Crocodile in the River

There is a river that runs through Kitgum town and though it's not much to brag about at the moment (dry season) it is still a very heavily used river for the locals. Residents wash their clothes, children go for a swim and car owners wash their cars. I've drawn a crude map to give you an idea of the layout of the town, it's not to scale nor does it include the side-streets but it gives you a general idea of the town. It's about a 15 minute walk from St. Joseph's Hospital to the center of town and you can easily walk the entire town in less than 20 minutes.

I always see the path (dotted line) as I walk into town but have not explored it until recently. I was told that it's a shortcut into town though it is impassible by vehicle. Well, I finally was curious enough to see if I could pass there, though I was skeptical. When I got to the river I saw remnants of an old bridge and probably 20 meters or so of shallow water to the other side. I guess I wasn't surprised at the sight: women washing clothes, some men washing their motorcycles, a bunch of naked kids bathing/swimming, and a few other children crossing the river. It was shallow, probably no more than a 1/2 meter deep, but I didn't feel like taking off my shoes, socks and pants. My curiosity satisfied, I continued into town. 

Just before entering town there is a small bridge crossing over the river. Toward the west the river gets very thin, though you can always see people washing clothes. To the east there is a huge rock and the river is quite wide, resulting in a lot of children swimming and women washing clothes. I went to town to do my various shopping and came back across the bridge. 

Now I normally don't pay attention to what's going on in the river as I cross the bridge, but this time something caught my attention. I saw an object swimming in the middle of the river. It was an unmistakable swim motion. The swim of a crocodile. I stopped walking and leaned over the railing. Sure enough, it was a small crocodile, no more than 1m (3ft) in length. It swam up to the side of the river and investigated a branch, leaving only its snout visible. And then it slowly slid into the water and out of sight. What, the, f@*#?!?! Why were all these people in the river when there were crocodiles?!?!??! Why was I even considering crossing the river?! I imagined the crocodile stealthily passing undetected between children up river. When I got home I researched and sure enough, it was the Nile Crocodile. Apparently it was a juvenile and judging by it's size, it probably just left its mother. So, the lesson of the day is, don't attempt to ford rivers in Kitgum.