![]() ![]() One of South America’s most elusive mammals decided to model for us. And that’s when the armadillo did two glorious things: I made eye contact with my guide Fred (who was as excited as I was) to see if we could possibly walk through the forest to find a better angle than the butt shots we were being treated to. We crested the hill and watched as the giant shuffled right down the trail. My clients shuffled out of the boat at my urging, and I hastily swapped lenses, ditching the long 600mm for my 100-400mm zoom while simultaneously pocketing my 24-70mm and grabbing my flash. As our boat pulled up, we saw the armadillo walk up into the forest, passing within a foot of the people that had spotted it and radioed the sighting in. The only question was whether we could move quickly enough to catch up to it. The armored, prehistoric-looking insectivore-the size of a medium dog-was waddling up the bank and into the forest. We approached the far bank and… whoa, there it was! It was only another 200-300 yards going the other direction from the lodge when we slowed. As it turned out, we didn’t have far to go. So you can understand why I was getting antsy as we sped back down the river. You never hear about giant armadillo sightings because they’re nocturnal, live in largely-inaccessible environments, and have wide territories. Unlike other “rare” creatures like the snow leopard, wolverine or Harpy eagle, there’s no reliable place to go see a giant armadillo in the wild. The only photos I’d ever seen during my travels were from trail cam footage recorded by scientists tracking jungle cats. If they do it’s usually at night (the majority of images found online are taken at night, or feature captive animals). But IUCN notes that the population is declining and the species is “rare where it occurs.” The fact is that people almost never see them. Why was it a big deal? Well, the giant armadillo may not technically be endangered (it’s listed as “Vulnerable” by IUCN), and it’s found over a large swath of South America. If anything, the giant armadillo was too obscure to joke about… and that’s when I knew he was serious. But then I thought, “why would anyone joke about a giant armadillo?” If someone’s going to tease us about a rare wildlife sighting, they’d mention a Harpy eagle, or black jaguar… some big name prize that we always joke we expect to see on trips like this. In stilted English he mumbled, “giant armadillo.” I looked back at our guide from the lodge who was manning the motor. We’d barely gone 100 yards from the dock when suddenly our boat was turning around. ![]() We had already seen a nice variety of species, including several birds and some mammals I’d never encountered before. On the docket? Anything from caimans to monkeys to otters to macaws. One afternoon, we left our lodge in Brazil’s southern Amazon to explore the Cristalino River. Here’s the number one moment from the trip. Stay in the loop by following Giant Loop on social meda! Check out GL feeds for great photos, exciting videos, event updates and more! Check out our pages on Instagram, Facebook - and visit our YouTube Channel.Last week I published five of my top six wildlife encounters during my recent Brazil photo tour. (Allowed usage depends on local laws, rules and regulations in the countries where Armadillo Bags are being used– click here for more information.) ![]() Each inner reservoir is individually pressurized and tested at the factory, and finished Armadillo Bags are subjected to multi-point random testing and inspections… The included plastic pour spout conveniently stows away in a pocket on the outer sleeve. Webbing daisy chains run the length of Armadillo Bags to prevent them from sliding out from under tie-down straps. Webbing and rubber-molded handles provide easy anchors to hang the reservoirs while filling and installing the included pour spout, and to grip the bags while dispensing liquids. Employing a two-layer construction, Armadillo Bags feature an RF-welded inner bladder contained within and protected by a highly abrasion resistant sewn Cordura® outer sleeve. ![]() Named after the tough desert dwelling Armadillo (“little armored one”) that rolls into a ball to defend itself, rugged expedition-ready Armadillo Bags are designed for the safe temporary storage and transport of a broad range of essential automotive and powersports fluids. The super rugged, lightweight, collapsible convenience of the Giant Loop Armadillo Bag Liquid Power Reservoir! Giant Loop brings it! Armadillo Bag pre-order - FIRST BATCH SHIPS NOVEMBER 22! PRE-ORDER NOW ![]()
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