The region – which includes Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana – is one of the most pristine and unspoilt in the world. Small wonder that a few giants have survived, including:-
The region – which includes Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana – is one of the most pristine and unspoilt in the world. Small wonder that a few giants have survived, including:-
- The arapaima – the world's biggest freshwater fish – a lugubrious 'bearded' monster that grows up to seven feet long. The arapaima traces its ancestry back over 100 million years
- Here too are the world’s biggest ants, called Dinoponera Grandis.
- The giant anteater. Once known as the 'ant bear', it is armed with dagger-like claws. It's said that if a dog attacks it, the anteater will grab the predator, insert its claws, and open it up like a ripe fruit.
- My favourite of all is this creature; the giant otter (see photo). On the sandbanks of the Rupununi, they may look like a series of arches, slightly comical and ungainly – but in the water, they're like torpedos. Although strictly speaking, they're super-sized weasels, the giant otters were originally referred to as ‘water dogs’, and it isn’t hard to see why. They have huge knobbly paws and thick whiskers, and a bark like a foxhound. It's said they're always hungry and always hunting. Their high metabolism makes them one of the most voracious predators of all …
(for more on the Guianas, read 'Wild Coast: Travels on South America's Untamed Edge')
