Some of the prettier sights that we
enjoyed on our daily fishing excursions were the beautiful plants
that made homes in the flooded timber. Left, a cactus blooms in
stark contrast to its gray and weathered host.
Some of the prettier sights that we
enjoyed on our daily fishing excursions were the beautiful plants
that made homes in the flooded timber. Left, a cactus blooms in
stark contrast to its gray and weathered host.
Here a tiny red bromeliad grows in
the top of a dead tree limb that fell close to the shore from
the jungle canopy.
In the distance an iron mine operates
along a hillside near Ciudad Piar about an hours drive north of
our camp.
Lush green mountains lay alongside the vast Llanos
or grasslands.
Above, Freddy our driver, motors down the river channel where we caught two payara. Behind is Freddie's wife's uncle in a dugout canoe. When asked if he had ever seen anyone flyfishing like Capt. Billy, in translation Freddie said "Yes, he had watched it on the Discovery Channel". That was a laugh considering Freddy's house has no air conditioner and no glass in the windows. He did have a TV. We guess the Amazon and Orinoco aren't as wild as they used to be.
Freddy has a cast iron stomach. It made us cringe when
he scooped up the lake water and drank it not 20 yards from this
commercial fish camp at our launch site in Nueva Fortuna. People
camped, cleaned fish, and went to the bathroom all within 100
yards of the launch area
Dugout canoes still ply the waters
of Lake Guri in search of fish. Nowadays they use 40 hp outboard
engines and gillnets. Two entrepreneurs tried to sell us some
lovely small green parrots they had trapped in the jungle near
the lake.
We want to say on behalf of Ron Sutton, Tyler Thorsen, and Capt. Billy Sandifer, thanks to our hosts, Larry Flak and his crew in Venezuela, for showing us a wonderful time. Below, Larry sails off into the sunset after catching the largest Pavon of the day.
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