Rainforest Adventures

In late August 2001, a five-member geological exploration team led by Professor Juan came to the Acaponeta rainforest under the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico. The mission of the exploration team this time is to conduct a field inspection of the attapulgite deposit in the tropical rainforest of Acaponeta. Attapulgite clay is an internationally rare mineral. The four members of the exploration team, George, Weiner, Empal and Molica, are all students of Professor Juan. In the inaccessible, dark hinterland of the tropical rainforest, the exploration team explored and sampled the attapulgite deposits against the heat and mosquito bites. After working for several days in a row, everyone was exhausted, and they had consumed more than half of the drinking water and food they brought with them when they set off. Given that the scheduled exploration project was basically completed, Professor Juan told everyone in the tent that they could end the exploration the next morning, and the four young people cheered. However, there were unforeseen circumstances, and no one expected that in the middle of the night, a sudden rainstorm pushed the exploration team into a nightmarish desperate situation!

Rainy night horror

The weather was extremely sultry, and the jungle seemed to be burning. Even Professor Juan, who had gone deep into the tropical jungle many times, did not expect that at two o'clock in the morning, without any warning, a downpour of rain would pour down wildly, and the entire rainforest was instantly submerged in the hustle and bustle of the rainstorm. Twenty minutes later, half a foot of rainwater accumulated in the tent where the exploration team lived. Seeing that the rainstorm showed no sign of stopping for a while, Professor Juan decisively instructed the members of the exploration team to quickly evacuate the tent. Move to a higher terrain. They hastily stuffed exploration instruments, investigation materials and daily necessities into their travel bags. The group carried their luggage, held hands with each other, and waded through the knee-deep rainwater to transfer with difficulty. Due to the dense branches and leaves above the rainforest, they could not use lightning to observe the surrounding scenery, but could only rely on the light beams of two flashlights to distinguish the height of the terrain and try to walk to a place with high terrain. After more than an hour of arduous trek, they finally moved to a hill in the jungle.

In the dark, Professor Juan suddenly asked everyone to check the rain on their travel bags as soon as possible, and emphasized the need to protect the remaining food. With the help of a faint flashlight, everyone cooperated with each other to check the travel bags in the rain. The results were frustrating: of the five people, only Professor Juan's exploration data and a small amount of food were not penetrated by the rain because they were well wrapped in plastic bags in advance. The materials and instruments that George and Weiner put in their travel bags were wet from the rain. Fortunately, a pistol and several rounds of bullets in George's bag were wrapped in tarps and did not enter the water. Empal and Molica didn't zip their bags at all in a panic, and the bread and biscuits they were carrying had already been soaked into powder by the rain. To make matters worse, an electronic direction finder kept by Empal was also soaked in the water. In addition, due to the hasty transfer, a bag of salted ham sausages and first aid medicine boxes used by the exploration team to replenish the salt were also discarded in the tent. At dawn, the torrential rain that lasted for more than three hours finally stopped. At this time, everyone was shocked to find that the mountain bag they came to in the dark last night was surrounded by reckless pristine rainforest. East, west, north, south and south could not be distinguished at all. There was no trace of any path in the swamp after the rain receded, and the exploration team was in a dire situation of disorientation.

Misfortunes don't come singly

In the deserted rainforest, everyone knows what it means to be disoriented. The food left by the exploration team can only cover everyone's needs for a day. Hunger, heat, and the threat of death made the four young people feel unprecedented despair.

At this time, Professor Juan, who has always been serious, smiled and said to everyone: "Don't despair, as long as everyone has confidence, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome. If the direction finder is broken, we can judge the direction according to the wind direction; without food, this tropical rainforest There is no need to worry about what you don't eat; there is nothing to fear about being temporarily disoriented, the key is not to lose confidence! Isn't it?"

