Fishing for Piranhas in the Amazon Jungle

I caught a flight over the Andes to the city of Puerto Maldonado in Peru’s southern jungle! We had lunch on the river as we traveled upstream by a traditional Peruvian boat to our Rainforest Lodge. We spotted toucans and macaws along the way. After dinner we headed out to look for caiman, a member of the alligator family native to the Amazon. We scanned the shores with flashlights to see if we could catch the red gleam of the light as it reflects off of the caiman’s eyes. 

Our guide during our stay in the jungle waded into the water and literally caught one with his bare hands. We boarded a simple catamaran early the next morning for the best views of wildlife. While on the lookout, we spotted monkeys, giant river otter, and . . .

The Red Belly Piranha.

We all took turns fishing for some piranhas. Some people were really good and caught a bunch of them. The guide, not seeming to be afraid of ever losing his fingers, held one and opened its mouth so we could see its teeth. They were really small but I can imagine how  sharp they must be based on how pointy they looked. He held a big leaf in front of its mouth and it chomped it to pieces. It didn’t even swallow or anything – the bits of leaves just piled up in his mouth. Savage.

During some free time, I decided to try a 30 metre canopy climb with a rope, harness and jumar (a mechanical device used for ascending on a rope). It took me about 12 minutes to climb. It was a complete upper and lower body workout. Once at the top I had an amazing view of the jungle canopy. I saw hundreds of coconuts up there. I also encountered many spiders up there, too. Big ones.  The most nerve-racking part was the descent. I was terrified to scooch off the ledge out of fear of no resistance in my harness. As a joke, the guide sent me falling to the ground as fast as he could. It scared me shitless. Once back at the Lodge I had several Pisco Sour as a reward.