IBO, Brian R. Lundin [the ebook reader .txt] 📗

born. The monitor lizard loves crocodile’s eggs and if their nest is unprotected, that’s it. If they survive being born their mother takes them in her mouth to the river. They are born knowing how to swim and mama is standing guard as they get used to being in the water. The babies are very venerable to predators, large fish and birds are their main enemies but crocodiles are cannibals and they will eat the babies also if they can get pass momma. They’ll stay with mom for about six months than they are on their own. Their diet is mainly insects and small fish but frogs are their favorite foods.”
“Nature is so fascinating. I saw on a nature program where thousands of animals had to cross this crocodile filled river while migrating and how these crocodiles knew exactly what time they would be there and how to attack them,” Eli said.
“Yep, it is, but remember they have had millions of years to develop these instincts,” Bodninin said.
It had just started getting dark, the sky had turned a dark grey, almost black when the storm hit. Diki and Molanti were on the bridge and Bodninin was in the galley cooking what he called “African Gumbo,” a mixture of seafood’s, chickens and vegetables. Eli was sitting in one of the large deck chairs reading a law book and Malik who had a mild case of seasickness was lying down on a deck couch. A sudden howling blast of wind rocked the boat and tossed Malik out of the couch while Eli grabbed onto a railing. Thunder and lightning soon followed. Bodninin poked his head up from the galley and looked at the dark sky. “A big one,” he said matter-of-factly.
On the bridge, Diki and Molanti had donned yellow ponchos and were walking down the steps to the enclosed wheelhouse. Once in the wheelhouse Molanti turned on the running lights and two large floodlights lit up the churning dark waters contrasted by whitecaps for only twenty-five feet. When the rains started Malik and Eli joined Molanti and Diki in the wheelhouse. Malik felt sick and was led him to a seat by a window. The rain pellets were hard as they crashed against the half-opened windows and the topsides and poured down in sheets.

Molanti sensing Malik and Eli’s apprehension said, “Typical African storm it will be over in a minute.”
However, the wind gust got stronger and more violent and came one after the other but the big boat rode out the storm easily when Molanti powered back the engines. Bodninin appeared in the wheelhouse carrying a tray of hot chocolate. Malik motioned to the door with his a hand over his mouth. Bodninin led him outside holding him by his belt. Clutching the railings soaked and shivering he leaned over the sides and threw up. As he sat down on the deck, the cold rain felt good as it washed over his body. The urge came again and he threw up again. Suddenly the rain and wind stopped, the skies cleared and showed a canvass of bright stars. Bodninin led him back into the wheelhouse.
“Feeling any better,” Diki asked.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Malik answered.
“It takes a while to get your sea legs,” Molanti said smiling.
Malik returned to the deck turned over the fallen couch and laid down and within minutes he was asleep. Malik awaken just before sunrise and watched the sky turning a bright orange as the day began. He looked over at Eli who was dozing in the deck chair, he heard laughing and conversation coming from the bridge and when he looked up he saw Diki, Bodninin and Molanti. The river was calm and looked like a sea of glass as the powerful boat slowly made it way up the river. Malik felt guilty for falling asleep and he wondered if the three men had slept at all.
Eli stirred and rubbing his eyes sat up in the chair.
“Good morning my brothers,” Diki yelled from the bridge.
“Breakfast will be served shortly,” Bodninin said smiling.
“Why don’t you guys take a shower and join us for coffee,” Molanti said.
After taking their showers, brushing their teeth and changing clothes, Malik and Eli joined the men on the bridge.
“Have you guys gotten any sleep?” Malik asked.
“A nap here and there, we alternated taking the helm,” Diki said.
The boat continued northward and Bodninin pointed out dozing crocodiles laying belly up on the riverbank and a Tuiuius, the tall, white long-necked bird with a red head. There were twelve of them standing with their long skinny legs on a sandbar watching the water and paid no attention to the boat as it passed. A black crowned crane a regional symbol of beauty and authority was standing on the riverbank.

