Throughout most of South America, the chances of a traveler seeing anything more terrifying than a few ants or large stick bug is remote... But in the Amazon, creepy crawlies tend to be larger than life. The world’s largest rainforest is famous for everything being LARGE. Coincidentally, just recently an enormous spider was discovered in the Amazon! The following is taken from the blog The Smaller Majority of the discoverer, Piotr Naskrecki and I don’t think we can sum up the discovery better than he did:
“A scientist trekking through the Amazon rainforest made a goliath discovery when he stumbled on a bird eating spider ‘the size of a puppy’.
Piotr Naskrecki, an entomologist, said he heard the creatures footsteps before he even saw it. ‘I could clearly hear its hard feet hitting the ground and dry leaves crumbling under its weight.’ It has as a leg span of almost 1 foot and weighs up to 170g (Approx 0.4 pounds).” The Spider is none other than the Goliath Bird Eating Spider, and I'm sure you'll sleep better tonight knowing that this is one spider you'll hear before you see it! Brazilian Amazon Travel Ideas
By Don Forster
Born in Australia and raised in Canada and Papua New Guinea, Don took his first solo trip to Bali – aged just 13. Since then, Don’s travels have taken him to every continent. He’s been a backpacker in Asia, Europe and Egypt, an overland adventurer in East and Southern Africa, and an overland driver in South and Central America. He is especially fond of Peru, Patagonia and Namibia, though his longest adventure to date has been a London to Kathmandu run via the Middle East.
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