Photography by Johnny Saint Ours
Words by Tamsin Cunningham
There are several paths to Cueva de los Tayos but all cling to the steep, green face of the rainforest’s boundary with the river. All track their way through an abundance of life that demands presence of mind to navigate.
At times the path is well trodden; a towering staircase of mud sliced through the dense foliage. At others the way to be cleared is more intimate; a bodily space cut anew each time to clear the way through the abundant plant growth. The air is thick with life. The warmth is enveloping.
The path follows terrain that invites slips and falls; slips that last long precipitous moments, falls which can mean the bite of a bullet ant (so named because the pain is akin to being shot). When the rains come, the mud clings so that each foot lifted brings with it the weight of earth clinging to boots as to the unearthed roots of a tree.
As we balance on the edge of the narrow paths afforded by rock ledges and tree roots so too we dance, teetering, along the precipice of exhaustion. But tiredness, like a lightning strike, grounds thoughts into the body. The mind is its vigilant, unstraying companion, preoccupied only with the now.
The journey is a blade. One side formed in bodily limits, the other in mental focus; each honing the keen edge of presence.
Explore more on the topic of Presence:
DREAMSEEDS: the primal pulse
FOREST DETAILS
TUNING