Lost in the Jungle

that’s the Tuichi.’
We hastened forward until we came to the riverbank. It was a stunning sight. The river was wide, at least a hundred yards across. Its waters were clear and calm. The current was mild. On the other side we could see thatched roofs. At long last we were there.
‘How do we get across the river, Karl?’ I asked.
‘You see those wooden platforms on the other side? Those are balsa rafts. We’ll soon catch sight of someone and holler for him to bring us over.’
We waited for about half an hour.
‘Maybe we should fire a shot.’ Karl suggested. ‘Somebody’s bound to hear it.’
The shotgun was slung over my

he is mature and ready.
I have identified myself as a dreamer fool just like the knight in the legend. If you are just a dreamer without being a fool, you will never leave home and risk losing everything you own – your assets, your ideals, your image. And what if it is all in vain and there is nothing to find? Only the fool can take such risk. I was that fool, for the dream was bigger than everything I risked. And I’ve lost it all time and again, and through those experiences, I have found what I truly own, for all that can be taken from me is not mine to begin with. I have found home now; there is no longer a need to search.

Way. I realise just by looking up to the sky that I am part of something infinite, and I feel infinitely grateful for life.

I now live with my family in the depths of the Australian rainforest where I am surrounded by the purity and lushness of the natural world. The remoteness from civilisation, complete immersion in natural surroundings, breathtaking mountains covered with forest, fresh water springs, and rich flora and fauna inspire me every moment I am there. I feel part of it; moreover, when I step out of my house at night I clearly discern that I am standing on a living planet, turning and moving in its course under the brilliance of the Milky

We found Taquile differen

‘I’ll get the cactus ready,’ I told Dede, ‘while you put up the tent.’
I sat down to concoct the drug. I pulled the thorns out with my knife. Then I peeled the rind. There were two layers: one, very thin and green; the other, white and containing strychnine. After carefully separating them, I finally had two big cups full of green pulp. I lit the burner and put a small amount of cactus in the pot to cook. About fifteen minutes later I emptied the pot into a cloth and squeezed out all the liquid. My efforts were rewarded with hardly more than an ounce. Would it be

Here is my advice to you, the adventurers – fear will show you the way; walk steadily toward it, for otherwise you will always be running. Have trust and faith to guide you like a torch piercing darkness. Do not believe and do not deny, but find out for yourself – for there is no truth but the one you have earned in your own experience.

They laughed and tossed pits down on my head. I was grateful to them, for the monkeys didn’t take more than one bite out of each piece and discarded a thick layer of edible pulp. I could see their teeth marks on the dates before I ate them.

I had a brilliant idea. I would seek out wild chickens’ nests, which usually hold five or six eggs apiece, but I wouldn’t touch the eggs. Instead I would mark the location of each nest and check on them every few days. Five or six nests would mean thirty eggs. The eggs would hatch into chicks within a few weeks. I would let them mature a bit and then one day come armed with one of the mosquito nets and the fishing line. The net would serve as a trap, spread out over the nest and propped up by a stick. I would tie the line to the stick and hide. When the hen came back to her chicks, I would give the line a tug, the stick would fall, and all of them would be trapped. I would rig up a bamboo coop near my camp and keep them caged in it, feeding them with worms and fruit.

Now let me treat you to a visit to La Paz.’ He stuck two fingers into the hem of his pants leg, pulled a