Would you rather be eaten by an angry crocodile or have your boat sink? Or both?

Current location: SINAC station Palo Verde National Park, Guanacaste N10°20’52’’ W85°21’10’’

It would seem that the mama crocs have had enough of me poking around in their nests. The other day I was writing on my thesis and at one point I wrote, and I quote: “ At no occasion has the female crocodiles shown signs of aggression…” Today it was not so. For the first time, a moma croc seemed to be really pissed off with my presence and was doing a great job at showing it. Normally you can only see the eyes and the snout of a crocodile in the water, and as soon as they see you they dive down and disappear. This 4 meter lady was floating on the surface allowing me to see her entire body length, and made an impressive display of her teeth as she swam towards me and my inflatable dinghy. The other two nesting females who also have their nests there, were also floating in a manner of displaying their power, but did not come closer. The biggest croc was close enough. Needless to say I almost pooped my pants and pulled full throttle on the engine. The thing with driving boats in low tide in a river full of twigs and tree trunks is that one should drive slowly and always check your depth, you know, in case you run into something. If you have a 4-meter crocodile that swims towards you with her teeth clearly displayed, I can promise you, a broken engine is the least thing on your mind. And as one could expect, I did indeed run into a rock or a tree trunk hidden behind the muddy water. I kept driving. And as the law of Murphy has it all crappy things come in multiple of three. The boat later got a whole in it’s side due to transportation of what felt like an entire construction site in extremely choppy and windy conditions, that only a river with a 3 meter tidal difference could produce. Luckily for me the air didn’t really leak out until I had arrived safely to my destination. The previous time I went out the engine was close to dying, and Chema and me spent close to an hour fixing it (with much help from Torin, big thanks!). Those dirty spark plugs will get ya! But with the days chaotic events behind me, I can happily inform that the dinghy is being repaired, I am safe and sound, and I have officially finished all of my work in the National Park. Tonight will be spent wrapping things up and saying goodbye to some of the greatest people I have met during my stay here.

#crocodylusacutus #studentlife #angrycrocodile #mfs #MFSstudies #lindaeckardt #eckardtadventures