Alligator Hunt

The guys arranged for the people in the village to take us a gator hunt. The boys got in the boat that was several feet from the surface of the water, had a protective roof covering and secure seating. The girls on the other hand, were put in a canoe that sat inches from the water, with nothing protecting us overhead, and a piece of plywood across the canoe (not secured to it) for seating. Agh! They were in a cruise boat compared to our canoe. By the way, it started to sprinkle and while we were getting wet, the men were nice and dry, sitting on their life vests, while ours were securely fastened to our bodies, restricting our movement! Any time we'd move, we'd dislodge the person sitting next to us.

While on the river, mind you it's 9pm and pitch black, we spotted 3 alligators. The first dipped into the water too soon. As we turned off the motor and glided towards it, he dipped below.

The 2nd gator, we rolled right up to it and we invited the guys to join us (they were searching the opposite shoreline to the left of us). We glided all the way to the shore, and the gators eyes were stark red. Our hunter / guide Bayyo got out of the boat to go catch him bare handed. To no avail, the gator disappeared.

The 3rd attempt was successful! Our guide spotted the gator from a far with his lamp, which during attempt #2, he took off and placed on my head as a spotlight for him. We attempted to call the guys over but they didn't follow. As we crossed into more jungle-like terrain on the water, our guide turned off the motor and we slowly paddled our way closer to the gator. He was directly in front of us, with his piercing red eyes. As we began to glide closer to him, our guide worked his way closer to the front of the boat and drew his 3 pronged spear. We were at a still silence - more excited than nervous. It was awesome! As we drew closer, I asked myself how much closer were we going to get? A moment later, Bayyo launged forward and speared the gator. Our 2nd guide, Jayid screamed Allelujah! Jacre! Jacre! Bayyo lifted him up and we began to celebrate. Later we found out Bayyo didn't hurt the gator - He caught him between 2 of the prongs of the spear! CRAZY!!!

Our canoe ride back to our boat we sang in excitement, Jacre! Jacre! The guys were excited to see and hold the gator. We let them pass it among themselves on our way back to the boat and village.