When The Jaguar Sleeps: A jungle adventure (5 page)

T
hey were plunging deeper and deeper into the green tropical maze. Didier went first, hacking a narrow corridor with a machete. Florent followed closely behind. The hot, humid air made breathing difficult and each movement required effort. They advanced very slowly but steadily. In places the thicket was so dense they had to push ferociously between the tightly tangled thick cords of loose-hanging lianas draping almost every tree. In no time their shirts were completely soaked. Every now and then they had to stop and wipe off the thin rivulets of salty sweat trickling unnervingly down their foreheads and stinging their eyes. The sumptuous jungle vegetation instantly closed tightly behind them, obliterating nearly all traces of their passage. They were surrounded on all sides by a sea of opulent greenery enveloped in a light mist. The whole area undulated slightly, with the ground uneven, marshy and full of slippery stones, leaves and fallen, rotting tree trunks. It was hardly possible to walk without their feet sinking ankle-deep into sticky mud; pulling them out again was painstaking. They had to be continually on their guard not to stumble over knotty roots or hurt themselves on pointed spikes or sharp leaves.

Apart from the rhythmic sound of the machete swinging through the air and their heavy breathing only the unrelenting buzzing of insects, singing of birds and chirping of cicadas could be heard. Then out of the blue the quiet would be broken by strident shrieks and yells. When they turned around and looked upwards they saw dark shapes moving quickly in the tree tops, leaping from branch to branch, dangling from the highest boughs, swinging on ropey lianas. Monkeys.

Then a flock of fabulously colourful parrots darted past their heads, dazzling their eyes with flashes of vibrant red, blue and yellow against the misty green background. Somewhere else a toucan began to sing his distinctive song. As they strode on all sorts of strange animal sounds accompanied them on their way. But occasionally everything would become completely still and an eerie, disquieting silence enveloped the forest for a few minutes.

At one point, they hit a wall of such dense vegetation that they could not get through it, even with the machete. They deviated but then found a vertical escarpment formed out of dried mud barring their way and opposite it a small rocky ridge appeared. Awkwardly they climbed the loamy slope which was covered with huge stones, overgrown with moss, and dotted with slippery wet rocks. Although he watched carefully every step he took, Didier stumbled and fell face down, gliding rapidly all the way down to the bottom of the incline. He got up, swearing furiously. Florent couldn’t help but laugh seeing him plastered all over with mud.

‘Do me a favour, wipe that idiotic smirk off your face,’ said Didier. ‘Make yourself useful and help me climb up again. And don’t laugh so hard because it may be your turn next time.’ Didier reached out to wipe the mud off his face but only managed to smear it around.

‘Relax! Don’t take it so seriously,’ replied Florent.

After an hour or so the slope relented a bit and started to flatten out. Here and there a few shallow and narrow streams with muddy banks crossed their path. In some places they had to walk ankle-deep in murky water. A sharp, musty and spicy scent of damp earth and rotting leaves filled their nostrils.

‘Look, we took the right direction, we’re following the water flow,’ Didier remarked.

‘Oh, I feel something sticky crawling on my skin, look here,’ Florent broke in pointing to his right side and gently lifting his shirt. A leech was attached to his skin.

‘A leech? Bleh, disgusting. This bloodthirsty creep wants to feed on me. Where did this stuff come from?’ Florent wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible and was pulling as fiercely as he could at the slimy body, but it was firmly stuck to him.

‘The damn thing won’t move an inch. It’ s going to drain me.’

‘Wait, don’t panic. I have an idea,’ said Didier and opened his backpack. Soon he found what he was looking for – a lighter. He put the small flame to the leech, its body now quite swollen with blood. Immediately the bloodsucker fell to the ground, wriggling uncontrollably, and a thin rivulet of blood trickled down Florent’s side.

They walked on cautiously, even more aware of the dangers lurking at every turn. The dense, dark undergrowth all around was full of parasites, poisonous snakes and predatory insects.

Didier stopped suddenly putting his finger to his lips.

‘Shh. Can you hear it?’

‘What?’

