The Bald Red-Headed Eagle

March 2005


This is back when I was still a traveler, backpacking across South America. I’ve just arrived in Rurrenabaque the day before, the plan is spending about a week here before moving on to Peru (it’s been 5 and a half years now and I’m still here).

I’m on the way to the Jungle for a few days.

We’re on a boat going upriver towards the Tuichi River where we’ll start our expedition, there’s me, 2 Canadian girls whose names I can’t remember, our local guide Juan (they all have cool nicknames like “Puma”, “Mogli” or “Blood”, but in the end, they’re just called Juan), and our cook Rosa.

The view is amazing, the Beni River is huge with jungle on both sides and green mountains that to go on as far as the eye can see.

So, during the boat ride (about 4 hours) I’m taking pictures of everything the moves (including the scenery, I’m on a moving boat), Juan’s introducing himself and explaining our program for the next few days, when he asks me for my name, and then says, “hmm, Gili, tricky name, hard to pronounce (?!), we’ll have to give you a better one, a jungle one”, obviously I’m honored by the gesture, not even 2 hours in and already I have got a jungle name, suck on that one Yossi Ginsburg…

Now, we’ve just passed by a huge vulture, perched on the top of a tree, when Juan says, “that there, that’ll be you Jungle name, Mumu, you look like one”.

“What’s Mumu?” I ask

“ah, el Mumu es la águila con la cabeza grande toda roja y raspada”

(The Mumu is the big bald red headed eagle)

Cool, bald eagle, king of all the birds, I can do with that one. Respect.

During the next 3 days I’ve done a lot of jungle things like drink water from a plant, eat bugs and roots, chase wild pigs, spear fish, and climb trees and mountains etc. But if you wanna know what the jungle’s like, come for a fucking visit, I’ll book you a tour.

One thing was consistent though, every single time Juan calls my name (Mumu), Rosa , the cook, bursts out laughing.

Something weird here, so I ask Rosa, “que es Mumu?” and amazingly she gives the exact reply

“ah, el Mumu es la águila con la cabeza grande toda roja y raspada”

(The Mumu is the big bald red headed eagle)

Well, no need to tell me 3 times, must be that, happy me, king of all birds.

Now, somewhere along this trip I’ve asked Juan if I can stay and work with him, so it was settled when we get back to civilization I’ll talk to the owners of the company about staying here and working for awhile.

In the meantime, I was introduced to the other guides we met at the base camp, all of them rolling on the floor laughing when they heard my new jungle name, Mumu. And every time I asked what’s Mumu, I got the exact reply

“ah, el Mumu es la águila con la cabeza grande toda roja y raspada”

(The Mumu is the big bald red headed eagle)

We got back to town, I spoke with the owners, and we decided I can stay and work for a few weeks (which later became 2 years) and help out in the office, doing sales and translations.

Everybody I met in the office laughed when someone else introduced me as Mumu, but then said, “well, with that shaved head he looks like one”, and I just thought, not exactly flattering (it’s one ugly eagle), but I guess it’s respectable.

And so I started working, selling tours and helping tourists with their broken Spanish with my just-a-little-less-broken Spanish.

About 6 weeks later, one day at the office, one of the cooks takes me aside and asks: “do you know what Mumu is?” to which I proudly reply

“ah, el Mumu es la águila con la cabeza grande toda roja y raspada”

(The Mumu is the big bald red headed eagle)

Only for her to giggle and with some obscene hand gestures explain to me that Mumu, in Tacana (Local native dialect) means PENIS…

2 days later, Juan comes back with a group from the jungle, now, if you’ve met one of these guides, you’ll know what I mean, they all have at least 3 big knives on them (part of their image)… if not, try imagining the scene in Crocodile Dundee “that’s not a knife mate, this is a knoife”…

So I go over, and ask Juan politely to borrow his knife for a second, “sure, what for?”

-“oh, I’m just gonna chop off your fucking red headed eagle”…



September 2010

the tour agency is gone, Juan lives in Europe with his Dutch girlfriend, I’m still in Rurrenabaque working in a different business, still known as “El Mumu”…

"if your penis looks like that, see a doctor"