Anacondas in Venezuela 2005

It’s something like 7 o clock in the morning and I have already had a hearty breakfast of platanos, eggs and cheese. I’ve seen the huge orange sun rise up over the plains and, as I crawled out of my hammock, found a curious, spiky green caterpillar beneath me. At home, I don’t achieve anything much before midday. In Venezuela, I am standing in a swamp, heart in my mouth, searching for anacondas.

It’s one of those things you do when you’re on holiday, although you’re not really sure why. Propelling yourself over a cliff edge or scaling a lofty mountain suddenly become more appealing when they are handed to you on a glossy flyer or sold to you by a ruthless tourist tout.

Something like 15 minutes passes before we here a cry from the small group of llaneros "ANACONDA!!!" I watch with fascination and fear as these young, wild-looking boys begin to wrestle with the 7-metre-long reptile, calling at us to come closer. In our group of about 7 or 8, each of us manages to hold a section of the 120 kilo creature which, shedding skin, leaves a souvenir on my back.

To cool down and clean anaconda skin from us, we are taken to a river to swim, which meant propelling ourselves from a 4 metre high rock in to the murky waters below. I felt ashamed of my fear as the accustomed, adventurous "tour guides" back flip and dive bomb in to the pool. I breathe deeply, screw my eyes shut and launch myself into the air, landing with a splash. I felt relief flood into my body until I looked up and realised that the rest of my group had declined the chance of a dip, electing instead to lance nylon wires, barbed with meat into the waters. I wondered what they were doing until I saw the wire pull and a razor sharp toothed piranha struggling as it is pulled out of the water.

I don’t know if I’ve read about this somewhere but, is it a good idea to swim in piranha infested waters? Night falls and out come the musicians, playing their famous jigging music, jorope. The young llanero who has been undressing me with his eyes will not take no for an answer and we are first up on the dance floor. It’s actually quite fun and fuelled by enough shots of rum, the company claps and cheers as we dance for hours, quite the stars of the evening. He looks my deeply in the eyes and asks me if he makes me nervous, saying that he will protect me from the anacondas and crocodiles, when what I need most is protection from him. Declining his offer of an "adventure" under the stars, I go to bed giggling. Next stop... Isla Margarita. I am in need of a few pina coladas to soothe the aches and pains of my time in the wild.