It's no surprise that our elders tell us the the jungle is a superstitious place that is not be be ventured into unless absolutely necessary. On entering the jungle one should always give a quiet salutation to the spirits and telling them that you are passing through. This my paternal grandmother taught me as a child though I never even saw the inside of a jungle with her but the edge of her wooded garden was enough.
On the hash runs we go in and come out again in a flash with all our various antics in between. But it wasn't the case for the hetro-hashers last friday evening. Diplo is a vast site with tracks leading to neighbouring areas. A fellow lady hasher was on the run and I write about her experience on Friday as best as I can. Her plan was to turn around after the first half hour but lost track of time. And before she knew it, it was way too dark to turn back. There were about 45 of them in total and they reached second check and followed the wrong tracks. It was dark but they followed fresh paper. Unfortunately as the most popular site for hashers they were soon on old paper again ....wrong track. Someone finds new paper and they follow that....old paper again ...followed by a dead end. They track back and follow another trail on what they think is new paper. And all this in dark jungle - not all of them have torches either. By this time even the guy with the bugle has been shut up - another rule in the jungle - don't make too much noise. Someone one calls they are on paper and they all follow the lead...except after a few minutes they don't recognise the voice that is beckoning them. They make a decision to stop and go another route. Two of the front runners think they have a route out and shout out for the rest to follow except the ones behind hear the same shout from the opposite direction...
They eventually came out three and a half hours later. Tired, a bit frightened but safe. Whether or not one believes in the spirits of the jungle, it is a place to be respected. I know I will be giving my salutations the next time I go to that site....and I won't forget a torch!
2 comments:
I was told if you get lost in the jungle and seem to be going around in circles, you should uproot a plant and turn it upside down. I can't remember why exactly but it guarantees that the 'spell' would be broken and you can find your way out. 3 and a half hours is a long time for a hash ;-) Maybe I should join the H4 again...
Rozi, join us on H3!
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