The thicker canopy meanders along
the various rivers and canyos that wind through the area south
of the Orinoco River. Left is a canyo in the middle of an afternoon
rainshower common in the tropics during the rainy season which
runs May through August on the northern side of the Equator. Click
on any of the small pictures to see the large version.
The Mango trees lower left are everywhere in this country. There are many varieties which become ripe at different times of the year. Some are sweeter and some are more fibrous and starchy and better cooked. We sampled some from this tree outside our penthouse in Anaco lower right and they were great.
Here we pass over the Orinoco River
near Ciudad Bolivar on our way to the camp at Nueva Fortuna on
the southwestern edge of Lake Guri. Lake Guri is the seventh largest
reservoir in the world. At full pool it is 90 miles long and 25
miles wide. The scenery is spectacular with orange dirt, palm
trees and green hills and large granite outcroppings tossed in.
Other areas south of Anaco looked similar to south Texas with Acacias and mesquite-like trees and Columnar Cactus shown at lower left. Slash and burn agriculture seen below middle is still a common practice although much of the land in the area is now devoted to cattle with Brahman cattle being the preferred variety in the area. At right, a squatter sets up shop on a gorgeous island in Lake Guri. We came to call this place Gilligan's Island. One expected to see Maryann bringing in a coconut cream pie at any minute. The slash and burn field is right across the channel from Gilligan's Island. The farmer was raising corn, plantain( a starchy variety of banana) and Yucca root another root similar to but harder than a potato.
Top left is an Ivory Falcon. The photo in the middle is a Savannah Hawk, a very common hawk around the shores of Lake Guri. At right is a Southern Lap Wing seen feeding close to shore. Scarlet Macaws greeted us every morning as they chattered on their way to the feeding grounds high in the canopy around the lake.
Caimans above, also cruised the coves of Lake Guri. One larger specimen hit one of Ron Sutton's lures but fortunately for both it shook itself loose.
A large Iguana was seen in the top
of a tree along the shoreline of a river west of our camp. This
is one of the camp iguanas retiring under the shed after a Tropical
Mockingbird does as all Mockingbirds do - harass anything that
gets near its nest.
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