Another Time

The Iguazú Falls inspire a storytelling mode in me. I start imagining all the animals of the jungle gathered by the waterfall in the moonlight, like I’m reading a childrens’ jungle book.

The moonlight would color the heavily falling water an otherworldly shade of blue, and a toucan would fly by, quickly followed by two more…

Their colourful beaks catch the moonlight. Down by the lower part of the falls, a few monkeys are contently sharing a meal, though one of them prefers to stay soaking in a calm patch of the brown water. He knows the thundering waterfalls are at a safe distance, this is his favorite bathing spot. Occasionally, a sneaky coati manages to sprint by and snatch a piece of fruit. The jungle echoes with the monkeys’ annoyed warnings.

Meanwhile, huge, red ants the size of a man’s thumb march in a line on their own little path, meticulously carved by previous ant footprints in the red dirt.

The ants are silently being watched by a plump, black-and-green striped lizard…

The tourists are nowhere in sight.

*****

Inspired by an old pamphlet I saw at Puerto Iguazú, advertising a guided moonlight tour to the waterfalls which I unfortunately missed by several years. I’ve also been thinking of the amazing fact that there are monkeys in Iguazú ever since I read a post by a fellow blogger who’d visited the place a couple of years before us.

She’d seen butterflies, monkeys, and toucans at the waterfalls, while we saw almost no wildlife – except for lots of coatis and scarily gigantic ants (with strong-looking teeth). It was absolutely packed with tourists when we visited. To think that there are supposed to be even some jaguars there!

The post’s title was inspired by the Pic and a Word Challenge, featuring “Time” as this week’s theme. You could definitely call this dream world my happy place.

And, if you’re wondering what a coati is, have a look.