Navigating the jungle

If I had any foresite as to what I was getting myself into the afternoon that I went in search of some friends and a waterfall in the jungle I might have chosen different clothes to wear and a different path to take. It all began with a great idea to go swimming in the waterfall to cool down after another hot jungle day. I donned on my bikini, shorts, a tank top, and rain boots and my partner in adventure had on just her swimsuit, a dress, and crocs. We set out down the path with instructions as to how to find our friends, who had set out just 20 minutes before us with a local family. Needless to say, the instructions we had were limited and my knowledge of the paths in that jungle were nothing like the jungle kids that had taken my friends to the waterfall.

We came across a path that led down the mountainside to the river. This felt like a good first step. The instructions were to walk up the river until we got to the waterfall. But as we walked up the river the rocks we were crawling over were getting bigger. So we turned the other direction thinking for sure that we had gone too far up the path. After walking down the river a bit I was sure that we weren’t going to find the waterfall and my goal became simply to find a path that would get us back to our little community of Huapo. We continued on, determined not to return up the path we had found, and no longer sure if I could find it again.

But as we continued down the river the rocks got even bigger and the rapids even faster. I then made probably the worst decision of the day. I decided to scramble up the riverbank to the top, thinking I would find a path on the other side of the steep mountain bank. One can only imagine what type of small mountain bank this was. Covered in trees, weeds, and vines, it was an overgrown forest that was not meant for humans to pass through. We climbed, grabbing onto roots and trying to avoid the spiny vines that were quickly scraping up my bare arms and legs. As we got higher I started to see a clearing, and was hopeful that this would mean we were close to our goal.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the case. The clearing was filled with an overgrown field of weeds. Its not just any weed though. It is the fern like week that quickly springs up and grows tall. I would move to one part of the field hoping I would see over the weeds and find a path, only to be just as high to my ears in the weeds as where I had come from. I could at least see a forest at the bottom of the hill but at this point I didn’t know if the forest would just lead us to more confusion.

It was at this point that I had to admit that we were lost and I was completely unfamiliar with the jungle. I thought it could be days before we came upon another person, and it was starting to get dark. We had two options, turn around and crawl back down the mountain we had just climbed up, or continue on. The only thing that I had to depend on was the tugging of the spirits on my instincts that would lead me out of the mess I had gotten myself into. I stopped and asked the spirits for guidance. I sensed that the spirits were telling me to continue on and as we continued walking I began to find paths that led us to the forest. We wandered on a semi straight path through the forest until we found our salvation of the day…a banana field! These palm trees were an answer to a prayer that I didn’t even know I had said. I rushed forward to the banana field knowing that I would find a path there that a family surely was using to access their chakra of bananas.  I even saw a roof and hoped that there would be someone home. Unfortunately the roof was only a shade structure but alongside of it we found a path that led to another forest, where we found paths, which led into a field of cacao trees. It was as if the path was opening up for us and the cacao field led us to a pasture of cows. On the other side of the pasture was a house.

My companion and I walked upon the house covered in scratches for vines, dirt, bug bites, and looking completely disheveled. I explained to the Señora at the house that we had gotten lost in the woods. She pointed at our bare arms and legs and commented on our scratches and our inadequate choice of dress. My only response at that point was “God didn’t make us gringas for the jungle”. She nodded in agreement. I asked her where Huapo was, and she told me that we were in Huapo, which surprised me because I had never met this woman and thought we were practically in the middle of no where. She pointed me to the path that led me back to our house and as I walked along the road things began to look more and more familiar. 

Now when I think back to that day I chuckle at the situation and realize that it was only because I chose to sense the guiding spirits that I found our way out of the situation. There are legends in jungle culture that people go in and never return, and for a while that was almost the case. I learned my lesson, to never go into the jungle alone and unprepared, and realized that God didn’t make me for the jungle, but perhaps I will one day be prepared enough to manage the jungle.