Feeling Invincible at My Most Vulnerable: Part 2

This is the second part in a three part series, if you missed the first part, check it out!

We entered into the rainforest with a flourish, greeted by the smiles and laughter of the park rangers, calmly resting along a stream, having waited for who knows how long. The asked us how we were doing, and when Mari responded that she was going to die, Egbert, my favorite ranger, flashed her a megawatt smile that kept me going throughout the day and told her that he had it on good authority that today was not her day to die. After a brief rest, we continued on, happy to have the most difficult part of the way done with.

The next 20 minutes or so of walking was a cakewalk. And then, we hit swamp. At first, the water was just an inch under the top of my boot, and I exclaimed to Mari how excited I was that I pushed the Guatemalan shop owners to search for the higher boots. And then, without warning, we were wading up to our knees in swamp muck, with all sorts of creatures lurking below. At this point, wading up to our knees, we thought we were hard-core. So hard-core. And so we, sandwiched between the rangers (who were quite entertained by our reaction), laughed hysterically, took photos, and stopped when we hit dryer land to wring out our socks and pour the water out of our overflowing boots. 

When we thought this was high water...

We continued this pattern for quite a while, until we stumbled upon the rest of our group. Waiting at a flooded river. To watch us and laugh as we tried to cross it. On a fallen but submerged tree that thankfully picked you off the bottom of the flooded river. So that the water only came up to your waist. And not over your head. With a strong current. And it was at this point that I could do nothing but laugh, and be thankful that I, at one point in my life, was a pretty good gymnast on the beam. And so following Egbert, and with 30 eyes on me, I, in waist-high water, walked sideways on the submerged log, grabbing onto carefully placed sticks to balance myself, while Egbert, with his smile, kept urging me on. I made it across. I cheered for myself. And then I cheered as all the other interns successfully made it across the river without falling in.

That gun was supposed to make us feel better...

We continued on, wading through knee-high swamp water and swollen creeks. Throughout it all, the rangers were joking, pointing out different creatures, creating handholds out of branches to help us cross rivers, holding out hands as we took the final leap from a submerged log to more shallow water, and cutting through dense forest. And through it all, they never lost their sense of humor. It was nice to know that in this unforgiving environment, we had knowledgeable, helpful people looking out for us. It was also nice to know that one of them had a gun (though at the same time a little bit disturbing…could this old, rusted gun get off a shot before a croc feasted on my leg?). These men added to my feeling of invincibility, while also making the journey so much more exciting…