A Journey into Growth
by Shannon E. Hardie
The ground was rock and lichen covered. The isolation was wind swept and uninhabited. The peaks revealed themselves to vision only to appear at each turn. There was no end in the scarce signs of life to accompany. It is a life of climbing to reach a common goal of vegetation and wild fields. The descent of bushes and grasses was followed by shoots of bamboo that had to be cleared to forge a path. Too much noise to attract animals, hiding in the depths of the Amazon Basin. The temperature was humid relief in the shade. The known path was overgrown and followed the Amazon River. As the descent lead along the cordillera of wild fields of long grasses, there were signs of the African Killer Bees that swarmed and followed. None were bit yet resting for a moment on a log, the ants consumed leggs only to infect with a foreign ailment. The journey from barrenness into vegetation and out into the fields that ran along the crest of the cordillera was a journey of environments. The end of the trail emerged as a gold mining town with false fronts and gold toothed children. It was a drive back to habitation along a one laned ridge where cars would pass on a splinter of a room to move. Such was my Bolivian Hike through the Andes and down into the Amazon Basin. It has taught me well nature's environments and conditions. It inhabits my mind's eye and won't soon be forgot.
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