A Girl With A Monkey- Peru

 A Girl With A Monkey

Peru

Summer 2003

I am in a wooden boat, floating down a tributary of the Amazon River. The moment is right out of a National Geographic Magazine.  My guide sees this little girl, standing on the banks of the river. She is holding a wild monkey and my guide paddles over to her, extends his hand and asks to hold the monkey. She complies and she gives him this adorable monkey. My guide turns to me and offers the monkey to me. I don't want to hold him. I don't like to touch wild animals. What if it has rabies?

And lucky I didn't have to touch him. He quickly bit my guide in the hand which allowed him to break loose and scurry back to the little girl. And when I got home, I scurried to my infectious disease doctor and inquired about the rabies shot.