Klaus Daimler's Journal
February 17, 2010
Shortly after my dive with Marco, I overheard an incredible rumor of some sunken ruins being discovered recently in the Amazon. I figured it would be worth taking a break from my exploration of the Ciceros Strait to see if this rumor held any credence. The only problem: I had no idea where it was or even where to start looking. Most of the folks that I was in touch with at L&L Diving seemed pretty occupied with something called the "Dragon's Song."
Just when I thought I'd have to find the place myself, Jean Cousteau—one of the guides working there—said that she had learned of the area through an old colleague. I scraped some money together and made my way out to Brazil.
Jean was friendly enough and very knowledgeable about the area. When we first started out in the midstream of the Cortica River, she was constantly taking pictures of every creature—big, small... or very small—that floated by. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I would have posed with the fish and said "cheese" just to find those ruins.
Still, I was beginning to think that she was more than a little crazy about the aquatic life surrounding us. She confirmed my suspicions of insanity when we came across some piranhas.
It's hard to see it there in that chaos, but she's actually feeding those things. I've got nothing against caring for aquatic life, but that just seems to be pushing it. Of course, I wasn't going to say anything to her, especially when the food started distracting them so we could safely swim by.
After the little incident with the fish from hell, we made our way to some dry land for a break. The water of the Cortica River is very muddy, but very shallow, so it makes sense to resurface every now and then to make sure that you've got your bearings. I'm not much for wildlife, but Jean sent me this nice picture of a parrot and I can appreciate good photography when I see it.
We then descended back into the murky waters and continued our way upstream. Moving through the river was starting to tire me, especially once we started making our way through the mangroves. After being chased by electric eels as a result of Jean's incessant fish noodling, I had just about had enough. I wanted to start heading back, but fleeing the eels had lead us deeper into the mangroves—where we promptly got lost. When we finally made our way out, I was pretty sure I could hear the muffled sound of rushing water.
Sure enough, we had come across a small waterfall. The sight of it reinvigorated me and we continued below, where I was met with a fantastic discovery.
Naturally, Jean went right for the big fish near the bottom, but this looked like the beginning of what we had come to find. I had no idea what this frog statue represented, but I knew there had to be some significance behind it, so I grabbed a quick picture of it.
We continued on into the ruins and I frantically snapped some shots as our oxygen started to run low.
Look at the exquisite detail on those wall carvings! Have you ever seen anything so breathtaking? Before we had to start heading back, I marked the important locations and I'm determined to make my way back soon. The entire area is uncharted and warrants significant exploration. I intend to be the one who does it!
Journal of Jean Cousteau
February 17, 2010
Holy cats, I barely finished up my first dive as a guide when I was suddenly thrust aboard a plane to South America! I was headed for an Amazon tributary river to meet up with one Klaus Daimler, a cartographer who's been providing maps for L&L. The senior folks at L&L have been preoccupied with some sort of grand mysterious treasure hunt and picked up some info about ruins in the Cortica River. When Mr. Daimler got wind of this he was on it like a shark on chum. Since I'm the only guide here not caught up in the Song of Dragons affair I was the one to hop a flight and meet up with him. Not that I minded, it was a great opportunity to catalog a few freshwater species, though they aren't really my focus.
We started our dive at a quiet section of the river. Visibility was pretty decent, though far murkier than what I like. These waters are home to plenty of predators and I prefer to see them coming. In fact, we didn't get very far before running into a large school of red piranha. Even though I know these fish have an undeserved reputation for ferocity, I couldn't help but think of every B monster fish movie I'd ever seen as I approached them. Sadly, I didn't get a photo since I was too busy feeding them from my bait bag. Better they bite the bait than me. No sooner did we scoot through that section of the river (unscathed!) when we encountered our next predator.
There were a lot of caiman in the water. I snapped this shot of mother and babies resting on a little island. I might have given Klaus a stroke when I moved in to take this shot. Thankfully, they didn't really bother us either. No, it wasn't until we hit the mangroves swarming with electric eels that we started having problems.
The water was much muddier here and it was difficult to move forward. You can't just push through these tree roots, you have to find a path, like running through an underwater maze... a maze full of swimming tasers. I've seen footage of an eel paralyzing the muscles of a caiman before and I didn't want to experience that firsthand.
We spent far too long working through the mangroves. Klaus was ready to chew nails with impatience, I couldn't blame him. It wasn't a total loss for me, though, as I did catch a shot of one of these!
This is the giant tadpole of the aptly named paradoxical frog. These tadpoles can grow to 10 inches, but the adult frog is only about a quarter that length; it literally shrinks when it grows up. I was still looking for the adult frogs to photograph for a size comparison when we finally reached the end of the mangroves... and Klaus was definitely not interested in hanging about. Around the river bend I could hear a waterfall. This would be the end of our dive, ruins or no ruins.
Well, let's just say Mr. Daimler didn't go home disappointed. Well, not totally disappointed, anyway. We did find what he was looking for, but ran out of air before he could thoroughly investigate. I have to admit, I'm not really that interested in archaeology, so I didn't spend the last of my air taking photos of old buildings. Instead, I caught a picture of this.
Curse my rushed photography, this was the best I could get as it flashed by, but I swear it was a giant golden catfish of some kind. I didn't get a good enough look to identify it and I can't think of any catfish that color. Dare I hope it's a new species? I had run out of air so there was no choice but to leave it. I'll be back though, oh yes.
