📸 Photo

sheeting over the bamboo poles, pulling the edges taut and weighting them down with heavy rocks. He padded the floor of the tent with a thick carpet of leaves to keep us from the cold and damp.

We got a little fire going and sat around it, preparing rice and tea with spring water. The food wasn’t filling, but Karl told us not to worry; there wasn’t much game here because we were too close to settled areas. Once we passed Asriamas, he promised, we would have all the meat we could eat.

The noise in the jungle at night is unbelievable. There were moments it seemed as if we were in the centre of some busy industrial area. Karl informed us that it was just insects and birds. We were all exhausted (poor Kevin — I couldn’t even lift his sixty-pound pack full of camera equipment) and soon fell asleep on the ground.

In the middle of the night I was awakened by a horrible screech. It was Marcus. Kevin had gotten up to relieve himself, and when he passed over Marcus, Marcus woke up screaming, thinking that a wild animal was attacking him. Karl laughed, and we settled down and went back to sleep.

Before we set out the following morning, we divided the weight that had to be carried more equally among us, though Kevin insisted on carrying more than his share.

After an easy two hours' walk we came upon a ranch. The owner and his wife greeted us