Tourists have pictures taken with anaconda

Jairo Felix can introduce tourists to some denizens of the jungle that are cute and cuddly.

And another that may be cuddly in one sense but may not seem particularly cute.

Tour guide Felix is based in the interior Brazilian city of Manaus, considered by many to be the heart of the Amazon, and his tours can take people to a nearby Tuyuca Indigenous village, whose inhabitants are happy to show visitors some of the creatures they and their ancestors have shared the jungle with.

Those creatures include adorable-looking sloths and monkeys.

And then there’s an anaconda…

Tourists are invited by village residents to pose with the massive reptile, generally considered the world’s largest snake.

Intrepid tourist Panagiotis Lampropoulos was among those who cheerfully had his picture taken with the serpent, with he and a fellow visiting Greek grinning while the apex predator was draped over their necks and shoulders.

“It’s heavy and it’s huge,” Lampropoulos said after posing with the constrictor, which he said had a scaly feel to it.

‘I’m still alive.”

Felix suggested villagers probably caught the anaconda after it had just fed, when it would have been sluggish.

It would be kept in a penned area when visitors aren’t around.

Those visiting the community — reached by boat — will see a cultural performance, can have traditional Indigenous facial paint applied and gain insights into life in a jungle setting.

And that life includes serving as a home to a massive serpent, which jungle explorer Felix said didn’t stack up in a particularly impressive manner compared to a much larger anaconda he once spotted in the wild.

“It’s just a kid,” he said of the one the tourists posed with.