Shark-Infested Waters

I dreamed I was nominated board president of the International Snake Society. I also dreamed I was the only person conscious on a small plane that was crashing; then I died and the police drew an outline where my body had splatted.

This morning we paddled a few miles up Rio Sirena in a metal rowboat, working against the tidal current. We rowed past two huge crocs and a caiman, and watched two sharks pass beneath us.

There were stretches of shallow rapids through which we had to push the boat. As we splashed along calf-deep I asked Lewis, “There aren’t sharks or crocs here, are there? “Shouldn’t be,” came the dubiously reassuring reply.

At the junction of Rio Pavo we beached the boat and hiked upriver a while and found tapir tracks, which are shaped a little like lotus flowers.

Lewis found underwater treasure. He called out, “Care for a spot of tea?”

While wading across a narrow section of river we hit a deep channel and sunk up to our waists. “Are there caimans here?” I wondered aloud. “Shouldn’t be,” answered Jill.

On a sandbar were hundreds of newly metamorphosed frogs and hundreds of the most interesting seeds I’ve ever seen.

Back in the boat we saw white-throated capuchins leaping around the canopy.

Jill and Lewis suggested I disembark for a closer look. While I tried to take pictures on shore, they accidentally drifted away. I haven’t been seen since.

I don’t mention avian life much because I don’t know from birds, but reliable sources tell me we’ve seen kingfishers, tiger and blue heron, ibis, scarlet-butted tanagers, and maybe the grey-headed kite and mangrove blackhawk.

On our night-tour we startled a red brocket deer (which we couldn’t get a picture of), and the royal “we” found two beautiful, opalescent sock-headed snakes, a kind of click-beetle that glows, and a gecko.

We’ve failed in our dedicated search for boas, coral snakes, glass frogs and fer-de-lance.

Lewis is a nice guy, but insane:

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