comfort zone apology

I'd like to put the alligators into more context.

anyone who I've told to put themselves out of their comfort zone, you know who you are, I'm sorry.

my first night in the wilderness I was way out of mine.  we were told after dinner to be ready in five minutes for a night walk.  no clear instructions were given, but what the hell.  so on went the shorts, the insect repellent and away we went under the blanket of stars that I was privilege to in this part of the world.  so many starts in the sky that it was hard to pick out the constellations.  although, as ever, Orion was there watching over me, and did you know, or even consider that the lough would be upside down here?

the small boat with the outboard engine took us to one of the only pieces of dry land left after the floods in the Pantanal.  we stepped out onto the bank and almost immediately bare foot into the water that we needed to cross that was once a road.

I was so buy concerning myself with the amount of insects buzzing around me and in the beam of light from the guide's torch that I almost didn't notice that in the water just a foot from where I was standing bare foot and bare legged there was an alligator!  there it was, all one and half metres of him starting back at us.

the guide then shone his flashlight in the direction that we were headed and I could see at least four airs of eyes shining back at us.  what the hell am I doing here?  I thought to myself.  I would mutter this many times over the course of the night.  for example when he pointed out the baby piranhas at his feet, the false anaconda and when he picked up a baby alligator and I actually stroked it!

and apparently tomorrow we will be going tubing!  what the hell am I doing here???