Can you train a chicken to scare away unwanted visitors? Yes, I mean Maggie the chicken is currently holding down the fort (#7 Jungle, Rio Napo). A series of events/circumstances/situations have landed me in Coca for a bit.
Maggie was invited to the BBQ party with three of her friends to send off the last of the Inglaterros. After a temporarily successful midnight escape (complete with crashing lightning, booming thunder and howling winds), the other 3 remained in detention while Maggie pulled a Houdini and escaped again in the morning. Several group attempts to lure her back, sometimes 5 vs 1 crashing through the jungle, and including me claiming she´d find a book store and a glass of wine were unsuccessful. Meanwhile a hastily and heartily launched campaign by D (Doris, Gran, Abuelita) of ¨Free Maggie¨and ¨Run Maggie Run¨ sealed the deal and resulted in Maggies invitation to (be) dinner being rescinded.
Initially she taunted us, but then became a reassuring red twitch in the shadows at the edge of the jungle. When the helpful neighbor kids tried to out-perform the adults and chased her down the river bank we were sure she´d gone for a swim and dinner with an anaconda or one of those fish that come up on the river bank and drags children into the water.
As the sun broke through the jungle canopy the next morning guess who I saw? After we all expressed in words, I won´t type here, our amazement I think our respect for Maggie went up a notch.
Schedules here are flexible (more on that in a future post) - and it turned out I went from a house of 9 to 6 and then there was 1(me) and it was nice to have some company and see Maggie during the day chillin´ in the yard. I only see Frank at night. (Frank is my tent praying mantis).
Note: Various teenagers and kids hang out, help and sleep at the house to help the jungle inept, infermed Gringa Maggie. Maggie El Pollo as we know can take care of herself.
Final notes: I´m a partial chicken plucker (one of the unfortunate, yet yummy), and yes, each day has a more amazing and more beautiful and more creepy insect, butterfly and spider -- but you expect them in the jungle - not a chicken that´s named after you.
Hope to add photos and more posts in the coming days.
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