Bothering beasts

As you can see from the slightly strained smile on my face, that anaconda was suspiciously strong for a six-month-old. `Just point its head at the camera´ said the guide. Easier said than done, mate. Getting to see and handle these animals was the highlight of a trip to the jungle which, I am sorry to report, is really just full of plants and birds - neither of which I am particularly interested in. All the wild animals have been scared away by folk like me trampling through the place, trying to feel like Indiana Jones.

Exactly what the animals were doing at this `rescue centre´ was never made entirely clear. We were told they stayed for no longer than six months but it´s hard to imagine this sloth going on to survive in the wild after being swung around by so many people for so long. Why the animals needed rescuing was another question which was never really answered, although having seen the sloth try to walk from one tree to another I could quite believe it would need rescuing from a strong breeze. Not one of nature´s movers and shakers, the sloth.

This is a baby white alligator and I think the only reason it was sitting so nicely was that I was holding on to its genitals. Not on purpose you understand. It´s just that when someone hands you an aligator, you tend not to fiddle about with it too much once it´s in your hands.

Without a doubt, the cutest thing in the centre was a baby ocelot which was roaming around free and goading the reptiles. Again, the chances of this thing turning into an independent hunter after so many cuddles and free fish are pretty slim.