Chapter 4
We were all sweaty and a little weary as we entered the hotel and as much as I needed an ice cold drink, I needed a shower and change of clothes before I could even think of stepping into the bar. So we all agreed to meet up in the bar in half an hour. That would give us plenty of time to freshen up.
“God that’s good” I said to myself as I stood under the shower head whilst the nice warm torrent of water washed over me, sending little rivers of dirt running off my body and down the drain. I washed myself and then turned off the shower, grabbed a fluffy towel off the towel rail and secured it around my waist. The other guys had crammed all sorts of clothes into their back packs as their allowed extras, but not wanting to have to carry all that extra crap, all I’d put in mine was my iPhone, a couple of pairs of shorts, a couple of t-shirts and my battered old flip flops. It’s not like we were anywhere which required us to dress up, and besides, when the cameras were rolling we were wearing those ugly prisoner style overalls which we’d been designated.
And so I pulled on my shorts and t-shirt, ran the towel roughly over my hair and then styled it messily with my fingers and was good to go.
I was first downstairs, so I ordered a drink and picked up the food menu, I don’t know about anyone else but I’d suddenly found my appetite after the day we’d had and was now ravenous. Luckily I didn’t have long to wait for the others to join me, and before long we all made our way to a table and ordered food and more drinks.
Everything on the menu looked good, but I decided on Lomo Saltado, something traditionally Peruvian, and when it arrived I was not disappointed. It was delicious. Howie opted for the hottest item on the menu (he should be breathing fire the amount of chilli he eats) and I was glad none of us had to share a room, because I would not have wanted to share with him after what he ate! So we sat around the table, eating, drinking and chatting about the challenge we’d just undertaken and our guesses for what tomorrow’s would be.
“Come on man, put us out of our misery” Donnie asked Duncan, who was chugging down the beer like it was water.
“You really wanna know? Because it’s not for the faint hearted” he laughed.
“Yes, why else would he ask” AJ replied as he blew cigarette smoke away from the table. I had a feeling AJ was regretting signing up for this, the same could also be said for Brian. The pair of them were only just regaining their colour after the bungee jumping challenge earlier.
“OK, the next challenge…are you ready for this…is a challenge of endurance, both physically and mentally” said Duncan, getting more and more animated as he spoke.
“Carry on” said Jordan, leaning closer. Everyone waited for Duncan to carry on.
“You’re gonna spend the next few days in the jungle!” he said excitedly “you’ll have to navigate your way through the jungle with a map, compass and minimal rations of food and water”
“No way!” AJ protested.
“Way” Duncan laughed “and to make things more interesting it’ll be red team versus blue team. You’ll be dropped off in different locations and the first one to reach the destination marked with a cross on the map wins”
“So it’s kind of like a treasure hunt?” I asked, imagining myself wearing an Indiana Jones style hat, with my whip in hand in search of ancient ruins, or buried gold, or something else like that.
“If you like…yes” Duncan nodded.
“Cool” I replied. How hard could that be?
“You’re gonna have to live off the land and cook whatever you catch on an open fire, camp out beneath the stars under the shelter of the rainforest, and in amongst all the jungle beasties” he laughed “I almost wish I was gonna be there with you”. He was probably glad he’d be far away and enjoying all the little luxuries of life.
“Will there be spiders?” asked AJ and we all looked at him as if he was as thick as shit.
“Duh!” said Brian shaking his head at his band mate “it’s the jungle, there’ll be everything. Spiders, snakes and who knows what else”
“Fuck” he muttered “I hate spiders, I’m not sure I can do it. If one of those giant fucking bird eating bastards lands on me…well, I don’t know what I’ll do”
“Scream like a girl?” I suggested to the sound of the others sniggering.
“Like you wouldn’t be scared” AJ challenged us all. He did have a point. I think I’d be shitting my pants if one of those big hairy monsters landed on me too.
“Come on guys, it’s gonna be awesome, I know it” said Howie, always the optimist of the group. But his enthusiasm usually had the desired effect and it wasn’t long before we were all ready to face another challenge. A few days in the jungle wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
