Streamwalk Spotting
Four days after arriving at GVI base camp in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador, I got to go out on my first nighttime stream walk. I thought it would be the most amazing thing cause I would easily see so
many cool things. Well as the stream walked progressed I became very worried
that my eyes were not the greatest at night, as animals weren't popping up left and right as I had expected. But all was not lost, as, about 3/4 of the way though, I suddenly spotted a nice bright pair of orange
eyes peeping at me out of the water!!! To my surprise it was an amazing Smooth
Fronted Caiman (Paleosuchus trigonatus), such a beautiful animal, this was
defiantly a highlight of my stay at GVI Amazon!
After my first Visual Encounter
Survey (VES) it became a lot easier because I became aware of what to look for.
Night surveys and VES’s became my favourite type of surveys at the GVI program,
no doubt they are the most fun and you get to see so many amazing amphibians,
reptiles, mammals and birds. So what was the perfect way to end my
expedition here? Going out on my second, and last, stream walk and spotting a caiman
again! So amazing, and tops off my bittersweet departure from GVI Amazon, the
most amazing experience of my life so far.
Samantha
Jalabois, GVI Amazon volunteer, May 2012
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