A brief write up for all those who are interested how I got on in Panama….
A brief write up for all those who are interested how I got on in Panama….
Wow what an experience…I am glad I have done it but would I do it again.. NO way…
A bizarre experience of learning to appreciate the basics such as food and water. After spending just under 3 weeks in the Jungle with a load of other crazy life loving people. The experience of watering cans for showers while stood on a pallet was to begin with fun and like water fights for grown ups but after 3 weeks and coupled with sickness and bad sanitation it became hard.
It was in effect one of the hardest things I have ever done, camping in the jungle. Waking up with crabs crawling over me was one thing and I kind of like got used to that but waking up with a scorpion sat on my arm, well that is just another matter. Fortunately, it was a big one and I am told the bigger they are the less the sting, however I did not hang around too long to find out… You have never seen someone get out a tent so quick. What to do with a scorpion in your tent, my trusty dust pan brush came in useful at poisonous insect removal.
Then we come on to the food – oh my the food four hours from civilisation, there was a canteen dining area with three meals a day.. Great I thought what I did not think about was that the food would be covered in flies and the table s would not be cleaned for 3 weeks. With this in mind everyone on the event got sick which is great if you have toilets but when you have compost toilets it’s not so great. Not eating for 3 weeks means I lost a lot of weight, which kind of like makes me laugh seeing a recent comment on UKP about how I had ‘ballooned”, blog to come on this…….Back to the delights of tribal gathering. So I found myself living on hot cacao and peppermint tea.
What really hit me is what I prioritised when you have no food, no water and no shelter for just under 18 hours in blazing heat… What comes first when you are thinking about how to survive without hungry, dehydrating, exhausted and no shelter… This was hard but a great lesson and some real understanding of life without luxuries and been pushed to the edge.
The really scary thing happened about 3 days in when the realisation of no wifi, phone or connection with the outside world kicked in….. No way of distracting from what was coming up for me and having to face my inner demons and fears. Which was mainly fear around not having any connection and no communication. What happens if kicked in – what happens if anything happens to my family no one can reach me, what happens if there is a disaster at home or an emergency no one can get me.. A sense of panic for a few days until I came to the realisation that it can wait whatever it is will have to wait… A bit of a big learning for me.
On the plus side I made some amazing connections and have had some opportunities put to me that I would have never had if I had not gone. Opportunities that just don’t come along and are both exciting and challenging but bring me a real opportunity to learn much more and form that know so much more than I possibly ever could. So for this all the hardship was well worth it to make such wonderful connections and opportunities for the end of the year and a special invitation only opportunity of a lifetime… So it just goes to show when you step out side of your comfort zone and take a few risks something amazing comes out of it, Things you would have never thought of open up, oh how familiar does this sound?
One of the other things I really enjoyed was to be able to walk around naked and in a non sexual way. A way of freedom and acceptance of my body and I noticed I felt really comfortable with my body but also very safe walking around with no clothes on and this for me is a massive thing. I have a love of my body and now an even greater appreciation of my body and the things it lets me do. So that was a real positive for me.
Anyway I could ramble on about this experience but I have other things I want to write so I hope you enjoyed me sharing my crazy trip – I would say next time I think I will try some luxury but where is the fun in that. Camping across middle Africa at the end of the year as I overland it and rough it in Africa. Am I crazy I must be, am I different yes I am but you know what it would be a great shame going through life and not embracing my crazy, different, quirky self..
Kisses Kristina J – Yorkshire Escort
