Big, friendly giants

摘要

The wiry, tanned boatman steering the six-passenger boat shut off the motor and let the craft drift along the 70 metre-wide, cocoa-coloured river. Suddenly, without any warning, he started snorting loudly and made tremulous trumpeting sounds while wiggling his Adam's apple with his finger. We were even more bewildered when we heard loud replies, sounding almost like echoes. These responses came from just 20 metres away, in the thick, floating layer of water hyacinth and lilies that blanketed a small cove near the riverbank.