PAfter my first trip to Asia, I was interested in one strange question at first glance: how to tame a crocodile and is it possible in principle? No, of course, I saw half-circus numbers with Thai crocodiles from corrals, but I was interested in something else. A couple of years later, on one of the trips to the Caribbean, and specifically to Jamaica, my question was resolved in a rather unusual situation.
Onward to tame crocodiles: from Negril to the Black River
In Jamaica, all seaside towns are resorts. But Negril is a special case. This former fishing village has seven miles of the best beaches on the island. And if you have to choose a "village to live in", keep in mind that it is in Negril that American tourists flock - and they already understand the intricacies of the beach in the Western Hemisphere.
The tourist avenue seduced by bright tropical pictures of the jungle, a mysterious river and incredible reptiles swimming along this river. Here's what drew me to it:
Frost ran through my skin at such an offer (just kidding, of course), but I actually rushed off to sign up for the tour.
From Montego Bay to Negril - 60 miles of narrow broken road with many sharp turns, which hardly pass two cars. However, on the island, many roads can be assigned the status of broken-down. In a strange way, this reminds us of our native rural roads.
The impression is intensified when you come across “soviet Zhiguli” with right-hand drive, with which the Soviet Union once paid for Jamaican bauxites, and it becomes quite intrusive when looking at the wooden huts of the Jamaicans, like two drops of water similar to the huts of our half-abandoned villages. Here are just the locals for some reason completely black-faced, but instead of birches and oaks - palm trees and bamboo.
Despite the difficulties of left-hand traffic and the illogical driving style of Jamaican drivers, tourists willingly rent cars. This is the best way to plunge into the Jamaican exotic.
"Tame" crocodiles on the Black river
From Negril to the Black River, the path is not close - two hours drive along narrow mountain serpentines. Next, tourists are put on a catamaran and slowly ride along the Mother Black River.
The greatest river in Jamaica is sixty meters wide, hopelessly overgrown with sedge and at times resembles state farm irrigation canals somewhere in the Kuban.
I note that the Black River is by no means the only "water artery" of Jamaica. There are others. And, with much more exotic names. For example, Komarina or the river named after the pirate Flint.
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, you will see bloodthirsty crocodiles,” the captain announced at the tenth minute of sailing along the Black River.
Having driven the catamaran into some channel, he hung over the side and whistled. The coastal reeds stirred, a fairly decent-sized crocodile crawled out and lazily swam to the side of the ship.
Then something happened that I would never have dared, being in my right mind and memory. However, I realized that for our cap, this procedure was familiar.
— Hello, Charlie! Charlie is a good guy, - said the cap and put his hand into the water, right under the nose of the crocodile.
Tourists froze in their places, waiting for the bloodthirsty reptile to cut off the arm of the daredevil up to the elbow. However, the crocodile did not even move its tail. The captain scratched Charlie's scruff and belly and tugged a couple of times on his paw. The crocodile waited patiently.
Finally the cap pulled out a plastic bag of meat and tossed a couple of pieces to Charlie. With an incredibly solemn air, the crocodile swallowed the meat, wagged its tail and retired back into the reeds.
“I'll bet a dollar to your three that this crocodile is on the staff of the local travel agency,” the Dutch neighbor told me.
I did not accept the challenge, but imbued with an involuntary respect for the organizers of the tour. By God, swimming along the Black river is much cooler than visiting the famous Pyatigorsk Proval.
This is how the issue was resolved (at least for me and Travel Guide) about whether there are tame crocodiles in the wild. The most interesting thing, as I found out later, "our cap" is far from the only man who tamed his crocodile on the Black River in Jamaica.
Video from Travel Guide from relaxing on the beach
And in conclusion, just a beautiful and positive video from travelgide.ru, which will help you relax and unwind a little. Who knows, maybe after watching this video, you will find a new romantic image or at least get ready for the best vacation on the beach…
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