Amazonian Jungle Survival Course

[Moiser]

I’ve spent the last three weeks in Guyana, South America taking part in a Jungle Survival course in the Pristine Rainforest of the Guiana Shield.

The course is a run a couple of times a year by a former member of the English special forces, costing £1500 excluding flights to take part. I found parts of this course to be the most mentally challenging thing I have ever experienced, hopefully I can go someway to explaining how.

I arrived in Guyana, in the middle of the night and catch a taxi from the airport on the outskirts of Georgetown over to my hotel in the city centre. Georgetown has a reputation as a very dangerous place, with a high murder and crime rate, I’d been warned a handful of times not to go out at night after being in the country a few hours. In total I’ve spent just under a week in the city, I have been out at night although I wasn’t brave or maybe stupid enough to go out alone or travel by foot, but I can imagine it wouldn’t end well as I got plenty of attention - some negative - wandering through the city in the day.

The course was divided into three phases, with each phase upping the ante in terms of training and the lack of things people in the first world take for granted, such as running water, electricity.

Phase one took place in a “developed” camp site on the interior of the rainforest, developed meaning the main area of the camp had already been cleared and some wooden shed like admin areas had been erected. We were issued a basic kit belt containing a water canteen, machete and survival kit (fire stone, iodine, compass, and a basic fishing kit).

In phase one I learned to make fire, this turned out to be quite frustrating, especially under the canopy of the rainforest. I also learned, or at least was meant to learn how to shoot a bow the local Amerindians use to hunt, this was tough, and I left phase one with serious doubts that I could hit anything at any distance should the opportunity arise. We were taken through the process of making a small fishing rod that would allow us to catch small bait fish and also shown how to locate the grubs we would be using as bait. We also learned some basic bush craft, making cooking pots out of bamboo and such. We slept in hammocks in bathed in the river next to camp, food was also provided for us. One of the final things we learn’t before moving onto phase two was how to make traps to catch animals.

During the first four days there were several talks about the dangers and issues we would encounter in the jungle. Plenty of dangerous animals including Jaguars, various arachnids and reptiles were caught and brought to us for inspection, including scorpions, poison arrow frogs and snakes. However the biggest shock for me came when one of the local guides caught a Black Piranha up from the river we had been bathing in, this thing was big, easily as long as my forearm!

There was plenty of talk about another beastie living in the jungle, most of it initiated by myself as I knew there was a strong potential we would come across Bullet Ants, and being stung by a Bullet Ant just so happens to be on my list of goals. The Bullet Ant top out the Schmidt sting pain index, with the sting being described as feeling “Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail grinding into your heel.”

Phase one ended with a six hour hike through the interior carrying all our gear and supplies required for phase two. I’d estimate the weight we were carrying to be around 30KG, I’d carried more weight for longer periods but the heat and humidity made it a challenging battle of will, I was done for the day by the time we arrived at the phase two camp site, but we still had to erect our hammocks, build a fire, collect water and dig shit pits before bathing in the river and eating.

The week in phase two passed in the blink of an eye, we spent a lot of time walking through the interior identifying plants that we could use for something, resin from one tree for making fire, bark from another tree for bush rope and a couple of other trees for food. We also spent a whole day fishing, where I caught, gutted and ate two large Piranha. The final lesson before the final phase was to learn how to build a shelter, something to keep you off the ground and also to fend off the rain. We were still sleeping in jungle hammocks at this stage.

The final phase was isolation. Nearly three whole days alone, the only equipment I was allowed to take was my bow and arrow, the fishing rod I had made, my belt kit and a radio, food would have to be caught. The radio was to be used in emergencies or if anyone decided they’d had enough, it was made clear that if you turned it on, you’d be pulled from isolation and would fail the course. One by one people boarded a small boat, I sat waiting for my turn, quietly confident I would be able to see the final phase through. I was the last person to go into isolation, the other guys on the course had a decent head start on me.

I hit the bank of the river with a basic game plan that building a shelter and getting a fire going was going to be the priority for day one, I didn’t hold out much hope in eating anything. Cue six or seven hours of hard labour, I picked a spot close to the river between four large trees, although I had to cut down a couple of smaller trees to clear the area before starting to clear the ground of debris. I was slightly concerned about a large dead hollow tree in the corner of my camp, figuring it would be a good resting place for beasties, I decided to site my fire there. My hands started to blister after four hours, but I had the makings of what I thought was a decent shelter to show for it, I had erected a large frame and collected a decent amount of roofing material. The next choice I had was to make a bed or start a fire, I opted for the fire, spending a good hour searching for and collecting fire wood, chopping up dead trees when I found them. I was exhausted, filthy and covered in sweat by the time I got the fire going. I estimated to have an hour of sunlight left, two hours at the most so quickly got to work knocking up a bed, using a mixture of bamboo and Y-sticks, and before I knew it, the sun was setting.

The first night passed in a hazy blur. My fire didn’t last the night, it was out the very first time I woke up, I was surrounded by darkness and strange noises. I was covered in insects, I could feel things crawling all over my skin. A couple of times in the night I heard something large moving close to my camp, but it soon occurred to me that there was little I could do, getting off my uncomfortable bed would probably mean putting myself at more risk from snakes and spiders, or even getting lost. I knew it was unlikely the noise would be a Jaguar, it was more likely to be a Tapir or a Capybara, so I just lay there and try to sleep.

