Tag Archives: jungle

THRIVEtales, THRIVEtribe

How We Discovered Our Bali

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jaw_20121116-IMG_4211Bali is a place full of stories spun by foreigners who were the “first” to discover “Bali.” When I first arrived (in Kuta, mind you…), I was pretty turned off by this over-the-top find-yourself consumerism. The further we trekked from the airport, however, the more I grew to appreciate that many folks really do discover their own little slice of paradise. Continue reading How We Discovered Our Bali →

THRIVEtech

So, you want to be John Rambo? Part II

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Welcome to our first THRIVEtech post!  I left you hangin’ with So, You Want to be John Rambo?  Part I back in May.  Sorry for the wait; The paradox of having a blog like this is that you have to be outside to create the tales, but inside to turn them into electrons for you to enjoy.  If you haven’t checked out Part I yet, now is a perfect time!  It will “set the stage.”  –Queue eery foggy fade in…

Where I left off, my crew is at the Jungle Environment Survival Training camp near Subic Bay, Philippines being shown some jungle-ninja skills by one of the best around.  That night, we eagerly make plans to meet in the foggy morning light to make the trek into camp a cool one.  We gather at the front gate of the JEST compound and begin shifting gear around, tightening boots, and making wagers on the first deadly creature encounter… Continue reading So, you want to be John Rambo? Part II →

THRIVEtales

So, You Want to be John Rambo? Part I

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“What the hell was that noise?”  -the foggy thought my brain conjures up after being jarred awake inside a cramped net hammock suspended 30” above the jungle floor.  It’s not the screeching, hacking, screaming sounds emitted by myriad birds high in the canopy that worries me, nor is it the incessant hum from the cloud of malaria vectors bouncing off the netting, inches from my skin.  The sound that wakes me so abruptly is the soft crunching of jungle duff very near my humble shelter site.  Horrific images of man-eating jungle cats stalk through my psyche.  I am forced to recall a lesson learned earlier in the day:  Everything in the jungle is trying to kill you…  Luckily, my imagination is much more active than the jungle cat on this night.  I am relieved as one of my comrades mumbles something through my bug net as he stumbles back from nature’s call.  Needless to say, my first night in the jungle is not a restful one. Continue reading So, You Want to be John Rambo? Part I →