Jungle Man and Tiger Hunting

I woke up yesterday with the plan of hiking into the mountains. There is a trail that leads up into the canyon and since the day I got here I've wanted to see what was that way. My community received a real road just this last year and before that it was a mud laden trail with sketchy bridges just the same as the trail that leads into the canyon. Where the pavement ends is where I like to go.

I started my hike by stopping at the little hut/house/store right where the pavement ends and picked up some crackers. I didn't really know what was going to be in store for me and having some backup energy never hurts. I ate them right away not having the will to hang on to them when I was really hungry and definitely regretted it later when my stomach started grumbling. I headed up the mud slicked path with my trusty knee high rubber working boots on. It wasn't long before I came upon a residence and was summoned over to talk. I explained who I was and we talked for a little while. I asked if there were any good waterfalls around and they pointed me in the right direction.

It wasn't 10 minutes more up the trail that I ran into someone coming the other way. I introduced myself and he did the same. Lloyd was his name which is my middle and thought that was funny. I found out he was hunting for Tigrios which are a type of jungle cat here that eat the chickens. He was a rough looking man of about 26 but had some hard rough years on him. Scars riddled his body and face. You wouldn't have known it from his demeanor that he had seen rough times though. I nice guy. He invited me to go hunting with him and we stopped at his house in the jungle to meet his family first. With a back of rocks on his side and a home made sling shot in his hand we were ready. We checked out what he called his botanical garden, met up with some other hunters and were on our way.

Now I'm not the type to kill animals for no good reason and I am what you would call a tree hugger too, but these people were going to do it anyways, I wanted to see what one of these looked like. We are also advised as Peace Corps Volunteers to not pass judgment right away because we may lose the trust of the people. So that pretty means that I can tell them about why plants and animals are good and we shouldn't kill them all at a later time when they trust my opinion.

We hiked up through the forest dripping with sweat listening for any sound. Nothing. After going through the cacao farm we ended up at the top of the hill that looks out towards Almirante and the bay of Bocas and noticed colorful birds. I asked if he wanted to kill those and Lloyd laughed and said no. This made me feel a little better. We walked the crest of the mountain inland through the forest until we came upon a huge pasture used for cattle. I had not known this existed in the mountains above my town and it took me off guard. What looked like 100 acres had beed slashed and burned here not leaving one tree. As I noticed about 10 or so cattle laying in the shade of a tree hanging over from the other side of the fence, we crossed the field and I now realized why the river might be dirty sometimes. When it rains there is no other place for the cow dung to go but down the hill and into the river. I made a note and we headed down the other side of the mountain where rainforest still lie.

Cutting through rainforest we stumbled upon a freshly cut road on the side of the mountain. Leaving huge tracks filled with mud, the bulldozer must have been giant. Images of it steaming its way through the forest animals running and trees toppling crossed my mind and we walked the road now instead cutting through the forest. I heard later that the road was just built for a new water project. We had been hiking for hours and I was feeling exhausted and even though Lloyd looked to still be fresh we decided to head back tiger-less. At one point during the trip back I was startled by a painful sting on the arm. I looked down to see a type of wasp they have hear and noticed there was a swarm of them now directly next to me. I looked at Lloyd and could only think of one thing to say. “Ow”. He looked at me and then looked at the swarm of wasps and became immediately more concerned with this than anything else. Lloyd wasn't much for words and so far nothing had changed his expression.

I started trying to hit the wasps off me and noticed they had started going to him too. That's when Lloyd looked me directly in the eye with a now more than just a little concerned face and said “We have to run. Fast.” And we did. Running through the forest jumping over barbed wire fences and apparently chasing a couple pigs now, my arm started to throb as my now fast pumping heart fed the poison. After about 5 minutes of this Lloyd finally stopped and we checked each other for wasps and to see if they were following us. It turns out these type of wasps are one of the most aggressive species in the jungle and will follow you for a long time. They were gone and so were the pigs that we scared. Lloyd got hit once and so did I. We pulled the stingers out and made our descent down.

After meeting with some other people living up the hill we decided to go to the river. Diving into not so deep water and climbing behind raging waterfalls are the norm for the people here and they were no different. Lloyd brought his pet parrot and small children we all swam in the now refreshing water. At one point I asked Lloyd about all the scars on his body and at first I just heard the word death. After clarification I found out that someone in a bar in Almirante tried to rob him and when he said no the person stabbed him 11 times and left him to die. After 4 surgies he lived. I wanted to ask about the slash across his left cheek but I will save that for another time. For now I like to think that he wrestled a lion death and a slash across the face was he got. This guy was more manly than I will ever be. Who the hell goes hunting for jungle cats with a slingshot anyways?

Also: After some discussion between Lloyd, his neighbor and I, I'm going to build my shower out of a type of plant called White Cane. It looks like bamboo but smaller and straighter. They are going to help me.

Also also: I probably shouldn't do anything too stupid because now the closest health center I can use for emergencies is 4 hours away by bus.