And....... ACTION!

I was boating up the river from Katoka, thinking “what wealth to me the show had brought.” This, and any river trip I take, I can look at the water and water edge and see fish jumping, caiman floating, turtles posing, maybe a capybara drinking. I can look at the trees and see iguanas basking, birds perching, monkeys frolicking, snakes wrapped around a branch. I look at the tree tops and see birds of all kinds perched, I look in the sky and see birds in flight; swooping and landing, soaring and gliding…

As I take in this magnificent display (that is different every trip I take) with a bit of reverence, this time, a more errant, sarcastic thought passed through my mind: do you think animals are maybe strategically displaying themselves for passer-by’s? Maybe they all have a one-animal show going on, or maybe there’s one big director. They all have roles they choose to play – or maybe it’s a Scenes From a Hat kinda gig, or a rotation. Whatever the selection process, they all have roles, like The Majestic Display, The Startled Retreat, The Docile Indifference, The Playful Interactive, The Statue…

The crane hears the boat coming and thinks to himself, “They’re coming! Here they come! Ok, Majestic Display, on three – swoop down, almost touch the water, make sure your neck is extended…. and land. Pose for effect… ok, that’s a wrap. I think they loved it. I am SO graceful…. Hey everybody! Come and see how graceful I look!”



Then there’s the caiman, with its head poking up out of the water, supposed to play the Startled Retreat role: “Ok, they’re coming, they see me, they don’t know I see them, ok, they see me seeing them, let me give it a second to think about it…… ok, and duck down – smooth like butter, it’s like I’m disappearing into thin air, that was great, just like a magician! Ok, they’re gone; I’m comin’ back up for air.”



The great big neon green iguanas who somehow all seem to ‘coincidentally’ get the Docile Indifference role- though all the other animals are sceptical they didn’t somehow roll the odds in their favour so they could all just lay lazily on the branch of the tree and soak up the warm sunshine and call that work.



I don’t think the monkeys would mind that though, because most of them probably prefer the Playful Interactive role, as they really are good at working WITH the audience and they love to have a good time anyway, even if it means they are a little too attention-seeking.





Certainly too rambunctious for the old granddaddy caimans who generally get The Statue, simply out of their intimidating presence. “I am a goddam prehistoric legacy and I don’t have to acknowledge your presence in the least, you homo sapiens. You just sit there, with your dulled eyesight, wondering if I am a log or not and I will stay here, unmoving.”

Then what about those animals who play The Tease? They must love the power they hold in their hands – strike that: paws, claws or wings - making the humans crane their necks, waiting for long moments, whip out their camera only to put it away because they missed it – only to bring it back out again because of another re-sighting. The jabiru stork thinks “Ooh, here’s a boat coming, I see cameras. Ok, I’m gonna turn my back to them for a few seconds, let them see my profile….. ok, they’re reaching for their cameras, get ready for it… they are focusing….. ok, fly off NOW! Muah ha ha ha.”



Quite a venue for an afternoon matinee. “And now, presenting, Mother Nature’s directorial debut in Rupununi River Drifting, a story of nature and all its eclectic inhabitants accommodating sightseers.”
(all these pics, except for the one of the iguana, were taken by RLI Volunteer - and my roommate - Matt Hallett.)