‘Something like…I don’t know…water flowing.’

They stood still for a moment and listened, straining their ears to focus on the barely audible sound. At last Florent also managed to distinguish from the cacophony of the jungle noises the muffled roar of swiftly rushing water. As they quickened their step the roar grew stronger and stronger and soon from behind the green curtain of vegetation a rocky waterfall emerged. A foamy cascade tumbled almost vertically down with a huge thud, filling the air around with millions of droplets, and then flowed into a small natural pool at the foot of a rocky cliff. Sunbeams were playing merrily on the pool’s slightly crinkled surface, making it glitter brightly in constantly changing shades of silver, gold and copper. As they came closer, the spray of water droplets settled on their skin like a gentle dew.

‘Let’s stop here for a short rest,’ Didier suggested.

Florent eagerly agreed. Without hesitation they threw their backpacks on the ground, quickly pulled off their sweaty clothes and jumped into the water. It was crystal clear and delightfully cool, refreshing their bodies and soothing their inflamed skin and sore muscles.

Since a meagre breakfast consisting of a few bananas they’d had nothing to eat. It was now late afternoon. They started to feel a desperate need to fill their empty stomachs with food.

So they put on some fresh clothes and decided to look around for something to eat.

Left of the pond a rapid stream flowed away, entering a narrow steep-walled gorge.

‘Perhaps we could try to catch some fish,’ Didier suggested.

‘How? Just like that with our bare hands? And what about piranhas?’

‘Don’t worry, apparently they are only likely to attack when they sense blood.’

In the clear, shallow water of the stream fish could easily be seen: they were swimming around by the dozen. Didier cut a straight, thin branch, removed any leaves and sharpened one end. Then he placed himself steadily on some stones, stared into the rapidly flowing water beneath his feet and in one swift movement thrust in the pointed stick. To begin with he had no luck. Undeterred, he persisted until at last he saw a fish wriggling at the end of the stick. After the first success came quickly next ones.

‘Wait, I want to try it as well,’ Florent said eagerly.

He stood next to Didier and imitated his movements. His fifth thrust proved successful.

‘This is really brilliant. You are a genius. You’ve found such a simple way of catching fish. I would have never thought of it myself.’

Soon they had a lot of fish, all sorts. They were not sure but thought one of them might be a piranha. Didier gathered some dry twigs and kindled a fire. Then he pierced each fish with a stick and grilled it by turning it slowly over the flames.

Straightaway a pleasant aromatic smell of roasted meat assailed their nostrils.

‘Do you think any of them are poisonous? Maybe they belong to some inedible species?’ Florent expressed his doubts.

‘Stop complaining! Frankly, we have not got much choice. All the fruits here around grow too high to be reached. Do you prefer ants, or some other bug?’

Florent was so hungry that he didn’t argue anymore and started to bite off large mouthfuls of white, delicate meat and swallow it greedily. As their stomachs started to fill with food, they felt better and their optimism returned.

‘Oh, it tastes fantastic,’ said Florent ‘Actually, I’ve never eaten before such fresh fish, cooked right after being caught.’

‘I was so hungry that I would have eaten pretty much anything.’

‘Even the bugs? You know, I have had enough of walking for today. Let’s build a hut here and stay for the night,’ Florent suggested.

‘There are still a few hours left till evening. What are we going to do here all this time? Isn’t it better to keep on going and not waste time?’

‘Well, it’s easy for you to say that, but I feel completely worn out.’

‘Pull yourself together,’ said Didier. ‘We don’t know how long we’ll have to walk before we run into another living being, nor when we’ll find something to eat again. We could have to wade through this hellish tropical maze for weeks on end. I definitely don’t want that. I want to get out of this damn rainforest as soon as possible.’

He did not need to use any more arguments. Florent stood up and, though a bit reluctant, put his rucksack on his back.

‘I’ll give you the machete and you walk ahead and cut a path,’ said Didier. ‘My arms feel damn sore from the constant swinging.’

