Consider adding these adventures or other thrilling experiences to your next trip. When friends or family ask what you did on vacation, you’ll enthrall them with something more captivating than relaxing on the beach. When the water recedes in the dry season, many fish are trapped in small pools without food. “This is when they’ll attack animals and humans,” said Marco. To our surprise, he jumped into the water for a swim. He emerged unmolested, but his splashing scared away the piranhas. We gave our catch to the boatman to bring home for dinner. “They’re delicious, but we eat them with our fingers to feel for tiny forked bones that can lodge in the back of our throats,” he said. Even cooked piranhas can be dangerous. Barb & Ron Kroll publish the trip- planning website www.KrollTravel.com We Deliver! Wintering in Florida? By Individual Driver Door to Door or Truck For more information about our services call: We pick up your vehicle from your doorstep and deliver it to your winter destination… and get it safely back home when you’re ready. www.torontodriveaway.com The Premier Driveaway Service in North America! I n t e g r I t y • h o n e s t y • c o u r t e s y 416-225-7754 Toronto Drive-Away Service Nationwide Inc. TrusTed since 1959 Piranha fishing Razor-toothed piranhas can reputedly reduce their victims’ bodies to skeletons inminutes. Our Amazon fishing guide Marco attempted to reduce our trepidation. “Not all species of piranha in the Amazon are carnivorous,” he said, but we were skeptical as we watched our boatman chop chunks of bloody, red beef for bait. Withinminutes of tossing our baited hooks overboard, we pulled up several small, but feisty, red-bellied piranhas. Marco carefully removed each fish and impaled it on a stick. He explained that we were travelling over a flooded forest. “Between January and June, Andes meltwater overflows the riverbanks and covers the trees. Fish gorge themselves on submerged fruits. Because the piranhas have full tummies, they’re not dangerous.” Climbing an active volcano Looking over a concrete barrier, we gasped at the sight of a hole that was so enormous it could swallow three Roman coliseums. As the orifice belched white clouds of sulphur gases towards us, we and dozens of onlookers simultaneously coughed. Located in Nicaragua’s Masaya Volcano National Park, the 635-metrehigh Santiago crater has been permanently active since 1946. Black lava fields from Masaya’s first eruption in 1772 frame a paved road to the crater’s edge. From here, we climbed 184 steps to a lookout to view the glowing lava below. Santiago’s 500-metre-wide crater dwarfed the buses and cars in the adjacent parking lot. We weren’t surprised to learn that the Spaniards erected a giant cross at the summit in 1529 to exorcise the devil. They believed that the crater was the entrance to hell. CSANews | FALL 2021 | 25 Travel
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