Life In A Cloud

I have survived my first week in the cloud forest, miraculously, without getting eaten by a puma or devoured by a taranchula. Life is very simple here and often I spend the majority of my day with my face deep in a book, adventuring side by side with the protagonist of the novel. When I am not stranded on Mars with Mark Watney or on a life raft in the Pacific with a Bengal Tiger, I am either wandering the muddy trails that surround the camp, setting up game cameras, swimming under waterfalls, taking pictures of the hundreds of different birds and moths, journaling, or just sitting somewhere cool and thinking about stuff.

Being so far from civilization has definitely had its ups and downs no doubt but in this past week alone, I feel like I have learned a vast amount about myself.

Before coming here, I never truly experienced loneliness. In my previous travels, I had always been with my friends or family, or host family, so my first confrontation with this emotion was one that hit me head on. Gradually, over the past week, I have learned how to deal with being alone, and have taught myself to embrace the beauty of it at times. I started to compile a list of things that helped me confront my loneliness (will post in a later blog), and by pinpointing the cause of my emotions, I was better able to work through them and eventually, resolve them.

Upon my arrival, I was assaulted by a tornado of emotions. I was overwhelmed by the long list of things that are poisonous or things that are dangerous. I was sad to have said goodbye to my mother, who I had gotten so close with over the previous two weeks. I was intimidated because I was the only female and only volunteer on the entire nature reserve. I was out of my element and in a completely new place. I was basically a mess to say the least.

Now, just seven days later, this reserve is home to me. I am used to the constant caucophony of birds, monkeys, crickets and frogs that fills the air every minute of every day. I look forward to the time at night when I get to brush my teeth at the sink outside, loooking out into the dark night sky as the fireflies flicker on and off in all directions. I get excited when I get to explore a new trail. I look forward to the morning when I walk up to the main cabin for breakfast. Stomping through the mud, I watch as the birds peck at the bananas we put out the previous night. I am used to the rain that comes every afternoon and feel comfortable in my hammock with a blanket, reading my book as it patters on the tin roof overhead. I enjoy my showers because they are in a little wooden hut with an open window to the rainforest. As I lather the dirt and grime out of my hair, I look out to the trees; hoping to spot a toucan.

Life is beautiful, and on the reserve, life is abundant. Though I may be one of the only Homo sapiens here, the gap is easily filled with the presence of other, more exotic, creatures.