A brief but violent storm had made the river rise. Sandbars were covered and the river was filled with debris-weeds, grass and tree limbs moved with the current. Every now and then, they would pass a small house located far from the river but they saw no people. Molanti expertly guided the boat into a channel and dropped the anchors. In a few minutes, Bodninin was bringing up breakfast. He placed a tray of scrambled eggs, boiled rice, bacon, sausage, toast and another bowl of a brown meat and boiled chicken on a the table. Malik was famished. He loaded his plate with sausages, bacon eggs and tree pieces of toast. After steaming cups of coffee was served the men sat down at the table.
After fixing his plate, Malik passed the bacon to Diki.
“No thank you Malik, we are Muslims and don’t eat pork, but you and Eli enjoy.”
Bodninin, Diki and Molanti piled their plates with the eggs, toast and the brown meat.
“Were you born here?” Eli asked Molanti between bits of bacon and toast.
“Oh yes, I was born on my father’s boat and we lived in a small village not far from where we started. My father was a river pilot and fisherman, I never really knew my mother she died when I was very young. When I was a small boy I would go out on the river with my father when he had tourist, mainly Germans who wanted to take pictures of the wildlife and birds. Early in the mornings when everyone was asleep, he would let me take the wheel. I learned the river very well by the time I was ten, it was my home.”
“You said your father was a fisherman?” Malik asked.
“Yes, five years ago my father was fishing by himself, something that no one should ever do, when a bad storm hit. It was a lot worse than last night and it capsized his boat. The boat was found but his body never was.”
Malik thoughts immediately went to the large crocodiles and snakes they had passed.
Changing the subject Diki said, “The jungle is a perfect eco system. When the rains stop we have the dry season, which produces grasslands, marshes and more lagoons and swamps than anyone can count. The cycle of rain and dry season produces more wild life than any other place in the world. We have over a thousand species of birds here, more than the United States and Europe combined. Water snakes, crocodile and caiman live in the water and we have very dangerous animals on the land. We have a lot of prey animals mainly deer’s and wild hogs that helps the jaguars and tigers survive; the jungle is a perfect eco system. Even the trees are alive,” he said pointing to a tall tree where monkeys were jumping back and forth.
As if on cue, a herd of ten deer’s appeared in the distant. There were eight grown looking deer’s and two young ones. They all were nibbling on the green vines that covered the jungle floor and occasionally looking up for any predators. A young deer wandered off towards the riverbank for a drink. As he lowered his head to drink, there was an explosion from the river. A large crocodile lunged out of the water, grabbed the young deer in his massive teeth-filled jaws, and pulled him under the water. In a few minutes, the muddy brown river turned red.
“Life and death is nature way of balance, one animal dies so another of her animals can survive. Everything in the jungle is food for a more powerful and stronger animal. There is no right or wrong, no good or evil just the instinct to survive,” Diki said.
Eli and Malik watched the scene in total amazement. After breakfast, they continued their journey. The seasickness had left and Malik figured he had gotten his sea legs. The sun had risen and the air was hot and humid. All the men began to sweat and in a few minutes, their shirts were soaked. Malik joined Diki and Molanti on the bridge as they watched the river twist and turn. The wind generated by the boat did little to stifle the heat. After two hours of passing alligators, strange looking birds and hearing strange sounds coming from shore Molanti throttled down the engine and docked the boat at a flimsy pier that jutted into the river. A young very dark man came out of a tin roofed house and Bodninin threw him a line that he secured around a post. The men got off the boat and entered the house that was really a country store of sorts built on stilts. A cooler contained cold beer, milk and soda and the shelves held an assortment of can goods, Cuban cigars and American cigarettes.
“This is one of the stores we operate for the people and everything is free,” Diki said.
It felt good Malik thought to be on land, even though just a few feet behind the store was the dark and dangerous jungle. After looking around and hearing threatening sounds coming from the jungle, he decided he would wait on the boat. At the pier, Bodninin was filling up the tank with gas and Molanti was checking the aluminum boat. Diki and Eli came out the store. Diki had two six packs of Miller’s Lite beer and Eli had two cases of Pepsi.
“The rest of the way we go by the small boat, the river is too shallow for the IBO,” Molanti said putting the beer and soda into the boat cooler.
“It’s only a couple of hours to the lab, Bodninin will stay with the IBO,” he continued.
The aluminum boat was comfortable with a wide beam and a flat bottom that helped it from being stuck on the many sandbars. Diki was seated next to Molanti who was at the helm and Malik and Eli was sitting in the deck chairs amid ship. The boat sat low in the water and Malik briefly put his hand in. The water was warm and surprisingly clean. He quickly pulled is hand in when he thought about the snakes and crocodiles whom home he was invading. Sitting in the boat, which was very small compared to the IBO Malik felt apprehensive. The boat sat low in the water and he remembered the crocodiles they had passed many of which seemed longer than this boat. Images of some large crocodile flying through