Professor Juan's words inspired and inspired the four young people. Everyone quickly got rid of the pessimistic and dull atmosphere and took the initiative to discuss with the professor how to get out of the predicament. Professor Juan told everyone that the Acaponeta rainforest usually blows southwesterly winds in the early morning and evening of summer. As long as the exploration team walks unremittingly against the wind, it is entirely possible to get out of the rainforest in about 5 days. Just as Professor Juan was making the above analysis, Molica exclaimed with joy: "God, here comes the wind!"

The wind has indeed come! The exploration team, led by Professor Juan, confidently faced the wind and headed up the road. In addition to the thick moss on the inaccessible jungle ground, there are puddles of different shades, which brought great inconvenience to the professor and his party. After the rush and transfer the night before, everyone was already exhausted. However, seeing the perseverance of Professor Juan, who is over 50 years old, the young man did not dare to slack off in the slightest.

At noon, they came to a swampy lake about the size of a basketball court. There was no wind in the rainforest in the afternoon, and the surface of the huge swampy lake was as calm as a huge mirror. When George distributed food to everyone, he deliberately gave Professor Juan two more biscuits. The professor insisted on refusing to accept special care, and when they pushed, they suddenly heard Molica scream: "Snake!"

When everyone heard the sound, Morica, who was sitting on the ground with her back against the tree trunk, was shivering with nervousness, and there was a venomous snake nearly two feet long at her feet!

George quickly took out his pistol to kill the poisonous snake, and Empal picked up a stone in a hurry. At the critical moment, Professor Juan stopped them with a gesture. I saw that the experienced Professor Juan nimbly pulled a wrist-thick branch from under the palm leaf and slowly approached the snake that was spitting out its core. Everyone was too nervous to come out.

Two steps away from the snake, the professor lifted the branch decisively. Amid Molica's exclamation, the snake twisted and struggled on the ground a few times before stopping moving.

Seeing that Molica was overly frightened, Professor Juan hurriedly stepped forward to comfort her. Unexpectedly, the dying snake suddenly raised its head and bit Professor Juan's right foot, "Professor..." George cried out, and he smashed the snake's head with the handle of his gun in anger, smashing it a few times. The snake's head was flattened. Professor Juan's face was pale, and his eyes were lying on the ground with closed eyes. Since the emergency medicines, including the anti-venom serum, were lost last night, everyone was distraught but helpless. Molica, who was saved by the professor, was already crying into tears, and George and Weiner, who had always been strong, also burst into tears.

Accidental discovery

Time passed in a difficult atmosphere, and Professor Juan's right foot was swollen to the eye. The venom spread rapidly in his body, and sweat soaked his clothes. Four young people gathered around the professor with heavy hearts, and boundless despair gripped their hearts deeply. As he was dying, Professor Juan suddenly and laboriously opened his eyes, his eyes swept across everyone's faces, and finally stayed on Empal.

"Did you just pick up a brown stone?" Professor Juan asked with difficulty.

"Yes, Professor."

"Show it to me!" the professor urged eagerly.

Empal quickly retrieved the stone he had just thrown away nearby. At this moment, even he himself wondered how a stone could appear on the shore of this moss-covered swampy lake.

Professor Juan took the brown stone and observed it carefully. When he looked at it, there was a strange light in the professor's eyes: "Vermiculite? Yes, this is a vermiculite!" Professor Juan's voice was excited and trembled.

George couldn't believe his ears! As a graduate student majoring in minerals, he certainly knew the value of vermiculite. Vermiculite is a magnesia aluminum silica hydrochloride ore, and it is also the premier super thermal insulation material on earth! Before this, this precious mineral had never been found in Mexico. George had only known from textbooks that vermiculite was rocky in shape and brown in color. The professor's authority in mineral deposits is beyond doubt. For more than 20 years, the ore identification conclusion made by Professor Juan has never been wrong!

George and the others couldn't help but be so excited about the professor's discovery, and for a moment they forgot that they were still in a rainforest full of dangers. Professor Juan's hand holding the "vermiculite" trembled, "This vermiculite... means... there is... a vermiculite... mine nearby, you must... take it out..." After saying this, the professor stopped breathing. Molica burst into tears.

