Cheeky Coati

I wasn't sure I would see anything as unusual as the Machu Picchu critter on the rest of my travels in South America, but that wasn't quite the case. After spending spent many hours on a bus, I made it to Puerto Iguazu, home to the mammoth Iguazu Falls. As I've mentioned before, the falls are breathtaking, and the national park is huge, so walking around and round and up and down really builds up an appetite.

I had a ham roll in my backpack and after spotting some picnic tables, my travel buddies and I took a seat. We'd seen the signs advising not the feed the coatis, and to tell the truth, I didn't know what a coati was (at this point, still not knowing what the Machu Picchu critter had been). I thought it was probably a bird, since there are so many signs at home advising not to feed the ibis. But the signs also proclaimed that coatis can carry rabies, but still, I wasn't sure what to be on the lookout for. As we sat under the shade of the big umbrella enjoying our sandwiches, we spotted something heading towards us. It was dark brown with white stripes and looked like a furry anteater. That was when we realised what a coati was. The critter changed its course and I grabbed my camera and chased after it, at a safe distance of course. I snapped a couple of shots and went back to the table to finish my lunch.

Suddenly, there were four coatis, circling the table like sharks. Now when a sign has told you to be wary of rabid creatures, you don't take that lightly. We'd pulled our feet up onto our chairs, and were waiting for them to get bored and go away.

Then this cute little one approached the table, so much lighter in colour than the others, and not menacing-looking at all. A couple of seconds after I caught this moment, it sprung up on the table, grabbed the remaining half of my sandwich, jumped off the table and sped off, the others hightailing behind it.

Greedy little thing!