Bobsledding in the Jungle

 On July 7th of 2022 we headed into the Jungle.

The beginning of the walk was steep, but I thought to myself, "It can't be like this for the whole way."

    - it was. 

With Henry as our tour guide (one of the locals and staff on Cayos Cochinos) the five of us, 4 students and Toro Farmer, weaved our way through the steep and dense terrain of the jungle, following a small foot trail that was only marked by blue spray painted circles on trees that signified you were on the right path. 

Although the hike was shaded from the huge leaves of towering palm trees, we all were equally drenched in sweat as if we were standing in the sun. We took breaks often, and when we reached a clearing with a breeze we would all stand with our arms outstretched, hoping to cool ourselves down as much as possible. 

Along the hike we could hear tons of birds, but saw none- minus a humming bird that swooped right in front of one of the students faces and caught all of us by surprise. For other wildlife, we saw a few snails and a plethora of hermit crabs of all shapes and sizes. One crab in particular was not happy to be picked up and sunk his claw into the finger of one student. (Lets just say we didn't pick up any more crabs after that.) 

After experiencing our first casualty of the pinched finger and feeling a bit dehydrated, we reached our first destination- The Light House. 

Now, it may be called the Light House, but this land mark looks more like a rusted old space ship, skinny and towering into the sky, swaying back in forth with every breeze. A few of us wanted to climb the ladder inside up to the top, but alas, we needed a key to unlock the entrance and had none. 

Instead, we posed for a picture near the base of the space ship and took in our surroundings. Not much was different, but a hermit crab living in a plastic bottle top did strike our attention. 

Soon we began our trek back down the hill- somehow still managing to hike uphill even though we were going down?- to head towards East Village. 

Along the way, Henry told us that kids from the village use dried out palm leaves to "sled" down the steep parts of the hill. Upon hearing this, of course a few of us had to try it, including Professor Toro-Farmer. 

After grabbing a leaf and finding a spot deemed safe enough to sled, Toro-Farmer and a student mounted their chosen leaves and sled (more like skidded) down the hill. It was quite a sight to see and everyone laughed. I decided to call it Jungle Bobsledding, and we joked about it becoming the next Olympic sport. 

Soon enough we reached East Village and met some of the "Garifuna", locals, and gave candy, crayons, and coloring books to the kids. We also met two of the island dogs, one named Boppi which was the sweetest. Then we all loaded into a boat and were given a ride home, which was much appreciated after an afternoon of off-road hiking. 

The hike might have been a little grueling and we may not have been able to climb the light house (probably a blessing in disguise for our safety), but this was one of my favorite experiences from our time on Cayos Cochinos so far. Who would've thought you could sled in the jungle.