Grarg....need coffee...and their are no coffee shops open until 9 pm on Sundays in Oaxaca, Mex. Yes we are many days removed from the events of this blog, and my memory could be spotty without sweet coffee. Apologies to the reader.
Mirador Part III. Day 5 was described as an eco-trek. We were to see no ruins that day with the exception of the several ransacked grave mounds and ancient Mayan food storage holes that dotted our trail. The plan was to hike 9 hours or so to La Florida, providing only a 2 hour hike out to Carmalita and back to civilation on Day 6. Joy, Hege, Bjornar and I all took turns riding Yelmer the mule to break up the walking - muleback is the only way to travel in the rainforest.
Four events of note on the eco-trek -
1. Wild spider monkeys are cute but pissed off when you get too close to their tree. The trail we walk, occaisionally, will pass very close to said tree, and the males (young and old) shake branches, throw bark and hiss. The four of us were observing this behavior when one of the monkies threw a large branch at us. We had to dodge the thing or else be brained. We were outraged. But our mule took a sniff of the branch leaves, realized they were the sweet, sweet ramon tree and devoured the entire projectile. Probably not going to see that again.
2. Many in our group of 12 had blisters - big, open blisters - that were only getting worse with shoes. A couple folks decided to put on flip flops and walk the rest of the way in those. Comfortable, yes. Practical, no. Remember the bullet ants and poisonous snakes? Foot protection is good in the rainforest. The four of us were dawdling behind the rest of our posse when were heard a commotion up front. A girl, in flip flops, just had a "cute, baby snake" crawl over her foot, across the path and into a small bush. Our guide rushes over and explains that its a baby Ferdilanz, or Barba Amarilla. He further explains that should one get bit by a baby Ferdilanz that chances of survival are nill, even with a shot of antivenom that we were carrying. The babies dont know NOT to release all their venom on just one bite, they havent learned to regulate the venom flow yet, so all of their stores are emptied into the mouse, the small bird or the bare foot. Yet, no one wearing thongs changed into shoes. Interesting.
3. One guy in our crew, plagued with blisters and wearing flip flops, woke from a short rest after lunch to find a wasp halfway buried INTO his heel aparently using his blister as a doorway to the rest of his foot. He had to pull it out by hand, it bled some and was just plain weird.
4. So often is the case where a passion for coffee also accomanpanies a passion for cigarettes. Our lead guide, Raul,while bringing enough stores of coffee for the 6-day trek, did not bring enough smokes. His nicotine levels were dangerously low and he began searching the forest floor for butts. No success. Bjornar was walking just behind Raul and his mule (Raul always rode a mule due to a leg injury sustained in a car accident) when Raul, dazed, weary and short on nicotine, began to fall sideways off the saddle and was barely clinging to a tree, halfway on and halfway off his animal. Bjornar had to race up from behind, cradle small Raul in his arms and set him gently to the ground. We fixed his saddle, lifted him atop his steed and got to walking, while he mummbled something like "thank you, and do you have a cigarette?"
Not much to do at camp that night, save for hunting, finding and removing the hundreds of ticks that started to show up on all parts of the body. Ticks are small, almost too small to see, until they find purchase and start sucking your blood juice. Then they show up easy with cursory inspection. We were inspecting for and picking off ticks for the following two days AFTER we returned to our hotel in Flores. I picked a tick off Joys head at the ruins ofTikal 2 days, 4 showers and 6 lakeswims after our Mirador hike. Fun.
Not a soul was in their tent past 4:30 am on Day 6. We wanted out of the rainforest. We made it to Carmelita in record time, where Rauls friends had stocked a cooler full of 48, ice cold beers, in celebration of our accomplishment. Drinking beers before 9 am, after 6 days in the jungle was the best homecoming we could have imagined. That and our hotel, hotel shower and cool, freshwater lake back in Flores where Joy, Hege, Bjornar and I rested, ate and swam all the day long the next 3 days.
Thanks, Mirador.
US
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