The Jungle Trip Part II

We dispersed to the vehicles and gathered our packs and canteens. We whispered about the badassitude of Rambo. He and Bob walked off and talked like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in years. We scraped mud from our boots by the pound with rocks and sticks and waited by the hole that Rambo appeared from. Precisely five minutes after he sent us off to get our packs, he turned around and walked into the jungle.
We awkwardly worked our way into the jungle behind him. His arm was constantly swinging as he carved a trail through the jungle with his machete. “We’ll hit the main trail in a few hundred yards.” He barked as he walked and chopped. “Stay together….you get lost out here, and no one will ever find you. If you spot an animal that scares you, holler at me and I’ll take care of it.” He stopped talking and kept chopping. We finally ran right into the main trail. It was a well traveled path with a floor of clay and roots worn down by thousands of feet. We walked and walked. We saw huge trees full of crazy colored birds. We crossed muddy streams. We wondered about the source of mysterious sounds. We wondered what was ahead.
Every now and then we would pass men on the trail. They were very short and smiley people. They mostly wore slacks cut off at the knee and t-shirts, others wore loin cloths and face paint. Most of them carried bags slung over their shoulders, and carried the dreaded blow-dart guns, which also served as walking sticks. The jungle started to thin as the old growth gave way to neat rows of corn and unfamiliar vegetables. We saw more and more people walking down the path and kneeling in the fields with baskets. We approached a group of men who were laughing and slapping their legs about something hilarious. They greeted Rambo, who was obviously a familiar sight, but as the rest of us came into view, they straightened up. Their laughter gave way to looks of guarded curiosity and alertness. Rambo, noticing their reaction, walked a few yards past them, then turned around and waited for the group to catch up.
The men smiled politely with tiny nods as they made eye contact with us. Rambo finally spoke up as the group reassembled. “Alright kids, we’re coming to this village so we can catch a boat across the river. You’ll never see another place like this, so walk around and smile and be nice to these folks, and no pictures.” Rambo pointed at me and Tanya and spoke up. “You two… Let them stare all they want, most of these folks have never seen blonde hair.”