Expedition 2016 to Venezuela

JBL Expedition 2016 Venezuela

The Narrow Jungle River

Most rivers are easily accessible by boat, but this river gets narrower and narrower and has the tropical rainforest overgrowing it like a roof. Unfortunately visibility at the whitewater river Orinoco is very low or non-existent, which is typical for whitewater (the Amazon is another example of this). In blackwater rivers, by comparison, the water is tea-coloured and dark but the visibility is often excellent. So snorkelling in the Orinoco Delta was only possible at one spot where the water seemed to be clearer. Apart from that we could only catch fish with nets and fishing rods. Only a few of us had any experience with tropical rivers and the majority were a bit uncomfortable about entering the cloudy water in the middle of nowhere with someone fishing one piranha after the other out of the stream. Only after the first snorkeler had crossed the river alive and happy, did the rest bravely enter the water. They diligently fished with nets and catch nets. The fish were put briefly into a photo aquarium and then released into their habitat. Only the large piranhas were kept for dinner. The first water tests indicated, as expected, very soft water, measurable potassium and magnesium values as well as a pH value of about 6. You can find all our test results in the chapter “Research results”, where the GPS data of the single stations is also listed.