Survivorman- Costa Rican Jungle
A paradise in any other situation, the beaches and jungle of Costa Rica prove to be one of the most frustrating and strenuous environments Survivorman’s Les Stroud has had to survive. As he watches his kayak drift off to sea, the heat and humidity have already begun to take effect. Stroud’s first and most important task is to find a source of fresh water.
The crew has left him with goggles (from kayaking), his multitool, long pants, and three pens (for which he never finds a use). On the beach, he gathers a big piece of bamboo, some 4×4s, a broom handle, and a toilet float.
On the first night, all Stroud does for shelter is build a raised platform out of the 4×4s to keep him off the sand. Sand, he warns, is an irritant that can inflame infections and generally be annoying. The hermit crabs mostly leave him alone for the night, but sand fleas, cockroaches, and other bugs crawl all over him, making sleep difficult.
Stroud sees water trickling down the beach, which leads him to a freshwater stream. Because jungle water likely is filled with pathogens, he gathers water in a conch shell that he found in the ocean, to boil once he has made a fire.
To make a fire, Stroud first cuts a notch out of a flat piece of wood he found on the beach. The notch allows the wood dust to escape down to the tinder bundle (dried grasses) and ignite. He uses the broom handle as a spindle, a curved stick for the bow, and a shoelace for the bow’s string. Once the fire is going, he places the water-filled conch directly in the flames to boil.
At low tide, Stroud ventures into the tide pools, where he finds nerites, small snails, clinging to the rocks. Nerites are edible, as long as the water that drips out of them is clear. If it is green, eating only one of these tiny snails can kill. He supplements his meal with the meat from sprouted coconuts.
Even though temperatures during the day on the beach can be upwards of 95° F, a shelter is necessary for survival because storms can move in fast. Using the bamboo as a frame, Stroud builds his typical A-frame shelter with palm fronds.
The next day, Stroud needs food so he decides to try fishing. Taking a long stick, a piece of sharp plastic he found, and the elastic from his Scooby Doo boxers, he fashions a spear. Keeping his clothes on to protect against jellyfish and rough rocks, Stroud ventures into the ocean. Stroud realizes spear fishing here is not the smartest thing- he has seen sharks swimming around, and the blood released from the fish hit with the spear will just entice them. Luckily, he gets a fish after not too long and quickly gets out to dry off and cook his meal.
An important survival fact- check your boots for scorpions. Even if you leave them upside down on sticks while you’re asleep, scorpions have been known to take refuge in shoes. Pound them upside down several times and take a good look before you put your foot in- being stung by a scorpion in a shoe is one of the most common ways people get stung, Stroud warns.
While the safest thing for a lost traveler would be to stay on the beach, many people try to self-rescue by hiking into the jungle, so that is what Stroud does. To bring his fire with him, he fills a hollow coconut with coconut fibers from the shell and breaks off a piece of wood with an ember to make fire carrier.
He brings coconuts with him for hydration, but they won’t last forever. He sees what looks like a water vine, a possible source of fresh water. As he’s cutting, monkeys throwing things at him become a distraction. His knife slips, and he cuts his finger down to the bone. He wraps it in a strip of fabric from his Scooby Doo boxers, cursing his carelessness. The vine doesn’t even have water in it.
There is no need for a shelter in the thick jungle so he settles down for the night at the base of a tree. The fire carrier didn’t work out so well so he’s in for a night of total and oppressive darkness.
In pain, overheated, and unable to sleep, Stroud becomes irritated and frustrated. At night, the jungle comes alive and the ground moves with insects. Army ants, giant spiders, peccaries, jaguars, and snakes are only a few of his worries.
Even though the heat has taken away his appetite, he knows he must eat to keep up his strength and survive. He kills a lizard by hitting it with a stick. Stroud is eventually able to start a fire and cook the lizard.
A rash on your backside can make survival in the harsh tropical jungle all the more difficult, so Stroud recommends testing leaves before you use them to wipe. Break the leaf open and rub on the inside of your arm. If there is no irritation after several hours, the leaf is safe to use.
As his coconut supply runs low, Stroud notes that he is still sweating, which is a good sign. No longer sweating is a sign of severe dehydration, the greatest and most immediate danger faced by any survivor in the jungle.
Stroud stumbles upon a river. By now he has run out of coconut milk. He has no fire and decides to risk illness by drinking directly out of the stream- dehydration is a more immediate threat than parasites, he says. Taking a break, he lays out flat in the water to cool off- he is nearing heatstroke and must lower his core body temperature.
He follows the running water back to the beach. Relieved to finally be out of the oppressive humidity of the jungle, Stroud vows to follow the shoreline until he finds civilization.
On day seven, the shoreline opens into a wide beach where boats are landed and people are scattered about. Survival in the tropical jungle is nothing like Gilligan, Skipper, and Mary-Ann faced, and Stroud has never been so happy to leave behind the not-so-idyllic paradise of the Costa Rican jungle.
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