With Friends Like This…
Once upon a time I would travel to Arenal (as in the volcano) quite often…both for business and pleasure.
I especially remember one semi-pleasurable incident that took place on one of my frequent Arenal expeditions…
and which makes for another of my tall tales of Costa Rica Guy…
This time I was traveling with my back then frequent adventure companion, Yuri.
We decided to go check out the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, which is about an hour north of Arenal.
This is a place I frequently send my customers for wildlife viewing.
The tour of Caño Negro generally consists of a boat ride down the Rio Frio, where you can see all sorts of migratory birds, reptilians and other Costa Rica cool critters.
Speaking of reptilians, they generally come in two notable kinds…well, other than the snakes…crocs and caimans (the latter being a miniature version of a croc).
Even though my customers were enjoying Caño Negro on a frequent basis, I myself had never witnessed the place.
It was indeed full of the wildlife that it’s famous for.
It’s also very close to the Nicaraguan border. That means that Nicaraguan beer can be bought (these days they sell it everywhere) and Yuri, being a patriot of that country, insisted that we take a cooler full on the boat ride.
So, while we oohed and aahed at all the cranes, crocs and caimans lurking on the banks of the river, we also managed to down quite a few Toñas.
As we headed back to the dock, out of the corner of my eye I noticed Yuri whispering in the ear of the captain. I really didn’t think anything was awry at the time…
I was wrong and that would become momentarily evident.
I didn’t have a chance to repel his move and went flying into the Rio Frio…right in there with all those crocs and caimans we had just seen lurking in wait for a gringo lunch to come floating by.
At least that was the first thought that crossed my mind after I gathered my senses.
I began to try to swim back to the boat, but the current was too strong…and the distance between me and the boat kept growing.
So, instead I start stroking with all my might toward the river bank.
After several minutes of fighting, I finally made it to a point where I could get my footing on the river bottom.
At that point, drowning had overtaken my fear of being lunch.
Yuri and the conniving captain had made it to a river side bar just up ahead and I slogged through the muddy bank to make it there myself.
When I finally reached the place I made a b-line for Yuri and shoved him up against the wall…I was not a happy camper.
That didn’t go over too well with the bartender and I quickly decided to simmer down a bit.
I inquired as to how it was possible that my friend had pushed me into a river full of crocs and caimans. He assured me that the captain had informed him that where he made his move there were none to be found.
Well, that made me feel a little better.
We all had a beer and a laugh about the whole event and carried on down the river.
I don’t see much of Yuri any more these days since moving to Perez Zeledon…
but, needless to say, with friends like this…
you might end up in the river.
image credit: Tambako the Jaguar via Compfight cc
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