Day 7: Piranha Fishing and Frogging

Today I woke up early and went bird watching in the canopy. I saw a white-faced nunbird on the wire of the canopy walk.

In the afternoon, the Aquatic Stream Team went piranha fishing at Urco Miraño, a black water area on the Napo River. We took an hour-long boat ride and as we approached where the whitewater and black water meets, we saw pink and grey dolphins 🐬 swimming in the water. They were fishing just like we were!

Our first stop at Urco Miraño, Cesar taught us how to fish for piranhas and he caught the first one. He opened its mouth and showed us its sharp, pointy teeth.

I learned that once they bite on the beef (bait), you need to pull on the rod to let the hook catch into the fish’s mouth in order to pull it up. I almost caught two piranhas but they got away. Others were more successful than I was, but it was my first time fishing with a rod and hook. I was just happy to have this experience. We caught white-bellied and red-bellied piranhas. We also caught two “mojarras” or tetras.

On the way back, Marie air-dried her “pantalones apestosos” (stinky 👖 ) in the wind as we traveled by boat. Jeanne’s hat flew off. Cesar had the captain turn the boat around to rescue her hat. Marie held her hat up like the Statue of Liberty. 🗽

This evening I joined the Amphibian Survey Team. I found two froggies 🐸 this evening. I felt more successful about catching frogs today than I did fish.Read more