As the rosy glow of sunrise backlights the arid hills, a tired tamandua trundles across the dirt road. It is exhausted after an endless night of tearing up termite mounds and evading the many cats that stalk the footpaths of Hato Pinero. Nearby, the penetrating cries of awakening Scarlet Macaws herald another dawn of vibrant life on the llanos of Venezuela. A typical day at Pinero runs the gamut from photogenic Sunbitterns and Spectacled Caimans at the waterholes to stealthy Ocelots on their nightly rounds on the sprawling ranch.
Transportation is a large flatbed truck driven by a sharp-eyed local hand.
Mid-afternoon on the ranch is torrid, so you are given ample opportunity to relax, do your notes, or catch up on your sleep. The ranch is larger than most Ontario counties, so there is little fear of seeing it all in a day. My favourite walk covers a few of the waterholes, where Yellow-knobbed Curassows stalk the underbrush edging the ponds, uttering their bizarre calls that sound like the whistling of bombs dropping. If you enjoy flycatchers for the masochistic challenge they present, then this place is for you. It would take weeks to explore the many facets of Pinero, and it is certainly a destination worth returning to.