Earlier this week, I went on a guided rainforest night walk. Four of us and our guide walked for a few hours looking for all the night creatures, large and small. We were
not disappointed. Suffice it to say, if for some insane reason I had decided to go out walking by myself, I would have been bitten by a spider, stung by a scorpion, stepped on a fer-de-lance, and been eaten alive by cane toads. Instead, I got to observe these animals safely from a distance and wonder at the sheer variety and adaptability of the rainforest critters. Most of the photos below were taken with my iPhone through the guide’s spotting scope.
I am a rule follower—always have been and always will be. The guide’s directions were to wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and closed-toe shoes, and to spray myself with bug spray. And of course, that is exactly what I did. When the van picked me up, I slid in next to two young women, both wearing short shorts, sleeveless T-shirts, and open-toe shoes. I couldn’t help but open my mouth and put my foot in it. Usually, I’m a little more circumspect when meeting people for the first time, but I was so astonished that anyone could be so seemingly clueless. (I looked up synonyms for stupid.)
Me, “Wow, you followed directions.” They responded defensively, “Well, we have bug spray on.” Realizing quickly that I sounded like an old fuddy-duddy woman and deciding not to respond with a list of all the various things that bug spray might not protect them from, I replied instead with a, “Uhm.” Thankfully, we were not in the same group, and I didn’t have to spend the entire two hours trying to make up for my boldness. (I looked up synonyms for rude.)
As we were walking down the trail, our guide abruptly stopped us and pointed to the snake sitting just off the path to the left. Turns out it was a fer-de-lance, one of the deadliest snakes in the rain forest. Alone, I would have just blithely walked on down the trail, and my life probably would have ended right then and there. Take-home message after a nighttime stroll in the rainforest: I am NEVER reaching out blindly and putting my hand on a rainforest tree again, nor am I ever stepping off the beaten path, nor will I ever go without a guide. And I will always, always, always cover myself to the max! I can’t guarantee, though, that I will keep my thoughts to myself in the future. That just wouldn’t be me.
