Our moist mushroom castle
N 23°22'32.9" E 150°24'01.3"
Day: 289-291 Stage Three expedition days total 680-682
Sunrise:
05:52-05:54
Sunset:
18:29-18:27
Total kilometers:
6980 km
Temperature - Day (maximum):
22°-31 degrees, sun 40°-50°
Temperature - Night:
20°-25°
Latitude:
23°22'32.9"
Longitude:
150°24'01.3"
Paradise Lagoons-Camp – 01.03.2003 – 03.03.2003
It has been raining again for days without interruption. It doesn’t take long for the water level to rise again and drown everything. Our animals suffer. They are tormented by mosquitoes that attack them in their millions. Insects flutter around our tent and thousands of beetles have chosen it as their refuge. At night, we walk through the unpleasantly wet and high grass with great concentration. We search the ground for snakes by torchlight. It is easy to step on them under these conditions and get bitten.
It’s clammy inside our tent. Everything is damp. The tropical temperatures have caused mushrooms to grow everywhere. Mold is also spreading under the insulation mats. It smells musty. Tired, we settle down on the uncomfortable bed. The raindrops work incessantly on the tent wall. Strong wind makes the cloth flutter and rattle. I lie in this mushroom bunker with my eyes wide open, longing for a proper bed, a nice shower and the end of this awful weather. My eyes slowly become heavy as Tanja’s voice suddenly makes me jump upwards. “Snake! There’s a snake!” she shouts. I sit there wide awake with my heart pounding wildly. “Where? Where is she?” I ask. “On the tent wall. There on the mosquito net,” whispers Tanja. “Where’s the flashlight?” I ask, frozen with shock. “I don’t know.” I slowly feel around behind my pillow in the darkness of the night until I finally reach for it. I switch it on and shine the light through the mosquito net. “I can’t see her.” “She must be on the roof,” I reply. Shuddering, I touch the fabric above us with the lamp. If there really is a snake, it could easily bite through the thin fabric. Then suddenly I hear it rustle. I immediately yank the lamp around and let its beam flash through the mosquito net in the direction of the sound. The zipper of the outer tent is open. This can cause the fabric to flap in the wind, causing it to scrape against the inner tent. The fabric glides along the inner tent with every gust of wind and you don’t need much imagination to mistake it for a snake in the dark. “Jeez Tanja. You left the entrance zipper open in the rain. It’s not a snake, it’s the fabric of the door,’ I say with relief.
We lay down again. Our hearts continue to pound for a while until tiredness finally sets in again. ‘I think we should move back into the house,’ I whisper. “But there are countless mosquitoes,” Tanja replies. “That’s right. We’ll just have to rub ourselves down with mosquito repellent.” “You’re right, we should move tomorrow.” “Hm, the only thing is the wrestlers. They won’t give us much sleep because they’re always playing video games.” “Well, it’s certainly better than that mushroom castle,” Tanja replies quietly.
