With no chance to make it home for Christmas in the cards I decided to take the opportunity to get some jungle survival training from a local expert. Wilderness survival is something of hobby of mine because I fly over some very remote regions of the world and there’s always a chance that I’ll go down and suddenly find my self in a life or death situation. The Amazon jungle is among the most dangerous areas to fly over for a number of reasons. First thing you have to do if you go down in the jungle is survive the crash because most of the trees are over one hundred feet tall and after you stop impacting the trees you then fall ten stories to the ground. If you survive the crash you then have to be prepared to wait for a long time because most of the countries in South America don’t have much in the way of search and rescue operations so even if you manage to get off a mayday call you might be there a while.
Super Girl and I went up the Amazon river with a native guide who took us into the jungle and showed us how his people have survived in the area for thousands of years. I don’t have time to go over everything he taught us but one of the most interesting things, besides me eating a grub, was what the natives use for insect repellent. What they do is wake up an ants nest, stick your hand on it and let the ants crawl up your arm. When your arm is covered with ants you smash them with your hand and spread the juice over you skin. After we left the jungle we got chased off the river by one of the monster thunderstorms that pop up every afternoon. The training was great but I hope I never have to use it.
