Float trips when offered should not be missed. Do not confuse this with white water rafting. Floating is done by drifting in a boat down a docile river to enjoy the scenery and wild-life, and also to access fishing spots. I have enjoyed doing so in Costa Rica, Venezuela, Chile and South Africa.
Floating may involve half day trips or longer trips of 3 or 4 days with camping, or rustic accommodation being provided en route on the river bank. Often inflatible rubber boats and canoes are used or the locals may utilize old wooden row boats. One of my most memorable floats was in Venezuela, being a 4 day 3 night trip on the Masparro and Apure Rivers which are upper tributaries of the Orinoco River. This "Los Llanos Tour" was organized by an Adventure Tour agent in Merida, which is a university city located in the high Andean region of Venezuela.
Our expedition consisted of 5 international backpackers and the local tour guide. Four of us traveled in an inflatible ex-army patrol boat and a guy and girl followed in a rubber canoe. Our guide sat in front of the boat acting as navigator while two of us paddled and the fourth rested in the rear. Although we drifted down river, much paddling was needed to maintain the best channel and so prevent running aground on a sand bank or ending up in a tangle of overhanging tree branches.
The weather was hot and humid and the river water warm and muddy with many shallow reaches. We carried our perishable food with ice in a large "esky" located in the center of the boat. My job was to dispense the Venezuelan national drink (iced rum and coke) to the crew members to keep them cool and refreshed. We carried five flagons of rum as fuel for the purpose, and this was included in our trip cost.
What of the fishing? When onboard and slowly drifting I dangled a bait (chicken bits) using my hand caster. Wow, very soon I had caught small piranha which seemed rather dangerous to handle and so were returned to the water. Later that afternoon we stopped at a fisherman's shack to string up our hammocks for the night. After an evening meal of barbecued chicken I tried my luck in the river using my spinning rod and weighted fresh chicken meat bait. Soon I had hooked a good fish and proceeded to slowly draw it in onto a sandy beach. It was a catfish of about a kilo size, but amazingly it had two 9 inch piranha fish attached to each side! Once hooked, the poor old cat fish had become live bait for the piranha. We grilled all three fish over the campfire. The catfish was good eating but the piranha was so boney there was hardly any flesh to eat. You would need a much bigger one to make it worth while, but the local fishermen do catch them. The catfish is the most prized fish and is sold in the village markets.
On our last day on the main river we were greeted by a pod of dolphins. These amazing river fish, about 2 meters long, grey on top with whitish pink bellies, came to inspect our craft by rubbing our bottom and then dashing off to frollick close by. They are protected by the fishermen who enjoy there appearance just as do the tourists.
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