Swimming with a croc

A couple of months ago Fletch sent me an e-mail with a photo attached of Nick, down in Mexico, grinning with a big boa constrictor wrapped around his neck. Nick had found the snake in the jungle surrounding the Fletcher’s home in Custodio, north of Puerto Vallarta. Nick is one of those guys that isn’t bothered by things that crawl or bite or sting. His first thought on coming across the five-foot-long boa was to pick it up. Mine would have been to back up slowly and then run.

Yesterday the wind was up in the morning so the boys went diving again. Like I said, I don’t dive. I sleep late, have a nice quiet breakfast, and chat with the guides or read a book. It’s a very enjoyable way to spend the morning. And then the boys all come piling back to the Avalon, full of adrenaline and talking excitedly.

When Fletch came topside, a towel wrapped around his waist, I put down my book and asked them if they’d seen anything interesting on their dive.

“Sort of,” said Fletch, laughing. “We came across a crocodile and Nick went right up to it to take a photo.”

I thought he was joking at first until Nick came up with his underwater camera and showed me the croc. It was good-size. I asked him how close he’d gotten. He said about five or six feet away.

Good lord, I said. You must be crazy. What made you think the croc wouldn’t come after you? I asked him.

He shrugged. “I thought we were okay,” he said. “He looked like an old croc.”

Right. So if the croc is old, he won’t go after you. I don’t know. I think I’d rather wrap a boa constrictor around my neck than swim up to a crocodile. But evidently Nick doesn’t mind doing both.