May 16, 2006
Day 230
NKM Adventure Day 7
A turtle that was wandering around the path.
With yesterday's bicycle debacle, we decided that we would have to revise today's goals. Craig and I decided that we would walk to the bottom of the meseta, set up camp, and attempt to walk to the top and back. There was a campsite a few hours away on top, but there would be no way we could walk there after walking 35 more K's. Candido would leave after us and catch up on his bike.
The first hour of our walk was easy, but then we entered the savanna. Without the protection of the jungle canopy, the weather instantly became brutal. It was a tough few hours, but eventually we made it back to the jungle.
Later, Candido caught up with us and we went fishing by the river. Craig liked to brag about his mad fishing skillz, but Candido probably caught five fish before Craig reeled in his first one. After thirty minutes, we had enough fish for lunch and dinner.
The rest of the path for the day was impassible on a bicycle, so we walked the rest of the way to the campsite. When we got there, we saw the same tour group that we had seen on the way into the park. They were on their way out, and seemed to be a bit jealous that we saw a puma. One of the advantages of walking versus driving, I guess. They packed up and headed back down, and we set up our camp in their place.
After a short rest, Craig and I walked to the top of the 600 meter meseta. The view at the top was great. I could see the jungle for what seemed like hundreds of kilometers. Going to the top really gave us a perspective of the remoteness of the location. Not one human settlement was visible from any direction.
Finally we walked back down to the campsite where we had boiled fish and pasta for dinner. The campsite was about 100 K's from where the bus dropped us off, but we were only halfway done. The next three days will be spent tracing our path back to that same spot.
Wow, you really were in the middle of nowhere!