The little river that we were on is called a "black water river" which was different to the big one that we came most of the way on in the canoe. The difference is that the main river comes from up in the mountains and as a result of its long steep descent, it ends up carrying a lot of sediment and is pretty well permanently a milky brown colour... and has relatively low visibility due to the turbidity. But, our little river is much smaller, and though it is quite long, it originates in the lowlands and thus does not get the same tumbling ride down the mountains and it carries far less sediment.
And in the rainy season, these lowland rivers (that flow more slowly than the big ones) have lower banks (not cut as deeply due to the slower currents) and they overflow and flood out into the surrounding jungle. And this flooding covers the jungle floor and all the accumulated leaf litter which is washed into the river and lines the bottom...
And it is pretty well composted and all the natural tannins and organic colour from this stain the rivers waters to a dark coffee brown... It looks opaque when you are floating along in the canoe, but if you go past a dead tree in the water you can see down along the trunk, that its not got sediment in it... Its just the "leaf tea" that is making it look dark...
And its in these "black water" rivers that Piranha like to live... I dont know for sure but I assume its because they are carnivorous and they like to get access to the jungle when the river overflows because of the greater supplies of "fresh meat"! And Id also guess (now that Ive seen one "up close and personal" so to speak) that they are visual hunters because they have quite large (and very red) eyes that probably dont work very effectively in the turbid waters of the main river.
Anyway... When we first got to the jungle camp, we were told that it was fine to go swimming off the dock so long as we dindt go too far out where the currents were strong. And due to the heat, I fully intended to go have a swim one afternoon during siesta...
Note the "was"!
Because on the day we went fishing, we didnt have much luck. We went off in the canoe and they took us to good spots for piranha but it was wet season and the jungle was flooded and the fish were dispersed and apparently well fed. We tried several spots and it was the same story each time... We would drop our lines in the deep still shady places and within a minute or two we would get a couple of good strong nibbles... But we failed set the hooks despite our best efforts and we brought up nothing... Actually, when we did pull up the hooks, I was surprised to see how much of the chunk of tough meat that Id bated the hook with had "gone missing" with just a moderate "tug".. Clearly these guys had good sharp teeth!
.. But, that was all the evidence I got of their existence because despite having some skilled fishing people on the boat, we couldnt land one.
So, as dinner time approached, we eventually headed back to camp.
And as we tourists went to our huts to drop off cameras and hats etc, one of the camp staff decided to cast his line off the swimming dock and he immediately pulled in a good sized piranha!
I dont think it was any surprise to him at all.. I think they often catch them there!... Im just a bit amused that they tell us that its fine to go swimming there...
But I figure they know what they are doing so its probably safe like they say it is...
But as safe as it may be, that little experience seemed to dissipate all my swimming desires for the rest of the trip! :))
But I am glad to have seen the piranha ... It had a very nice set of very sharp serrated little teeth...
It also had beautifull big red eyes, and very nice iridescent dappling of purple and red colours on its sides...
And about an hour later I found that it also tastes quite nice, though it has relatively little meat on its very solid little bony body :)
... And that was the last we saw of Piranhas!
