.

To get to Colombia, across Venezuela, it's almost impossible to avoid the Llanos, a vast area of flat lands that flood during the wet season literally turning it into a huge lake and wetland area. Not to visit the Llanos whilst in Venezuela would be akin to not visiting the Amazon when in Brazil, it's one the worlds unique wildlife havens. The rainy season had not yet started so the plains were reduced to many rivers and smaller watering holes which in turn meant fewer places for the wildlife to drink and a greater concentrations of animals in smaller areas. Reading about this place in books simply can't do it justice; the wildlife that lives here is like an A to Z of rare endangered species. It's great being in the middle of nowhere if you know where to go, so how the devil was I going to know what direction to take or what to look for when I arrived somewhere - the answer lay in a guy called Allan, an entomologist, born of British parents in Barbados. Allan had come to the Llanos 20 years ago in search of new species of butterfly and has been wandering the Llanos ever since. Allan's knowledge of the Llanos and its inhabitants are well known in the area, having a new species of butterfly named after him and having been enlisted several times by film makers to catch Giant Anacondas for documentaries. Never promising anything for definite, Allen told me that we had a chance of seeing a Giant Anteater, Giant River Otters, the worlds largest Rodent, Pink River Dolphins, Alligators, Scarlet Ibis and so much more. I couldn't be sure whether or not he was full of bull but what the heck if I see a small percentage of what he tells me is out there I'll be as happy as fox in a hen coop. On our first day of travel I was told to keep my eyes peeled for Giant Anteaters, a huge dog like creature with an enormous bushy tail and a snout like Barry Manillo. Allen’s record, so he told me, for seeing these elusive creatures was five on one day. It was a beautiful morning (6am) when we set off and it wasn't long before my tally of bird species was up in the thirties with 5 kinds of Heron, Whistling Ducks, Egrets, numerous birds of prey, Spoonbills, Swans and yes, the prize of them all for me, the fabulous Scarlet Ibis and all before breakfast. Our first sighting of a Giant Anteater followed soon after and I'm sure Allan made more noise laughing at my frenzied excitement than I did leaping up and down and babbling incomprehensibly whilst acting out a simulation of a simpleton having an epileptic fit. These things are huge, impressive creatures, about the size of a Shetland pony with a tail the same length as its body and twice as bushy as Basil Brush's and a snout to put the fear of god into even the bravest of ants. As if all this excitement wasn't enough for me, Capybara (the world’s largest rodent) were just another half hour away and then two more Giant Anteaters, then huge eight foot Caiman (type of alligator) then another Giant Anteater, then a huge freshwater Electric Eel, then a fifth Giant Anteater! Equalling Allan’s record - I'm hyperventilating just writing this report - I'll have to stop for a cup of tea.

Slurp slurp slurp etc. etc. .................................................................................


I'm getting strange looks of the other people in the Internet cafe; god knows what sort of web site they must be thinking I'm logged on to???


Back in the land of Giants now, as dusk was approaching and we headed for a village to spend the night, totally unexpected and unusual enough to get even Allan excited, we walked past a small lake about the size of Tynemouth Boating lake and Allan suddenly grabbed me by the arm and put his finger upright in front of his mouth whispering shush, his eyes as wide as a psycho. What he had heard was a Giant River Otter calling to its young. We crouched in the grass for a few moments while Allen made the call of a young Otter in distress. Within minutes two adult and two baby Otters were there in front of us, apparently standing vertical in the water and scanning the surrounding area in a similar way to that of Meercats. Absolutely incredible - these beautiful rarities are enormous and this must count as one of the most moving experiences I have ever had. At the village, after a meal, I suddenly realised I hadn't eaten a thing, I'd been to busy enthusing to everyone about the day I'd had and the things I'd seen, they must have been thinking "will he ever shut up or even take a breath" but they were to polite to say anything they just sat smiling at rantings. I could have been excused to think that I had just experienced one of the best days of my life but Allen had other ideas, a boat turned up that Allen had arranged to meet and I was to go out in search of Alligators and Giant Anacondas - in the dark, is this man mad?.
I'm going to leave you all hanging for the time being as there is a boat awating to take out to the Galapagos Islands for ten days so I’ll try to update you with part two when I get back to dry land - watch this space I hope it will be worth waiting for.


Symmy thanx for reminding me that I haven't told you all the passport tale yet - I'll probably keep that one till I get home, its a beauty.