Caura River Expedition Day 1 Dispatch
November 25, 2000: Entreríos Camp (Sampling Area 1)
People | Tools | Species | Issues
It was hot and humid when we landed in Entreríos and after a week's delay, the scientists were eager to get out into the field. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 2 Dispatch
November 26, 2000: Río Kakada (Sampling Area 2)
People | Tools | Species
I looked like a drowned rat for the four hours we traveled south up the río Erebato to the río Kakada through a driving rain. How does an unwieldy dugout canoe navigate five sets of rapids? Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 3 Dispatch
November 27, 2000: Caño Widikinne (Sampling Area 3)
People | Tools | Species
"There is a big hole in the net – maybe a crocodile or alligator," Franco told us, wiping his hands on his swimming trunks as he returned from pulling in the night's gill nets.
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Caura River Expedition Day 4 Dispatch
November 28, 2000: Äma kenä (Sampling Area 4)
People | Tools | Species | Issues|
We left at dawn and climbed the steep Raudal Pauji up to a beach and small creek Äma kenä within the Raudal Cejiato. The río Caura above the Salto Pará has 16 sets of rapids making it very hard to navigate in the dry season. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 5 Dispatch
November 29, 2000: Caño Fasakenü (Sampling Area 5)
People | Tools | Species
I chased an army of leaf-cutter ants this morning while we were waiting for the rest of the group to pack their equipment in the cuiaras. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 6 Dispatch
November 30, 2000: Salto Pará (Sampling Area 6)
People | Tools | Species
I am writing from a rock above the Salto Pará, which the Ye'kwana euphemistically refer to as a "rapid". Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 7 Dispatch
December 1, 2000: Raudal Culebra del Agua (Sampling Area 7)
People | Tools | Species | Issues
Bottles of scorpions and venomous snakes were piled on a shelf above the radio in the Entreríos meteorological station when we arrived. By the end of a week, we had all but forgotten about them... Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 8 Dispatch
December 2, 2000: Jadankwadü - El Playon (Sampling Area 8)
People | Tools | Species
"There are sting-ray here, and electric eels," Juan cheerfully informs me as we walk along the beach in El Playón camp. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 9 Dispatch
December 5, 2000: Dimosi sodü (Sampling Area 9)
People | Tools | Species
It was a rough day. We went as far up the río Tawado as we could – meaning that we all got out of the boats and hauled them up the rapids with a rope and elbow grease.
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Caura River Expedition Day 10 Dispatch
December 6, 2000: Wakawa Antadü (Sampling Area 10)
People | Tools | Species | Issues
"All off for crocodile beach!" shouted our boat driver. I assumed that he was joking until I saw two small, seven foot alligators slump off into the backwaters behind the island.
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Caura River Expedition Day 11 Dispatch
December 7, 2000: Estación Dedemai (Sampling Area 11)
People | Tools | Species
The leaf-cutter ants carried off one of our tents in the night. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 12 Dispatch
December 8, 2000: Travel Day (Sampling Area 12)
People | Tools | Species
We traveled down the río Tawado to the Nichare and stopped for lunch at the small town, Boca de Nichare, or mouth of the Nichare where it flows into the Caura en route from our last camp to our final locale on the Caura near Maripa. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 13 Dispatch
December 9, 2000: Kumaka Kujö (Sampling Area 13)
People | Tools | Species | Issues
"You can use piranha as bait to fish for piranha," Ernesto cheerfully explains as he slips a bit of meat – so fresh it's still moving – onto the hook and tosses it into the still lagoon-water. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 14 Dispatch
December 10, 2000: Río Caura cerca de la boca del Río Mato (Sampling Area 14)
People | Tools | Species
We saw freshwater dolphins out on the water yesterday. We were lucky because their backs are gray and they can be difficult to spot. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Day 15 Dispatch
December 11, 2000: Radual 5000 (Sampling Area 15)
People | Tools | Species
Winding down. The fish team spent the entire day in the sun, bending over tables the Ye'kwana had whipped together with saplings and lashes, breathing in formol as they packed preserved specimens in cheesecloth. Read the full dispatch >>
Caura River Expedition Report
Read a summary of the results from this expedition, including species found, new records, and conservation recommendations. Read the summary >>
Download the full report: A Biological Assessment of the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Caura River Basin, Bolívar State, Venezuela (PDF - 2.89 MB)