Saturday morning. Early. We meet our fellow travellers outside Extreme Adventures. There are to be 9 in total. Honza (sp?) from Czech Republic, Monika from Holland, Sara from Germany, Phillip and Susanna from Catalonia and Fanny and Geff from France. We were being lead by Tony Martin who is an expert in his field and from the plains of Los Llanos where we were now headed. We set off on our 7 hour journey in a Land Cruiser. A couple of quick stops on the way and Tony filling our heads with knowledge about the animals we were going to see the journey flew by (kind of).

Upon arrival we had dinner whilst being watched by many caiman (small crocs), a brief sing-song with the locals (actually we listened for one song and made our excuses) and an early night was had in our hammocks as the next day was to be a busy one. Our first morning on the plains and we set off in the Land Cruiser over some rough terrain towards the river. Normally in wet season this would not be necessary as 70% of the plains are under water. When we reached the boat the all loaded ourselves in and noticed we were being watched by caiman and crocodillos. After a while you start to get used to this and they become less threatening when you realise that they are more interested in eating the piranha that are in the water than you. As the boat made its way down stream we were passing so much wildlife you could not take it all in. We saw otters, caiman, turtles, all kinds of birds including hawks vultures and storks of every colour and shape. We are merrily looking on and photographing when the boat rocks violently as Tony launches himself fully clothed into the river and disappears. 30 Seconds later he reappears from the depths with a Side Necked Turtle that is most disgruntled. He dragged the reptile onto the boat and along with it a smell that I have never experienced before. He explained all about this species and how it sucks its fish to eat it, gave us all a chance to prod it and photograph it before returning it back to the water. It was then that we realised this was going to be a different sort of safari. After returning to the camp and eating some lunch the only thing called for was a 3 hour siesta in our hammocks as it was getting uncomfortably hot. Around 3.30 we left in the 4x4 to go wildlife spotting. Tony, having many friends in useful places, took us to an area owned by the university and protected from poachers by the military not usually open to tourists. due to this protection there is an abundance of wildlife. We were treated to close ups and distance shots of thousands of birds of all shapes and sizes, families of capybara, the largest rodent in the world, turtles and caiman galore.At sunset we stopped for watermelon and spotted some armadillo burrows and jaguar footprints.The landscape was grassland plains as far as the eye could see, dotted with watering holes surrounded with wildlife. Very impressive.

The next morning was time for horse back riding and piranha fishing. Katie caught a couple of big piranhas and was very proud, before enjoying the horse riding back to the camp. Paul got on the horse, then 100 yards down the trail, got off the horse and went back to fishing. He has vowed never to get on a horse again. Apparently they have minds of their own (who knew!...). After a roasting hot siesta we were back out in the Land Cruiser to spot further wildlife. This time we headed out to another area between two vast cattle ranches. The usual suspects were there, caimans, capybara, birds etc. The jeep screeched to a halt and Tony shot out of the passenger seat in chase of a turtle. This turtle could shift and it almost made it back to the water before it was plucked off the ground. After studying this reptile, just before he was about to be released it decided to get his own back and shot hot turtle urine into Tonys eye which Katie had to wash out as it burned. Note to self. Never hold a turtle at eye height. After watermelon on the plains and another amazing sunset it was time to cruise back for dinner. The jeep screeched to a halt again and this time 4 people jumped out to round up a giant anteater. They herded it towards us as we waited with our cameras. I just managed to snap a couple of pictures before it disappeared back off into the scrub. A ride back to camp on the roof and a superb end to a superb Safari.