The Amazing Adventures of Boss Man and the Machete Mobbers!
Chapter V: The Honey Creepers
The machete blade rose high into the sun then came down with elegant force. Stocks of elephant grass swiftly dropped through the mat of compiled vegetation that elevated Boss above the hillside. Engulfed by the grass, boss hacked forward. He had a goal to clear a good area of the hillside, but conducted his action in a way that became meditative. Only breaking his train of thought, or lack they’re of, with crawling maneuvers through the thick mat of vegetation back to the top of the hill for water. The shade from passing clouds hugged his back, giving him quick relief from the harsh sun.
Boss Man in the elephant grass before the hill was cleared.
Boss on the hill top after the he cleared the elephant grass
Faint unrecognizable noises sneaked through the soaring grass from a distance. Curiosity probed Boss’s thoughts until he could no longer ignore the noises, and headed towards them. A path began to emerge beneath his feet. “That’s odd,” he thought as he passed a pink ribbon tied to a branch. Another…and another pink ribbon. He followed the path of ribbons as the noises became more distinguished.
Boss spotted three figures through the heavy vegetation and approached them with caution. Two females and a male were, what looked like, blazing trails. Boss decided to approach them, machete unsheathed. Walking slowly into their workspace, Boss made certain to have a smile on his face and give a good wave to show a peaceful approach. The three workers rebutted waves and smiles.
“Making trail are ya?” asked Boss.
“We sure are” replied the man, who was now leaning on his shovel. “And you?”
“Just about the same. Starting from the top of that hill down to the Pacora.”
“Well aint that funny, we were starting down from the rio to up top that hill”
“Ha! Well alright then! “Im Boss Man”
“Largo” the man replied as they shook hands.
One of the women hopped from her standing position to almost right in front of Boss. “Sol!” she said and stuck her hand out to shake his.
The other women started to stride over, so Boss walked half way to meet here.
“Tierra” she said smiling, with a pickaxe resting on her shoulder.
Boss worked with the three for the rest of his stint. He became fond of them as they shared stories, opinions and trades from their work. They were proud of their efforts in the jungle and called themselves the Honey Creepers, after one of the birds you could see along the new trail.
Boss packed his things to head out to the city but knew he would see them again.
Chapter VI: Boss Man vs. The Volcano
During allocated days away from base camp in the valley Boss traveled to Boquete. Located in northern Panama, this small town is surrounded with stunning geography of rivers, jungle and mountains. The town is famous for its location next to the tallest point in Panama, Volcano Baru. Boss had limited time there so he made sure to use it well.
Before arriving he contacted Cesar Melendez, one of the top 200 rock climbers in the world to see if he could meet up for a climb. Boss was fortunate as his first morning was filled with climbing volcanic rock walls with Cesar, who agreed to take him to the good spots.
Boss got some food and packed his gear, for he was to climb Volcano Baru the same day. The hike would take any ware from five to seven hours and he planned to spend the night atop the volcano to watch the sunrise from the summit. After a relaxing cup of coffee he hailed a cap to take him to the trail-head.
Boss shut the cab door and headed up the trail by himself. It was 6:00pm when he started. The sun started to set a little more than an hour into the hike, which was still an amazing sight that foreshadowed the sunrise he planned to see the fallowing morning. Twilight lit the sky for about half an hour, and then Boss stopped and put on his headlamp for the rest of the way.
The night grew cold and his pack started to impair his steps. “I think I brought too much water, maybe I should poor some out…no I might need it for the way back” Boss thought. He thought about a lot of things. Five hours of hiking provides lots of time for the mind to wander. He stopped for a PP & J and stared at the stars. There was so many it was hard to recognize even the most basic of constellations.
There were signs that stated the distance left till the top. Eager to pass them to ensure the right direction and prove his progress, Boss shined his light into the sides of the trail from time to time in hopes of catching their reflection. Five hours passed and boss had reached the campsite at the top, only 1 kilometer from the summit. It seemed he would be the only one on the mountain for the night as there were no other tents pitched. At this point he had been hiking with a faint light as his headlamp started to die out. He decided he had made it this far and needed to make it to the top that night, so he set his things down behind a bush and went up. A couple fist punches in the air and some hollers satisfied his efforts to reach the summit, then headed back down to the campsite. He set up his tent and then his headlamp died…”perfecting timing” he thought. Boss put on the warm clothes he rented for the night and settled in for the night. But sleep was not as easy as usual and the cold at the top was ever present. Waking up to his body shivering he knew the hike the next day would be done slowly.
Boss looked down at his watch, the alarm was set to go off at 6:00am but he was already up. He broke down his tent and headed up to the summit. The sun was creeping behind the clouds. The landscape looked as though it was being seen through an airplane window. He got to the top just in time. The sun blasted over the clouds and delivered awesome beauty. Then, Boss was lucky enough that the day was clear, and could see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans from the same point. Deep breaths and a big smile is all his body could deliver, Boss had conquered the volcano.
Stay tunned for another exiting chapter of
The Amazing Adventures of Boss Man and the Machete Mobbers!
Boss man at the summit of Vocano Baru during sunrise
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