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!

Cluck and Whistle

This is one of my favourite travel tails. I was at the famed Machu Pichhu in Peru and had hiked up to the Sun Gate which has a magnificent view over the ruined city. It was a long walk up there, and after taking in the view for some time, I started my descent. I was about half way down when something jumped out of the bushes on my left and raced across the track in front of me. Something red, something with a fluffy tail and a long nose. At first I thought it was a fox. Then I thought perhaps I shouldn't stand around in case it jumped out and bit me, as a course of rabies treatment wasn't an attractive prospect.

Then I heard a sound - a sort of clucking then whistling. I imitated it, feeling pretty sure that foxes don't cluck and whistle. I waited. And waited some more. And then...a little head poked out between two stems of bamboo. It was the most precious little face, with a long nose and big eyes that were looking right at me. In a split second, it jumped out just as the first one had and ran across the track. I got a better look at its body - red and brown on the face and body, with the same colours in a stripey, bushy tail, about the size of a normal to small house cat. I settled down on a nearby rock to wait for more, and I was rewarded for my patience. There must have been another five who came out nervously, stopped to look me over, then jumped the trail.

Eventually, I continued down the track - going down almost as hard as going up - and when I reached the bottom and looked out over the city again, I spotted a lonely tour guide. I showed him the photo and asked him what it was. He said the name in Spanish too quickly for me to catch, but said it was a native raccoon-type animal. He also said that I was very lucky to see one, and couldn't believe it when I said I'd seen seven. After much internet searching, it turned out that it was actually a type of coati (though I'm sure that's not what the guide had called it), a creature I would meet again in Argentina for another memorable travel tail. For a long time I thought it was something completely different, but the power of Google has proven it so.

Those minutes that I spent perched on a rock waiting for more critters to appear, were some of the happiest I had in Peru.