Immediately following my last post it was brought to my attention that I didn't leave till Friday. Almost immediately following that realization, while still attempting - mostly unsuccessfully - photos I've taken thus far, a couple was talking to the manager of the place I was at. They were looking to do Catacombs, which as you'll remember was something I had wanted to do. It seemed almost as if fate were playing a role. The manager turned to me and asked if I wanted to go and I said yes.
The next day we all hopped into a Land Rover and drove the 30 miles over rain washed dirt roads. Part of the trip was through a pine forest that reminded me of the drive though the mountains in Oregon. As far as the ruins went, they were pretty cool and it was nice having a guide. Besides the ruins, there were cool plants and animals that he pointed out. I ate some termites strait out of the nest (they tasted like parsley or minty carrots), some random herbs, he pet some giant wasps (way mellow), had giant avocados, and found "tickle" plants (they close and retract when you touch them. As we walked around there were howler monkeys in the distance that added to the mystery feeling of the place. All in all it was pretty neat.
Then things got interesting. On the way back our vehicle lost its back wheel. That's right the wheel came all the way off. I feel somewhat responsible since I thought that a wheel sounded loose. Thankfully, the military was about 2 minutes behind us and helped us find the wheel, which turned out to be about 50 feet into the jungle. All the bolts were bent to shit so there was zero chance of replacing it and there was zero cell reception. Thankfully the army guys had room in their truck and agreed to drive us to a certain point.
Along the way, our guide saw a large rodent a little smaller than a gibnut on the side of the road and got the army guys to stop. It was freshly hit by a car, but not crushed. In other words, it was totally in tact and looked like it just up and died. Well, with the exception that it was bleeding from its nose being bust open. Anyhow, he smacked it against the car a couple times and then threw it in the back with us proclaiming it was BBQ tonight.
The army couldn't take us further than the reserve so our guide had us stop at a swimming hole where some other tours had stopped. I went swimming in the river while he tried to convince some of the other tours to give us a ride. No dice. Someone did call his director when they got back to town, so we played rummy till he showed up about 1.5 hours later as we started contemplating walking 10 miles to the nearest town. Thankfully, his gas gauge was broken because it showed empty when he picked us up.
I should have expected some sort of adventure as it was one of those spur of the moment fate things. People always talk about these types of adventures and I was slightly surprised that mine happened within the first week. All in all, it was fun, no one got hurt except his dinner, and I was still able to get to my flight today.
Pictures will follow when I get a fast enough internet connection.
D
The next day we all hopped into a Land Rover and drove the 30 miles over rain washed dirt roads. Part of the trip was through a pine forest that reminded me of the drive though the mountains in Oregon. As far as the ruins went, they were pretty cool and it was nice having a guide. Besides the ruins, there were cool plants and animals that he pointed out. I ate some termites strait out of the nest (they tasted like parsley or minty carrots), some random herbs, he pet some giant wasps (way mellow), had giant avocados, and found "tickle" plants (they close and retract when you touch them. As we walked around there were howler monkeys in the distance that added to the mystery feeling of the place. All in all it was pretty neat.
Then things got interesting. On the way back our vehicle lost its back wheel. That's right the wheel came all the way off. I feel somewhat responsible since I thought that a wheel sounded loose. Thankfully, the military was about 2 minutes behind us and helped us find the wheel, which turned out to be about 50 feet into the jungle. All the bolts were bent to shit so there was zero chance of replacing it and there was zero cell reception. Thankfully the army guys had room in their truck and agreed to drive us to a certain point.
Along the way, our guide saw a large rodent a little smaller than a gibnut on the side of the road and got the army guys to stop. It was freshly hit by a car, but not crushed. In other words, it was totally in tact and looked like it just up and died. Well, with the exception that it was bleeding from its nose being bust open. Anyhow, he smacked it against the car a couple times and then threw it in the back with us proclaiming it was BBQ tonight.
The army couldn't take us further than the reserve so our guide had us stop at a swimming hole where some other tours had stopped. I went swimming in the river while he tried to convince some of the other tours to give us a ride. No dice. Someone did call his director when they got back to town, so we played rummy till he showed up about 1.5 hours later as we started contemplating walking 10 miles to the nearest town. Thankfully, his gas gauge was broken because it showed empty when he picked us up.
I should have expected some sort of adventure as it was one of those spur of the moment fate things. People always talk about these types of adventures and I was slightly surprised that mine happened within the first week. All in all, it was fun, no one got hurt except his dinner, and I was still able to get to my flight today.
Pictures will follow when I get a fast enough internet connection.
D
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