On the Sandoval lake

After about 5 min of rowing through the canal, we reached the Sandoval Lake. Here we saw many termite ants flying in the air. This, Jorge told us, was due to the start of the rainy season. One of the termite mound was releasing these next generation of king ants. This is how they extend their reach and form new hills. There were a lot of fish jumping out of the water trying to grab them as well. Jorge told us that these were the Piranas.
There are 5 varieties of piranas in Lake Sandoval but none of them is aggressive. The red bellied piranas are normally the ones that are aggressive but only in dry places when the lake is drying out and they become the dominant of the species. They even become cannibalistic, eating each other to maximize the utilization of the limited oxygen supply in the drying lake. In Sandoval lake, they are not the dominant species so they are not aggressive.Read more