Loco

One of our Marineros was named 'Loco' (translation: Loco) and if you had ever met him you would know that the name was appropriate. He was a Panamanian, about 16 years old, five feet tall and weighed next to nothing, but could he climb! He was never afraid of anything. One day while headed up the river with two boats-full of tourists, he spotted a very large, six foot iguana sunning itself on a large branch that hung out over the river. The branch was at least 50 feet above the river. "Iguana!" he screamed. This was a good reason to stop the show, and we pulled over immediately to the bank.
Loco went up the tree so fast that if the tourists weren't paying attention to it they missed it. Loco got up to the tree limb with the iguana and he started inching out onto the branch. The iguana sat there, sunning itself, like nothing was happening. Suddenly the iguana looked up and saw Loco coming out onto his branch, who by now he was just a couple of feet away and inching toward the beast. This surprised the iguana, I am sure he had never seen anything like Loco before on his branch.
So the iguana jumped straight off the branch and floated down through the air toward the river.
It was like the whole event happened in slow motion.
As soon as the iguana jumped, Loco jumped!
He floated down toward the river just a few feet in the air behind the iguana. Both were gliding through the air at the same time. Loco hit the water right on top of the spot where the iguana had hit the water only a moment earlier. When he came up he thrust the iguana into the air, held above his head in both of his hands. All the tourists broke out in applause, as if this had been planned.
Iguana is a delicacy in the Darien. Everybody loves to eat it, and there is a surprisingly large amount of meat on a six foot iguana. Everyone says that it tastes like chicken (they say the same thing about snake meat). The real treat is finding a nest with eggs. The eggs have a soft shell that is a little leathery. They are just a little bit smaller than a chicken egg. You boil the eggs for about five minutes then let them cool. Then you take the egg and bite a little hole in the end of it. When you squeeze the other end of the egg the contents just pop right into your mouth. It is delicious. That night, of course, all the tourists ate iguana, compliments of Loco.