Amazon: Caiman Catching!

3/10

Last night was the. best. It's impossible to capture how cool it was with the photos we took.

We went caiman spotting. We left at 9:30 - after it had been dark for a long time. We were driving fast in the tenders in the dark with only a small light at the back of the boat and George's flashlight at the front. It was actually chilly outside, and the spray from the tender was misting my arm. On the horizon, there was lightning in the clouds.

It was surreal speeding through the dark on the river. It was scary and exciting, but not in the way fear can be lingering or disturbing. It was immediate and thrilling.

George told us he was planning to catch one and told us not to talk until he did. He started signaling with his flashlight for the driver to follow his beam. Once we slowed down, I saw what he saw - a caiman in the water. Immediately after I registered its presence, George leapt into the water - nearly on top of it - and grabbed it. I already had a mini-crush on George, and his bad-assness during all of this solidified it. He brought it back into the boat with him and held it aloft while he told us about her. This was a "baby" - still quite small and only 9 or 10 years old. She was a black caiman - the kind responsible for any (rare) attacks on people. Caimans live until they're around 90 years old, can grow to 5 meters long, and don't stop growing until the day they die.

George brought her to the back of the boat so we could see her teeth up close and touch her tail. Then, one by one, we went to the front of the boat to hold it and take pictures. Men could hold it by themselves, but women weren't allowed. Pshaw. Manda was so afraid to hold it. Everyone laughed at her nervous face and she went up there and applauded her when she held it. I held it last - it felt so cool! I could feel her breathing. I was surprised by how smooth her belly felt.

We finally released her back into the river and moved on. We found another type of caiman that never attacks people. We just observed it because it was nearly 5 feet long. We also saw a giant iguana at the top of a tree - we could only see its tail.

We were right in front of the forest, and we turned off all the lights, cameras, and the boat motor. We were plunged into darkness. After a time, however, your eyes adjusted somewhat and you could tell the sky was lighter. The blackest was the jungle in front of us. We stayed very quiet and listened to what George called the mystery of the forest. You could hear so much wildlife. It was especially spooky since we hadn't yet moved 10 feet from where we spotted the last caiman. This was really the only time when the Amazon felt like what I had imagined.