February 17, 2010
Shortly after my dive with Marco, I overheard an incredible rumor of some sunken ruins being discovered recently in the Amazon. I figured it would be worth taking a break from my exploration of the Ciceros Strait to see if this rumor held any credence. The only problem: I had no idea where it was or even where to start looking. Most of the folks that I was in touch with at L&L Diving seemed pretty occupied with something called the "Dragon's Song."
Just when I thought I'd have to find the place myself, Jean Cousteau—one of the guides working there—said that she had learned of the area through an old colleague. I scraped some money together and made my way out to Brazil.
Jean was friendly enough and very knowledgeable about the area. When we first started out in the midstream of the Cortica River, she was constantly taking pictures of every creature—big, small... or very small—that floated by. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I would have posed with the fish and said "cheese" just to find those ruins.
Still, I was beginning to think that she was more than a little crazy about the aquatic life surrounding us. She confirmed my suspicions of insanity when we came across some piranhas.
It's hard to see it there in that chaos, but she's actually feeding those things. I've got nothing against caring for aquatic life, but that just seems to be pushing it. Of course, I wasn't going to say anything to her, especially when the food started distracting them so we could safely swim by.
After the little incident with the fish from hell, we made our way to some dry land for a break. The water of the Cortica River is very muddy, but very shallow, so it makes sense to resurface every now and then to make sure that you've got your bearings. I'm not much for wildlife, but Jean sent me this nice picture of a parrot and I can appreciate good photography when I see it.
We then descended back into the murky waters and continued our way upstream. Moving through the river was starting to tire me, especially once we started making our way through the mangroves. After being chased by electric eels as a result of Jean's incessant fish noodling, I had just about had enough. I wanted to start heading back, but fleeing the eels had lead us deeper into the mangroves—where we promptly got lost. When we finally made our way out, I was pretty sure I could hear the muffled sound of rushing water.
Sure enough, we had come across a small waterfall. The sight of it reinvigorated me and we continued below, where I was met with a fantastic discovery.
Naturally, Jean went right for the big fish near the bottom, but this looked like the beginning of what we had come to find. I had no idea what this frog statue represented, but I knew there had to be some significance behind it, so I grabbed a quick picture of it.
We continued on into the ruins and I frantically snapped some shots as our oxygen started to run low.
Look at the exquisite detail on those wall carvings! Have you ever seen anything so breathtaking? Before we had to start heading back, I marked the important locations and I'm determined to make my way back soon. The entire area is uncharted and warrants significant exploration. I intend to be the one who does it!
Journal of Jean Cousteau
February 17, 2010
Holy cats, I barely finished up my first dive as a guide when I was suddenly thrust aboard a plane to South America! I was headed for an Amazon tributary river to meet up with one Klaus Daimler, a cartographer who's been providing maps for L&L. The senior folks at L&L have been preoccupied with some sort of grand mysterious treasure hunt and picked up some info about ruins in the Cortica River. When Mr. Daimler got wind of this he was on it like a shark on chum. Since I'm the only guide here not caught up in the Song of Dragons affair I was the one to hop a flight and meet up with him. Not that I minded, it was a great opportunity to catalog a few freshwater species, though they aren't really my focus.
We started our dive at a quiet section of the river. Visibility was pretty decent, though far murkier than what I like. These waters are home to plenty of predators and I prefer to see them coming. In fact, we didn't get very far before running into a large school of red piranha. Even though I know these fish have an undeserved reputation for ferocity, I couldn't help but think of every B monster fish movie I'd ever seen as I approached them. Sadly, I didn't get a photo since I was too busy feeding them from my bait bag. Better they bite the bait than me. No sooner did we scoot through that section of the river (unscathed!) when we encountered our next predator.
There were a lot of caiman in the water. I snapped this shot of mother and babies resting on a little island. I might have given Klaus a stroke when I moved in to take this shot. Thankfully, they didn't really bother us either. No, it wasn't until we hit the mangroves swarming with electric eels that we started having problems.
The water was much muddier here and it was difficult to move forward. You can't just push through these tree roots, you have to find a path, like running through an underwater maze... a maze full of swimming tasers. I've seen footage of an eel paralyzing the muscles of a caiman before and I didn't want to experience that firsthand.
We spent far too long working through the mangroves. Klaus was ready to chew nails with impatience, I couldn't blame him. It wasn't a total loss for me, though, as I did catch a shot of one of these!
This is the giant tadpole of the aptly named paradoxical frog. These tadpoles can grow to 10 inches, but the adult frog is only about a quarter that length; it literally shrinks when it grows up. I was still looking for the adult frogs to photograph for a size comparison when we finally reached the end of the mangroves... and Klaus was definitely not interested in hanging about. Around the river bend I could hear a waterfall. This would be the end of our dive, ruins or no ruins.
Well, let's just say Mr. Daimler didn't go home disappointed. Well, not totally disappointed, anyway. We did find what he was looking for, but ran out of air before he could thoroughly investigate. I have to admit, I'm not really that interested in archaeology, so I didn't spend the last of my air taking photos of old buildings. Instead, I caught a picture of this.
Curse my rushed photography, this was the best I could get as it flashed by, but I swear it was a giant golden catfish of some kind. I didn't get a good enough look to identify it and I can't think of any catfish that color. Dare I hope it's a new species? I had run out of air so there was no choice but to leave it. I'll be back though, oh yes.