By any means! Merida to Los Llanos

It was Wednesday afternoon and I had finished my week of Spanish lessons. It had been tough to be back in a classroom and my brain had difficulties absorbing yet another language. I was tempted to stay another week but it was time to go!

Paragliding near Merida is as cheap as you will ever find it so I decided to treat myself. We drove into the mountains and waited for the wind to lay down a bit. Before long we were flying over mountain tops, hanging with the vultures and scanning dirt roads for the bike. What a ride!
The mountains around Merida from above.

Who wants to go for a ride!?! What a road!
I spent some more time in Merida exploring the local market and a Guinness book of record gelateria, for having the biggest variety of ice cream. The corn ice cream was especially good. It was sad to leave this town but Los Llanos was waiting. Everyone was raving about this place. It should have an abundance of “rare” wildlife and it would be nature at its best. I told myself to take everyone's positivity with a pinch of salt as it would probably be very touristy. My guide and my travel companion from Spain, Jesus, drove ahead in a Toyota troop carrier that was ready for some serious off road adventure
My "support vehicle" guiding me to Los Llanos along this stunning road.

Heavy local traffic.
We stopped at a roadside restaurant and ordered half a kilo of meat. It was all you could get and it came off a big leg that was hanging over a grill. It was delicious! Back at the bike I found a little kitten that was eager for a road trip. I was tempted to take the little furball along for the ride.

OK, I'm comfortable. Can we go now!?!
It was a long ride though and as soon as we left the mountains behind us, the heat was unbearable. In a small town, we pulled over for a break. The bike was surrounded by people in no time. It was a good chance to practice my Spanish. After filling my “support vehicle” with ice and cheap beer (my Birthday was coming up) we raced to the farm where we would be staying. The horizon stretched further and further and colorful birds where everywhere. This was going to be good. The sun was setting and just before dark we got to the farm. It had rained and the muddy road was slippery as hell. Meters away from the farm, my rear wheel slid from underneath me and I was in the mud. Where is Azure when you need a picture!?!
The road was still good here.

This is when you start longing for dirt roads.

Green green grass as far as the eye could see.
The noise of birds woke me up in the morning. Walking out the door I found 2 parrots chasing a massive turkey around the yard. It was hilarious! I found myself on a small cattle farm with over 200 head of cattle. It was situated in the middle of nowhere. After breakfast we drove to a river to go for a safari by boat. The farmer, who was said to be one of the best guides in the area and was famous for finding massive anacondas, told us we were in for a great experience. It was all so down to earth and the landscape was just grass everywhere so I had dificulties believing it. We drove on to some farm land and headed towards some bushes. A muddy track took us to a river and there my eyes and mouth opened wider and wider. It was like driving into a zoo! A startled capybara ran off and dozens of different herons flew away. There was a caiman on every square meter.


Capybara

Caiman

Not A clue which bird this is but it sure was pretty!

We spent 3 hours going up and down the river. There were birds of prey, kingfishers, some kind of turtle that escaped the Jurassic Park movie set, piranha’s, strange birds and to top it all off, beautiful pink river dolphins that I did not even know existed. They loved playing with the boat and jumped out all over the place! If there is one negative aspect to traveling for a long time, it is that you get spoiled and are not easily impressed anymore. Well THIS was impressive! With a smile from ear to ear we left the river behind us.
One less piranha to worry about!


King Fisher

Check out those teeth!

Turtle from outer space!

Colorful heron
After lunch we went for a rooftop safari on the grasslands. It was interesting to learn that all this land would be covered in 10 centimeters of water during the wet season. Groups of capybaras, thousands of caiman and trying to find anaconda’s filled the magical afternoon.
Capybara family. The grown ups are protecting the little ones (and a bird) from the caiman. No lack of courage!

Every dot is a caiman...

He could not find a big one but he knew how to handle them. Would rather not have him disturb the animal but that was hard to explain.