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Day eight was the apex of the tour in terms of hiking. An epic day, for we clocked in at 7 hours, 32 minutes from one camp to the next.
As I shared the burden carrying basic foodstuffs the men gave me about 25 pounds to carry, doubling the weight of my pack. During days eight and nine I said to myself "Skywalker only had to carry one Yoda on his back during his training. Surely I must be carrying two" -- and proceeded to declare myself a jungle-jedi. The picture above is one of me in mid-training. In the closing days of the tour Silverio admitted to watching me early on in the trek to see what I would be able to handle. For he has seen a lot of tourists in the office demand ten hours of hiking per day but in the forest be capable of only three hours. He said the best performer was a muscle-ripped German who was capable of five hours per day, ate supper, then crashed till morning. Along I come asking for 4-7 hours per day in the office. Silverio, after a few days in the forest, said he was amazed to see me pull off 5-6-7 hour days and still look normal. How Silverio managed to walk 6-7 hours per day, constantly machete a trail through plant growth, creeper vines and dead vegetation while carrying his own 50 pound pack was super-human. While he blazed the trail for us I used my machete more as a mud-pick (similar to an ice-pick), to gain traction and stability on the muddy hill slopes. Another factor in hiking the rainforest in highland terrain is the uneven nature of the ground, hidden by fallen leaves and dead vegetation along the mud slopes of hills and valleys. One's body is constantly trying to balance itself. Even the super-peccari Chancho had a three meter fall one day. Some of the mud cliffs stretched thirty feet down. I thought to myself a fall down one of these cliffs might hurt but the backpack landing on top would finish me off. Upon return to the community a couple individuals asked Silverio what was up in the hills, the animals, gold possibilities. Their community being a frontier for this part of the forest it was peculiar to contemplate I may be one of the only persons on the planet to walk the terrain I did. Before this trip began I had never been stung by a bee or wasp. I have now been stung four times -- and was lucky to get away with only that. Still, I must state the sting of a bee is nothing to that of the fire-ant. Those 'little' bastards hurt! The pictures below are an attempt to capture the terrain in which we hiked. Due to heavy plant growth I found it difficult to capture proper context. Visibility was largely restricted to a handful of meters before subjects disappeared into the depth-disorientating foliage. Because the forest canopy blocked 90% of the sunlight poor lighting was also a factor. The last two photos are from day six. We camped by some pools of water. Upon sight of them it immediately struck me as a photo opportunity.
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