📸 Photo

bench. A young shoeshine boy offered to polish my canvas tennis shoes.

Karl’s pictures took me by surprise. The dapper European by my side looked totally different in them. He was dressed in khakis, a wide-brimmed hat, and boots, and had a shotgun dangling from his shoulder. In one picture he was skinning a wild boar, and in another he was gutting a huge fish on the riverbank.

Karl could see that I was intrigued and explained that the following week he was leaving on a three-month expedition to an unexplored region of the jungle to look for precious metals. He would be happy to take me and perhaps one or two of my friends along. At the end of a day’s work, he said, it was always nice to sit around the campfire talking. Though he had many interests in common with his native assistants, he was always glad to have a few gringos along as well.

‘You can stay as long as you like,’ he said. ‘If you want to go back, I can send a guide with you to the nearest village. You’ll eat the game we hunt, sleep in the great outdoors, and your only expense will be an airline ticket out and back.’

He was on his way to lunch. I was tired and still had an upset stomach and preferred my bed. We arranged to meet the next afternoon, and I promised to bring a few friends along.

I went back to the old-folks’ home burning with excitement. I would talk to Marcus that very afternoon. Finally a chance to explore a real jungle!