A Stream Walk from Two Perspectives

Tim:

We had started off by hiking through the jungle with just our headtorches to light the way. I jumped into the stream for the much anticipated Stream Walk and found myself up to my knees in water – this was saying something as I’m pretty tall. The water reached Reena’s waist but then she is really short.

Within five minutes of slogging upstream we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by Shreve’s Keelback Snakes forcing us to a standstill as they swam around our ankles (Reena’s knees). I could tell it was going to be an exciting night. Throughout the night we came across a variety of amazing wildlife. The Fishing Spider was my personal favourite – it was about the size of my hand (Reena’s face). These spiders patiently wait for some innocent prey to seize their silken lure and then they pluck them right out of the water! If they were accidently knocked into the water by a clumsy volunteer (Nick) they would bound across the water at great speed with hilarious consequences. I’ve travelled a lot and seen a lot but never experienced anything like this.

Reena:

I have likewise never experienced anything like this stream walk although it must be said that I wasn’t that excited about the spiders; one crawled up my back making me scream. I probably scared away all the animals but it was fine once I realised that it wasn’t going to eat me. The Coral Snake on the other hand might have done...it was amazing to see this stealthy serpent sleeping so soundly! By the way I’m not that short, Tim is freakishly tall.

That aside despite our differences; I’m a small(ish) girl from England that hates bugs and Tim is a lanky Australian (who for some reason loves everything that crawls), we both had an amazing experience wading through water that would eventually end up as part of the great Amazon River and we can’t wait to do it again.

p.s. Hi Mr. February, Hi Tim and Liz’s mums. xx

Tim Schwinghammer - GVI Amazon volunteer. January - February 2012

Reena Bhavsar - GVI Amazon long-term intern. January - June 2012

A Stream Walk from Two Perspectives