Lost and Found

Making plans

I am convinced I am on a different planet. The first night, when not commiserating over my pathetic shelter, was spent in awe at the TWO moons and different constellations. As beautiful as it was, I also felt alone. Just how far away from my world was I. Is there any intelligent life on this planet?

Today marked three days of wandering in a hopefully straight line. Three days of nothing. Three whole days and all i saw was more trees. Today marked the fourth day, and the optimism i had one started with was dwindling, much like my food supply. To top it off today I had woken to rain.

Don't get me started on the shelters I had tried to construct. This one fared better than the previous two. It kept me mostly dry, but had little else going for it. A couple of large branches supported the mass of leaves used to create a roof.

I placed my cans into the rain to gather water to drink. With no reusable bottles I had to get creative. Carefully slicing the tops off, then using my pliers to roll the edge.

With the rain came a slight chill to the air. Where as the shelter provided some resistance to the rain, it did very little against the cold. The firewood I had sourced last night was almost gone too. I had a choice to make. Stay and make the shelter more water resistant and gather some dry wood to burn or pack up and move on hoping to find somewhere else more suitable.

I was down to 2 cup a soups, 2 chocolate bars, and two handfuls of berries I had found. There was another berry I had found on the second day, but that resulted in an upset stomach. Without toilet paper, that had been a miserable afternoon. One I am reluctant to try again. It even earnt a place in my sketchbook. A small drawing with a detailed description and warnings in red. If I ever became constipated I would consider it, but only briefly.

I have until the cans were full to make a decision, so I dug the homestead skills book out. As I read through the contents, I found myself wondering if I will ever get out of the jungle, or if it even ends.

I call it a jungle, but should call it a jumble. The trees are mixed deciduous and evergreen. The trees also range in size. Where old trees have died and crashed to the floor, the canopy has opened up. Smaller, younger trees taking root. Yet unlike forests from home, there is plenty of space between each tree to accommodate shrubs and foliage to grow. The flora itself is mixed. Plants resembling ones from jungles mixed with temperate.

In this particular spot, the foliage is larger, almost prehistoric. A plethora of ferns, everything green and untouched by man. The leaves were large, simple and effective. The faint floral scent came from the pitcher plants dangling from the high branches.

Food is my main concern. I am running low and so far my foraging has resulted in very little. A few culinary herbs and a couple of fruits.

The occasional clearing around a fallen tree revealed an array of ground flora that resembled larger versions of garlic, as well as some culinary herbs like rosemary, chamomile and sage. Although they are delicious they also need accompanying ingredients.

The two berries I have found to be edible are completely different to what I would have expected. The plum type fruit is much larger, about the size of an orange and has a pale green skin and a seed stone half its size in the center. The orange coloured fruit, no larger than a cherry tomato, tasted of zesty mango. Smaller seeds decorated the outer skin like a strawberry. The laxative plant resembled a gnarly red apple, complete with pips, and tasted quite bitter.

I have collected 5 seeds or skins of each fruit and stored them in the wooden box along with a handful of each herb for future use.

The real craving was for meat. I could fashion simple weapons, like a spear, blow dart maybe even a bow and arrow. Those would require time to make, and courage to get face to face with my prey. If I could trap an animal, I could get so much from it. A possible fur/hide, meat to consume and possibly working other parts into useable items. I would need to set traps, and have a suitable place to process it.

I head to the basic trapping section of the book. A snare requires rope or a string of sorts, so that is a hard pass until I find something appropriate. I may have cotton, but even braided I think it will be too weak. A deadfall trap is possible, I just need to source a bait and watch for available animals. A pitch/glue trap is great for catching small birds, but I can't see there being much meat on a small animal, plus I would need to find the pitch/sticky sap. It's a possibility depending on how desperate I become. Another possibility is a pit trap. A hole, loosely covered with bait on the top.

The author also mentioned the necessity of covering my scent. One way is to use powdered charcoal on my hands and to use a barrier. The author suggests using a bag between myself and the ground, but having handled all my bags continuously and having no way of cleaning them, I will try using mud as a natural barrier, and simply scraping the area afterwards.

I realise that I have been relatively lucky that no predator has caught my scent yet. I shudder a little, then shake my head, so i can concentrate on the here and now.

Two trap ideas stand out, the deadfall and the pit. Both seem achievable. I pack the book away and store all my belongings again.

My decision has been made. Continue looking for two more days for a more suitable shelter, living off the fruit I can find. Hide my belongings and start setting traps for meat.

A glance at the sky reveals that the rain will be here for the remainder of the day. With no sun it will be difficult to say on route. The rain will help wash away my scent, it would be prudent to move whilst I am able. Leaving tracks may be an issue, but animals don't look at tracks, do they?

Looking for the most obvious landmark, I target a large tree with a vine growing up it I start my journey.