The jungle is a fun place to be. Filled with adventure and a world of experiences, forests have a lot to offer for any adrenaline junkie.
But is it all about peanut butter and jelly?
Well, we all know that “Woods are lovely, dark and deep…”
Certainly, your adventurous jungle trek can reward you with several experiences, both good and bad, and as you enjoy the pleasures, you must also be prepared for the unpleasant challenges.
This article talks on those lines. If you are going for a jungle trek, make sure to prepare yourself for these three worst scenarios.
1. Fatal Injuries and Excessive Bleeding
If you’ve ever received a painful injury in your home, you might have thanked your fortune that you had people and medical resources around you.
But will this be the case when you are on a jungle trek? Even with your group by your side, you may not have enough resources to treat a fatal injury. And the worst happens when the wound is bleeding uncontrollably.
What to do?
Just as you would treat a bleeding wound, use a tourniquet to control the flow of blood. This will avoid excessive blood loss. If you are not carrying a tourniquet with yourself, tear out a thick cloth and tie it tight. After this, lie down on your back to avoid dizziness.
NOTE: Do not tie the tourniquet on a joint or right near the wound. The higher, the better. Also, keep checking the tightness until help arrives.
2. Unfriendly Animalia
When trekking the jungle on a bad day, you may come face-to-face with a cougar or a wild bear.
While it may seem impossible to escape such an attack, it is slightly easier than that.
What to do?
Prevention is better than cure, and everyone knows it. The best you can do to avoid a lion or bear attack is to never hike alone. When you are with a group of people, your morale stays high, and your companions can provide help when you are fighting such a situation.
Secondly, you can avoid trekking through regions which are known to have dangerous wild species.
If you notice a mountain lion:
- Stay calm and back away really slowly while facing the lion straight up.
- Never move towards the lion. Give it space to walk away.
- Do not run away. Do not crouch down or bend over. In both cases, you will appear as prey.
If the mountain lion starts to act aggressively, don’t give in. Do your best to appear intimidating. Mountain lions don’t want trouble on themselves, so they prefer walking away from such situations.
Also, carry a weapon for your protection. Having a bowie knife in your pocket can help you save yourself in case an attack happens.
3. Lost and Starving
Here’s a story where two friends got lost in the Amazon while trying to hike one of its 78-mile sections. On their 12th morning in the forest, they realized that they were lost with a 60 feet tarp, machete, a compass, two hammocks and one lighter.
From cooking spiders to eating bugs & drinking turtle blood, they had to do it all for nearly the next 40 days until help found them.
It may sound scary and astonishing to know that they survived the wild for 40 days without appropriate food and safety. What worked for them was their will to survive.
Apart from that, here’s
What we can learn from their experience?
None of them was carrying a flare or an SAT phone communication kit. Even when your cell phone may not show signals, an SAT phone kit can be tracked by the authorities searching for you. Similarly, a flare fire when placed near a river can easily be visible to the helicopters flying over you.
Also, as food can be a major concern, it’s best to always carry a fishing kit. In places with no fish, you can rely on snails, bugs and spiders. Just make sure you have boiled them enough to drain the poison.
Conclusion
While you may have an affinity for the wilderness, it’s crucial to note that your adventures may also put you in dangerous situations. In this post, we discussed three of the worst scenarios that you should be prepared for while going for a jungle adventure.
Hopefully, this was helpful.
