It's a day in the school holidays and your Mum's gone to the market. What else is there to do but to help Dad drive the boat upstream with a couple of tourists? If you sit quietly and obediently by his side and watch carefully
and help out with some of the hard work when you arrive at the caves
then maybe on the way back, Dad will let you have a hand on the wheel
and when the rain starts and he has to see to the plastic sheeting which protects the cloth seats, he might let you have a go yourself, whilst staying close to make sure you're ok
Finally, if you make a good job of it, he'll leave you to it, all alone...in control.
And those tourists could well give you a tip as well ;-)