Alone with a tiger

Rico in my favourite position, asleep and not being a pain in the bum

The beast being sweet

"Tigre!, Tigre" the Bolivian tourists gasp when they spy me crashing through the jungle with a wild cat on the end of a rope. Yes after a couple of anxious days me and the cat are walking.....my first walk was a scary experience, I had no-one to train me and I had no idea how to walk a cat, the memory of the last girl who walked him being lost out in the jungle til 9pm didn't make me feel better about the whole thing either but all went well. We had a 6 hour walk, I didn't get attacked and he caught a rat so everyone was happy.

We spend about half our time on trails that are also frequented by tourists which can make life interesting. I am glad I can speak some Spanish as the Bolivian tourists are curious but not always totally up on how to behave around a wild cat. They call him a Tiger and always ask me if I am "Sola" with him. When I say yes they often look very impressed yes, I am alone in the jungle with a "tiger". At this point Rico usually likes to throw himself on my boots and purr extravagantly, they then usually ask if he is dangerous....I can't help lying a little and saying "oh yeah he's quite dangerous" before cackling to myself and heading back off into the jungle while they stand and stare.