ARCAS

When I awoke we still had a few hours remaining of daylight and Lori wasn't fixing to waste them. She had read in one of our guidebooks about ARCAS, a wildlife refuge across the lake from us that houses animals rescued from the black market and she rallied us to go see it. As it was only accessible by boat, we hired a boatman for about thirty dollars to take us there and back.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption=""Excuse me, kind sir. Might I trouble you for a banana?""][/caption]

After we arrived at the ARCAS visitor center, were we escorted around to various cages by a pretty uninformative, gentle-seeming man. First stop was the monkeys. I don't know why, but there is something innately funny about monkeys. As soon as we arrived at they came right up to us, even sticking their hand through the cage like little beggars. After that was an assortment of birds including one that looks like a turkey and which I hear winds up on local menus from time to time. Next was my favorite; a kind of boar called a "chancho de monte" which means literally "mountain pig". I found these funny as well. They had tiny little feet that the placed ever so delicately when they walked. Judging by their demeanor, one might have mistaken them for royalty.

Next came something I will never forget. I real live jaguar mere feet away. As we walked up, it was in the far corner from us and it began to check us out. As we talked to the guide and asked questions, it stood and began to pace a little, its huge paws spreading out against the soil on the floor of its cage. Then without warning it lunged at Beth. She about jumped out of her skin. I would have too if it had been me. Judging by the rate at which it covered the distance between it and ourselves, we probably would have been toast if not for the cage. "It really wants to hunt," remarked Lori.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Hungry for BETH!"][/caption]

After the jaguar came more birds and number of deer. The deer we clearly quite tame, following us along the trail and scratching their antler against the cage. There was one deer that had to be kept apart from the others because they kept picking on it. We learned that the animals are quarantined at ARCAS and then released after forty days. Lori and I both wondered how much of a head start they give deer before releasing jaguars.

After about an hour and a half at the reserve we said goodbye and went to the dock where our boat was waiting. We trolled back to Flores with the waning daylight painting pale blue and pink swirls on the lake dotted every few seconds with a flash of lightning.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Lori and Beth on the boat"][/caption]