‘Which direction shall we take? We were supposed to follow the water trail, but the stream goes into this narrow, creepy looking gorge. Not that I am scared… but we’d better take another way. Later, we might come across some other stream.’

Didier agreed. ‘Who knows what dangerous beasts live in that gorge. In the muddy ground, next to the pool, I saw footprints, really big paws. They could be a jaguar’s. And what if we got stuck between some rocks and weren’t able to get out? Forget it. It’s too risky.’

They set off, moving slowly, choosing their way where the terrain was a bit flatter, easier to cross, but venturing constantly deeper into the dark, hostile and wild jungle thicket. Soon their shirts were wet again and stuck tightly to their skin. Dishevelled wet strands of hair were clinging to their foreheads and thin rivulets of sweat were constantly running down their faces and backs. Every now and then Florent stopped abruptly and started scratching furiously all over his body.

‘It itches like hell. These damn bugs are everywhere and are ceaselessly bothering me. What a pity there is no insect repellent left.’

Didier endured the insect attacks without much complaining, but finally even he gave up and began to scratch violently at the multiple bites covering his reddened skin.

They kept marching, trying to get as far as possible that day. Often, out of the corner of their eyes, they would see the long, thick shiny body of a snake noiselessly gliding among the foliage and the tangle of roots and vines protruding above the earth and would move quickly to avoid it.

They kept going through the afternoon but as evening came on decided they’d done enough for the day and would find somewhere to build a hut for the night. It wasn’t easy because the ground all around was soggy, the sticky soil covered everywhere with slippery, damp, rotting leaves.

They both realized perfectly well that it was little probable that anybody would ever look for them there in that far corner of the rainforest. They had drifted too far away from the plane crash site.

So actually they were all alone and could only rely on their own strength and their own survival skills. This bitter realisation gave them somehow extra strength.

With a few branches they succeeded in making a skeleton of a shelter. They covered it with palm and banana leaves and put some on the ground as well to create a sleeping place. Then Didier placed two empty bottles under the edge of a big leaf hanging down from the roof.

‘It’s sure to rain again tonight so I’ll catch some water.’

It was their fourth night in the jungle. This time the darkness that wrapped them without warning like a velvet robe was even more overwhelming, and the sounds of animals seemed even more sinister. Their minds were plagued with gloomy, restless thoughts.

‘Do you really believe that we will ever get out of here?’ Florent asked, expressing his inner anxiety, his voice full of doubt. ‘We’ve marched miles and still found nothing, no way out. I have the impression that we’ve been going deeper and deeper into the jungle, towards its very heart. Maybe we should have waited at the crash site. It’s my fault, I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but I totally did not realise the immensity of the jungle. It was probably a stupid decision.’ He spoke in a subdued voice, running his fingers through his messy hair.

‘Don’t blame yourself,’ said Didier. ‘There’s no turning back now. We’ve gone so far anyway that I doubt we would ever manage to retrace our steps. Maybe rescue teams have already arrived at the crash site, and not finding anyone alive have gone away and will never come back.’

Florent looked dismayed. ‘So we’re just going to die here eventually from exhaustion, hunger or snakebites, or maybe some other wild beast will attack us. We should stop fooling ourselves. Let’s face it, we will not find a way out of this green hell on our own.’

Didier was also plagued with anxiety, but still clung to a faint hope that they would manage to get out of the jungle. ‘Don’t be pessimistic,’ he said as if trying to reassure not only Florent but also himself. ‘There’s no need to despair. I think we still have a chance. We have to try, anyway. If we just come upon a river, everything will be fine. I’m sure we’ll be saved.’

On the hard, uncomfortable ground they tossed and turned that night, eventually falling into a brief, fitful sleep.

They woke early the next morning, aching all over, feeling anything but rested. The jungle was shrouded in a grey milky fog making it almost impossible to see anything. With nothing to eat they set off without delay. Florent went up front and Didier followed. They walked in gloomy silence, both persistently forcing their way through the unfriendly thicket. The misty damp forest, eerily quiet, did little to improve their morose moods. The monotonous swish of the machete and their tired, deep breaths were the only sounds that reached their ears.