Snorkeling for Caiman

 

Just kidding!  I would never snorkel in Caiman infested waters!  I did go Caiman hunting and snorkeling, but definitely not at the same time.  The crew had a planned excursion while we were still in the Amazon River; Caiman hunting!  

 We left on a party cruiser at 11PM and switched over to a small canoe-like craft about an hour later.  

 

 Our two guides spoke Portuguese, but thankfully Christiane our cruise consultant, who is from Brazil, was on our canoe and translated for us.  They drove us quietly down the river shining handheld flashlights towards the shore.  I thought that it would be a waste of time as I couldn’t see anything with their fading light, but then a gleam appeared reflecting the flashlight’s light back at us.  The Caiman’s eyes are reflective like a cat’s and light up like tiny little suns as soon as the light touches them!  We passed by one Caiman and the boat behind us pulled up to it.  Just a few minutes later, we spotted another.  We nosed up to the shore and our guide jumped out into the river and pulled us onto the beach. Crazy!  I was hyperventilating at the thought of dangling an arm over the water.  I think I’ve seen too many piranha/giant alligator movies.   He walked a ways down the pale sandy shore leaving us squirming in our seats trying desperately to follow his progress as his silhouette faded into black and his bouncing light grew dimmer and dimmer.  Suddenly, the light plummeted to the earth and you could see faint movement, but then nothing.  We all exchanged a wide eyed glance sure that our guide had met an untimely end.  Then, thankfully, the light returned to its former altitude and started bouncing its way back to us.  As he reached our craft, I saw with immense relief and a little chagrin that the Caiman he was holding wasn’t the gigantic 12ft beast I had feared, but a tiny cousin measuring maybe 2 feet in length. 

 I was completely at ease until he brought it into the boat for all of us to hold. 

 I went last and only due to peer pressure. 

 On a side note, my hair was perfectly straight when we had started this excursion. Hello humidity!  

 After we had our fill of gawking at and caressing this surprisingly soft creature, we turned our craft around and headed back toward our party boat.  Our in between was a floating gift shop where we got these; a wooden caiman whose tail you can move back and forth (very cool), and a recorder with piranha teeth!  I couldn’t resist. 

 

 After counting our fingers and toes and deciding we all had the same amount that we came with, we headed back to the ship.  This was definitely one of my favorite and most memorable excursions!