Iguana Hunting in the Tropical Forest

This weekend we were invited to iguana hunting by our dear collegue, Ismael. Ismael grew up in a peasant family in the middle of a tropical forest. We had a long drive through an african palm plantation until we reached the river. We decided to start our hunt with a nice and refreshning swim. We jumped from a cliff to the river and tried to fight against its current.



Then it was time for iguanas. Here in Honduras they like the iguana meat, especially with coconut milk. The way to hunt it is going to the forest with a bunch of friends. One can find these animals on the top of the trees. When the iguana is found, the group gathers around the tree and makes some noise so that the iguana gets scared and falls down. At that point someone has to catch it from his neck and tail before it touches the ground. These animals are quite fast and strong so if you don't catch it then, well, you can forget it. We started to move silently all gaizing upwards. Every now and then we stopped and cut some coconuts or nuts to have more energy. Well, we didn't have luck this time. At some point we stopped the hunt and decided that we (read Ismael) try to get some fish from the river. Ismael put his diving glasses on and started to swim with a hook in his hand. That's how his family has been fishing for ages. At this point we all decided to get into the river and swam back to the starting point (about 2 km). The trip was full of laughter and exictment as we had to get off the water every now and then to avoid the small waterfalls that it had. We saw many fishes but in the end we decided to let them live.

Before heading back home, Ismael invited us to his home. He started to shout with a high voice "JJJIIIIIUUUU!". We stopped and listened how far away in this tropical forest someone answered with the same sound. Ismael's face lit up of happines and pride: "Those are my brothers!". We started to climp up the mountain following a small and muddy path. Every now and then Ismael called his brothers and they answered. First we were greeted by a hunting dog who saluted Ismael happily and checked the rest of us suspiciously. Suddenly, on the top of the mountain we saw two hamacas and a house made of mud with a palmleaf roof. Ismael's family welcomed us warmly and they invited us for a piece of "caña", the plant from which the sugar is produced. So we sat down surrounded by the family, hens, dogs, cats and...a monkey. The monkey, Jule (we called him Ismael), jumped to Manuel's neck and gazed the rest of the people a bit worried. Pauliina gave him a little bit of caña and soon after they sat together enjoying this treat. When Jule had his stomack full, he put his head against Pauliina's decolté and gave her a couple of sweet kisses. The sun started to disappear in the horizont, the forest started to sing a lullaby; it was time to leave. The moon gave us some light as we slided down the path back to our truck. We didn't get any iguanas but we did see some extraordinary places and people.