Bartolomeo Bove and his friend Juca Yagarape were diving in the clear waters of the Formoso River in Brazil one sunny July day. They didn’t expect what happened next—an encounter with a massive green anaconda. This snake, as long as a small bus and heavy like a big sack of potatoes, was calmly resting on the riverbed.
As they swam closer, the giant snake turned its head, flicking its tongue at the camera, its large eyes watching them with quiet curiosity. Then, it simply swam away, moving smoothly through the water. Bove, wanting to capture more of the snake’s peaceful swim, followed it.
The footage he got was breathtaking. It showed how the anaconda wasn’t the scary, dangerous creature many people imagine. Instead, the snake seemed calm and curious, not at all aggressive. Sometimes, it even came closer, gently licking the camera lens as if it wanted to learn about the strange humans watching it.
Bove, amazed by the encounter, shared his thoughts. He said anacondas are often misunderstood. “People think they’re aggressive, but they’re not,” he said, smiling. “The snake wasn’t bothered by us at all. It was just swimming, as if we weren’t even there.”
Bove explained that the clear waters around Bonito, where they were diving, are one of the few places in the world where anacondas can be seen in their natural habitat. The beauty of these rivers made it possible for them to experience such a rare moment with the giant snake.
Anacondas are the largest snakes in the world. They can grow as long as a school bus and are strong enough to squeeze the life out of their prey. But Bove showed that in the wild, these magnificent creatures are not the monsters people often think they are.
In the end, Bove was left with a deep respect for the snake, and a feeling that the world was much more gentle and wonderful than most people imagine.
