Have A Little Faith
Adventure Travel, Lost Girls RTW Adventure, Peru, Wildlife & Animals — By Holly C on August 27, 2006 at 6:53 pm
I left my backpack with the staff for safekeeping while visiting a jungle lodge 25 miles downriver from the Amazon city of Iquitos. When I got it back with my wallet and camera gone, it was hard not to draw conclusions.
Not wanting to accuse the employees, I ransacked my room before notifying my tour guide, Cliver. I vowed I’d keep the “missing” valuables a secret if they mysteriously resurfaced.
Cliver looked horrified and swore not even a coin had ever been stolen on the property. He looked behind the bar where bags were usually stored, reached into a locked box, and (voila!) pulled out my stuff.
Apparently, the guy working the previous shift removed them because the resident pet kinkajou-a marsupial resembling a racoon with a long tail-has a habit of going through guests’ bags and stockpiling goodies.
“The kinkajou has expensive taste,” said Amanda. Sure enough, I noticed my leather wallet was littered with teeth marks just as the little beast wrapped its tail around my ankle and nibbled on my pants. Only in Peru would a marsupial, not a person, be responsible for thievery. Sometimes real life really is wilder than fiction.
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2 Comments
I love this post! And I love the word “marsupial.”
Very cool pictures. I love travel stories.