George silently took the precious vermiculite from the professor's hand, carefully wrapped it in a cloth, and put it in his travel bag. At this moment, the four young people all have a common belief: even if they have gone through untold hardships, even if there is only one person left in the end, they must walk out of the Acaponeta rainforest alive, and must not live up to Professor Juan's dying exhortation.

The rest of the jungle

Under a palm tree, they buried Professor Juan's body and carved signs and dates into the trunk.

At dusk, the wind could be felt again in the jungle, and they set off after determining the direction of their walk according to the wind direction. Although Professor Juan was buried underground, George and the others still felt that the professor was walking with them.

When night fell, George lit a torch with a branch to lead the way, followed by Weiner, Empal, and Molica. The jungle at night was full of mystery, and from time to time the terrifying cry of beasts came. Perhaps it was George's courage and guts that shocked the beasts in the jungle. Several times, jaguars who were eyeing them appeared not far from them, but in the end no beasts attacked them.

After two days and two nights of trekking in the jungle, the excessive hunger and fatigue made them look withered, and in order not to starve to death, they began to search for everything to satisfy their hunger.

Weiner learned to use his shirt as a net cover to catch small fish in the shallow waters of the swamp; Empal was able to climb high trees to dig eggs from bird nests; Molica several times from hidden pools Got a few water lilies. Only George was the worst at finding food. This is because his heart and attention were devoted to protecting the valuable "vermiculite".

Although raw fish was disgusting to eat, and the stems of water lilies had a astringent onion flavor, the four young people ate with relish. In everyone's subconscious, as long as they can get out of the tropical rainforest alive and take out the "precious ore" identified by Professor Juan, no matter how fishy or bitter it is, they will swallow it!

However, perhaps they went astray, and on the fifth day, they still saw no sign of getting out of the jungle. Days of extreme heat in the tropical rainforest caused a large loss of salt in their bodies. All four had twitching muscles in their legs to varying degrees, and their bodies were swollen from mosquito bites... In the face of huge physical exhaustion and mental pressure, Empal had doubts about whether he could get out of the jungle, and Molica almost had a nervous breakdown. Finally, they sat down on the ground, ready to give up hope of getting out of the jungle.

At this extremely sensitive critical moment, George took out the brown vermiculite, and he asked Empal and Molica hoarsely: "We can keep this ore in this unknown tropical rainforest forever." Empal and Molica were suddenly ashamed. They finally realized that once they gave up their efforts to survive, they would give up Professor Juan's dying entrustment, so how could they be worthy of being kind to themselves? Professor Juan?

Empal and Morica stood up again with tenacious perseverance, George and Weiner supported them respectively, and the four staggered to continue westward... In the evening of the sixth day, the rainforest suddenly became extremely hot, and the air seemed to have stopped flowing. George thought that the eve of the rainstorm in the middle of the night six days ago was also so sultry and suffocating. In order to avoid being trapped in the low-lying area when the rainstorm came, he quickly led everyone to the jungle. On a high slope. As he expected, 10 minutes later, a pouring rain started.

The weather in the rainforest can be described as ever-changing. George thought the rain would last for at least two hours, but after half an hour, the rainstorm came to an abrupt end. They sat on the hillside and felt a refreshing wind blowing in their faces, which was very pleasant, and the three of Weiner and the others quickly fell asleep. At first, George didn't care what the wind was different from, but when the gentle light wind blew on his face, he suddenly realized that it was a wind that was definitely different from that in the rainforest! At almost the same moment, he vaguely saw firefly-like bright spots moving slowly in the distance, "Oh my God!" George's heart almost jumped out of his chest! That's the lights of the car! It's the lights of the car traveling at night on the winding road of Mount Simadre! That means they've reached the edge of the hot rainforest!

George woke up Weiner and the three of them with a wild cry, and told everyone the great news with great excitement. Empal pinched his thigh hard, only to be sure that he was not dreaming.

Ten minutes later, their eyes suddenly became clear: a road appeared in front of them, and after six days and six nights of life adventures, they finally took the "vermiculite" out of the Acaponeta rainforest!