 SWIMMER BEWARE (Can a fish really swim up there?)
story and photos by William Jans |
Caveat emptor: Latin for "buyer beware."
I have a
new phrase for you...
Caveat natator: "swimmer beware." Everyone knows that the Amazon Jungle is filled with all sorts of little (and not so little) squiggly things that make for great nightmare fodder.
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Tarantulas, scorpions, and poisonous snakes are all over the place. There are 91 types of snakes in fact, 10 of which are poisonous vipers. The most notorious of those snakes is the bushmaster or lachesis muta, which translates as "the silent bringer
of death". It's the largest venomous snake in the world and
can lunge high enough to bite a man in the chest and haul him
to the ground - a bite hard enough to crack bones.
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Most of the jungle is nocturnal so in the daytime you can
fool yourself into feeling safe in your surroundings. I knew
about some of those "wee beasties" in the jungle, but the
animal that freaked me out the most on my trip was the
smallest - and it was not on land. The Cuyabeno River is one of hundreds of confluences that
lead into the mighty Amazon. It flows pretty steadily through
the jungle here, but you can get to lagoons where it seems to
be just as still as a lake.
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| If you are lucky you can see pink dolphins swim here,
or you might see giant anacondas sunning themselves in the
trees. You may even get to witness a 10-metre long anaconda
lunge and pull a monkey from a tree (rare to witness, but it
happens). The lagoon we boated through looked super warm and
inviting. It was such a hot day, perfect for a quick little
dip to cool off, 34 degrees in the shade with 75 percent
humidity. Your clothing never dries here. Why is it that still water seems so much safer? |
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The first thing you notice about this lagoon is that you
cannot see a thing in the water. Visibility is about 8 to 10
inches! The tannins of the trees leech into the water so much
that it looks like black tea. Probably the fact that you
cannot see a thing makes you oblivious to what could possibly
be in the lagoon. Should you swim in this water? Well, I guess it all depends on your tolerance. The locals were doing it, so I did too - despite the knowledge
of what was also in this "pond". Here's a list:
- 8- to 10-metre anacondas
- 6-metre alligators
- stingrays
- electric eels
- piranhas
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And then it gets real scary. It seems there is a
teeny-weenie fish in the water that (if you are not careful)
can swim up your urinary tract or can, in fact, swim up your
butt. Really. Truth be told, I did swim with my legs crossed for a bit
(as you can tell by my slightly more burdened breathing in the
video footage of my live show – or was I just
hyperventilating?). The photo of me swimming in this story is
one of the few times I uncrossed my legs.
I did manage to get out with all my appendages, and hope I didn't have any have any new internal visitors.
Safe travels from William Jans. |
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WHERE THE HECK WAS THIS: The Cuyabeno district is in the North East Part of Ecuador. It is a fair bit of work to get there… have your gravol ready for a 10 hour overnight bus from Quito then a 5 hour transport truck ride on a dirt road, then a 4 hour boat upriver to get to this wildlife reserve in the Amazon. |
| William Jans Vancouver-based photographer/ adventurer William Jans enjoys a cult following thanks to his multimedia travel shows about his absurd travels. If you might like to catch one his LIVE SHOWS in your city, register for updates on his website at www.wrjphoto.com |
