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Never mash a bug in a foreign country .

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
That is a big NoNo . To many things to bite you that way . If its poisonous bug or spider on your skin ,by mashing it , you are just driving the vemon deeper into your skin .

When I fist went to Panama I stayed on the Property for 3 months while building our little starter cabin . It was the Jungle/Rain forest and the locals thought I must be nuts . Bets were placed on how long I would be alive out there on my own .
I did end up getting sick and lost 45 pounds in a few weeks , but that was not because of a spider bite . I survived and learned .
My sleeping area were some blue tarps I have erected on the covered "open sided dock". My alarm system was a plastic chair in the middle of the dock where it ran back to land . No Electric , No fresh water , No shower, No bathroom , no nothing . Just me and my Machete .I had a piece of cheese cloth for a mosquito net . It did not stop the NO-see-ems from getting through . I learned to sleep in long sleeve t shirt, sweat pants and socks with a beanie cap on . Talk about HOT !!!!!!!

You learn to check your shoes every morning as you put them on . Shake out your clothes too .

I remember many nights as I layed under the hatch roofed cover,jumping up as something ran across me . By the end of my stay ,I would just swipe my hand at whatever it was ,turn over and go back to sleep .

Your senses become very good in a Jungle at night . The jungle is full of sound at night and you will learn to sleep through it . But if you hear One sound that is out of the ordinary, it will bring you instantly to full awake .

One night as I layed in my cot I was awaken by the sound of a oar, dipping in the water . Very faint and very quiet , but it bought me to full awke .It was 2AM . I layed my hand on my ever present machete and demanded who was there in Spanish . The oar stopped for a second and then I heard it start to paddle away . I looked out under a full moon and could see one man in a dug out canoe paddling on up the channel . He was probably returning from the Mainland and decided to rest a minute, but was unaware I was sleeping there . No words other than my initial challenge were ever said .

On another night I awoke to flash lights going up and down the pathway leading to my dock . Again it was about 2 or3 AM . I watched the lights ,from my darken spot for some time and finally issued my verbal challenge . No answer came in reply . There was something funny about these flashlites ???They seem to get brighter and then would dim or go out completely . They almost seemed to float ??? Something was not right ????? Suddenly I started busting out laughing at myself . My intruders were lighting bugs moving up and down the path .
When I finally did return to the states ,3 months later, I was 87 pounds lighter than when I had left , A lot more confident in the jungle , and pretty damn sure I could take whatever Mother earth could dish out . Even bugs !


Heres a picture my little hideaway where I stayed for 3 months .
 

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The machete was your only defense weapon? Dude, you got more balls than most of us here. I give you a lot of credit for developing your survival skills. I know what you mean about the unfamiliar sounds bringing you to full awake. Been there, done that, but with a .357 in my hand. It's amazing how the sound of a hammer cocking will make the noises move away without ever giving away your position. Not sure I would just want a machete. I'm not much on up close interaction. I prefer to reach out and touch someone.
 
Al, your story reminded me of a crazy night during the time I lived in the barrio in Maracaibo. (Peace Corps). There was rat running around in my little cinderblock shack in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep. I chased him all over the place. At one point I leaped up high and wrapped an arm around an open ceiling joist, stabbing along the joist with a kitchen knife in the dark with my other hand. Wait a minute. That's an excellent way to run that knife right into my arm. Lets try something else.
 
The machete was your only defense weapon?

Yep , that was it . There are a lot of guns( pistols) in Panama but I have never felt the need to own one down there . A matchete is as natural as wearing a watch down here . Everyone has one and knows how to use it .
Believe it your not , in 9 years, I have only heard of one killing that a gun was used in our area . Maybe in Panama City with the drug crime may be different . Panamaians ,for the most part are a very peace loving people . If you see one mad , alcohol is usually involved .
 
If we went into the rural bars (during day trips, we didn't go there drinking at night!) we occasionally saw Dept of Public Health posters warning against drunk machete fights. And that's why we didn't go there at night!

City bars were different, they were about the same thing as in the US.

Once on a rural chicken bus (people take their chickens) we stopped and let on a drunk with a machete. He swung it wildly over everyone's head screaming about vengeance for something. Somehow the driver convinced him to get off a couple of crossroads later. Whew!
 
Once on a rural chicken bus (people take their chickens) we stopped and let on a drunk with a machete. He swung it wildly over everyone's head screaming about vengeance for something. Somehow the driver convinced him to get off a couple of crossroads later. Whew!

Yep LOL, I've seen some funny things in Panama on the Island . I once watched two drunk guys trying to fight . They were swinging at each other for all they were worth. Problem was they were standing about 8 feet apart . Nobody hit nobody . After about 5 minutes ,they were completely spent and gave up , wandering off ,but not too far before the local police hauled them both off to the pokey . LOL
 
As far as the bug thing goes, you're exactly right. Many years ago I was working in Nigeria during Hamitan. That's the season when the wind blows off the Sahara Desert and carries a fine dust, almost like talcum powder. It's almost as thick as fog. It reaches many miles offshore and often stops helicopters from flying. It also blows all kinds of bugs offshore. I was working on a rig about 50 miles offshore and one evening a bug landed on my forearm and, naturally, I swatted it and wiped it off. That was a mistake because that squashed bug ate a hole in my arm that took about 4 months to even start healing. It was a mess. Right there I learned that you don't flatten 'em, you flick 'em. It's a lot less painful.

Cali, I can't believe that you lived in the barios of Maracaibo or Caracas. Those are dangerous places for a gringo to be ... at any time of the day.
 
Cali, I can't believe that you lived in the barios of Maracaibo or Caracas. Those are dangerous places for a gringo to be ... at any time of the day.
It didn't seem like it at the time. Just a lot of decent hardworking people trying to improve their lives. I haven't thought about it for a long time, but I looked on Google maps and I see someone photographed my old neighborhood in Maracaibo. This looks about as I remember it except its all built out now. Back then half the houses were occupied but half-finished, as the owner slowly earned enough to buy his materials.
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Here's a link to his whole set.

Our project was to get kids, many fatherless, turned toward an apprenticeship or skill before they fathered their own children.
 
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