I awoke the second day just before dawn, I had survived the first night, I was hungry, really hungry. I got up collected what grubs I could find and went fishing, coming away unsuccessful for the first time, those bastard fish had eaten five grubs and I had nothing to show for it. I sat on the bank of the river for some time, trying to come up with a plan, the only thing I could think to do was to get more grubs and try and again. So I collect more grubs, returning maybe an hour later, right of the brink of it being too late in the day for the fish to bite. The first couple of grubs get torn off the hook quickly, I start to get frustrated before catching a fish about an inch long, flicking it onto the bank of the river and consequently nearly losing it as it tried to flip itself back into the water, luckily I managed to pounce on it, and with one pathetic little fish in the bank I throw another grub on the hook and catch a fish about two inches long, things are looking up. I throw my last grub on the hook and cast out, after only a couple of seconds I feel a strong tug on the hook, I stand and pull hard on the rod flicking a Piranha about four inches long out of the water. I watch the fish fly through the air in slow motion, it’s off the hook but the trajectory looks good, I mentally run through cooking and eating the Piranha in the amount of time it takes for the fish to land on the bank and flip itself back into the river… and I just stand there, broken.

I was now faced with a tough decision, I had run through the last of the grubs in the immediate area, so do I eat the two fish I’ve caught or do I use them on a stronger line and maybe catch a Catfish or Piranha? No guts no glory right? I cut up the two inch fish, giving me three pieces of bait and throw the smaller fish on the hook and cast out and it’s taken in seconds, ripped from the hook, one down, two to go. You can probably guess where this is going, the other two pieces of bait went the same way, but not before my hook got snagged on something, meaning I had to walk six feet into the river to collect my hook.

I wasn’t happy about returning to camp empty handed, knowing that was probably my last chance to eat, save shooting something with my bow and arrow I would be going throw the rest of my isolation without food and I was already hungry. What followed was probably the longest ten hours of my life, I collected firewood… and that’s pretty much it, there was nothing else to do, so I waited for the night to come. Boredom and loneliness set in pretty quickly, and time passed slowly, with no way to check the time I had to estimate it using the sun, I napped a little but didn’t want to sleep too much as I thought a night without sleep would probably end with my grabbing for the radio. To pass the time I went down to the river to watch the world go by, I was greeted by five Giant River Otters in the water, they would swim close to the bank while making aggressive noises at me, then move away, before repeating the process, this maybe went on for an hour before they swan off and I returned to camp.

So I just lay there, me and my thoughts, keeping my mind away from the radio was tough, it wasn’t the hunger that was driving me crazy, it was the boredom that was turning my thoughts towards turning on the radio and calling it in. So I laid there and tried to clear my mind, it’s tough to describe what I experienced during that day, It’s probably the closest I have ever come to reaching a mediative state. I spent some time thinking about decisions that I am going to have to make in the near future, mostly regarding my career, things that seemed so difficult and important felt totally insignificant.

After an eternity, night came… but unfortunately it came with the rain and would you believe my shelter wasn’t as waterproofed as I thought it was, I got wet, really really wet. My feet were still soaked from my brief swim in the river earlier in the morning, at least the rain kept most of the bugs away. It rained for hours, but I was determined to get through the night, I tried my best to sleep, drifting off a one point only to be awakened some time later by my bed dropping me to the floor, I can only assume the rain had loosened the Y-sticks from the ground. For a split second I gave up, fumbling around in dark for the radio, but stopping myself before I found it. I returned to my broken and wet bed and sat there for a long time. After awhile I got up, and attempted to relight my fire, getting it going after some effort. Then I set about fixing the bed, before laying down and trying to sleep.

I wasn’t sure if I could do another night, although it wasn’t particularly the nights I was worried about. It was the daylight hours, twelve hours with the prospect of collecting fire wood, maybe upgrading my shelter, assuming I had the energy and lots and lots of nothing. I tried to put that thought from my mind and sleep, when I awoke it was first light. I lay there feeling quite accomplished, at some point today I would get picked up… I spent the day drifting in and out of sleep, more time watching life pass me by on the river before I heard what I thought was the engine of a boat coming towards me, ten minutes later I was picked up, my shelter was torn down before a long, peaceful boat ride back to civilisation.

Yesterday a couple of us took a tourist trip Kaieteur Falls, apparently it’s the largest single drop waterfall in the world, really impressive to see but it almost felt a little fake, nicely laid out paths to walk on, annoying European families hogging the photo ops, the experience was like chalk and cheese in comparison but I did manage to find a Bullet Ant nest there, and tip the tour guide enough money to look the other way long enough for me to do the deed, 24 hours later and it still hurts like hell!

I’ve done a shit job of explaining this, but I’ve come away from this experience feeling totally humbled. I’ve come to the conclusion that pushing yourself past your boundaries is one of life’s greatest pleasures, I would implore all of you to keep this in mind.

[thelocal]

Well come back and read ut this is awesome,my brother has been talking about doing this for a long time

[Sigma]

Wow, that's bad ass!

[Noa]

I've been planning on doing this for some time now, just been saving up the $$ for it. Great to read your perspective on it.

One question, what type of bow(assuming long or recurve) and arrow(assuming wood) is used and do they teach you how to make your own arrows?

[Moiser]

Hey Noa,

I believe it was a long bow, the local Amerindians make them from Leopardwood, but only when they come across a naturally felled tree.

The making of arrows was covered briefly, but not in any great detail, the were made from wood and had a long, barbed metal spike at the pointy end.