We’d been conducting bird surveys along the Canal do Jari in the Brazilian Amazon. For me, pretty much heaven.
We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant on an island beside the waterway. But there was a problem.
The island was home to sloths, monkeys, potoos, hoatzins and all manner of other wildlife. Better still, they offered a guided walk around the island to discover some of its residents.
Well, that settled it. Lunch was suddenly a minor inconvenience.
While everyone else was enjoying their meal, I was doing my best to get mine down as quickly as possible. There was wildlife out there, and I wasn’t about to waste precious exploring time sitting at a table.
And then we found this fellow.
Stretched out along a tree branch, claws casually draped over the wood, looking as though he hadn’t a care in the world.
Not a single reason to hurry.
There I was, rushing through lunch to make the most of every minute, while this sloth appeared perfectly content to let the entire afternoon drift past.
Two very different philosophies on life.
I took my photograph and left him to his afternoon.
Five more minutes? Take the whole day, mate.
Behind the Photograph · A Wilder Eye