Okay here’s the story of my jungle adventure. I was supposed to go on a night jungle walk tour in the Daintree Rainforest last night. I drove 3 hours, ate dinner and walked around, and hung out till 7:20, when the tour was supposed to leave. I could tell by the look on the guy’s face as he drove up that it was cancelled. 😦 Apparently for the first time ever, the tour wasn’t booked up. I was the only one. And for safety reasons they can’t go with just one person (which totally makes sense). The only sketchy part was he said they had no contact info for me, when I’d actually emailed with them several times and had called about 3 hours earlier to ask about parking. Surely 3 hours before the tour they would’ve known it was looking iffy. Oh well, it wasn’t his fault, and there wasn’t anything he could do other than apologize. (I’ll get a refund obviously.)
After verifying there was no way to get around this (recruit a person at the bar to go, bring along an off-duty tour employee, etc.), I asked if there was anywhere around there where it was safe to explore at night. He said there was a little boardwalk similar to what we would’ve done. He said it’s a raised boardwalk and shouldn’t have crocodiles. 😳
So I drove to the boardwalk and walked around just enough to say I’d done it. Meaning for about ten seconds. It was terrifying being out there alone in the pitch blackness. Also, I suddenly remembered that if there’s one thing I excel at, it’s getting lost. So I went back to the car and started to leave.
But I turned the wrong way. Which didn’t matter, because all roads went to the exit. But it meant I drove by a big white van, which is generally a clear sign of a serial killer; but in this case I got excited, because there were five people getting out with torches (flashlights, Americans, chill out). So I pulled up, got out, and asked, “Are you guys doing a walking tour?” One guy said they were just going on a quick stroll. I told them what happened and he asked if I wanted to come along.
So I did. I never did figure out exactly what this group was. That guy was clearly the guide, and in the know. But I had taken his “just going for a stroll” statement to mean it wasn’t an official tour. My best guess is that he was staying at the backpackers’ hostel thingy where the other group were staying, and that he was either an unofficial or an official hostel tour guide. I dunno. Anyway, the four others were from four different European countries, so I never figured out if they knew each other or not. Maybe they’d just gotten to be friends while backpacking.
As we went into the jungle, one of the girls said, “This seems like the beginning of a murder movie.” Uh yeah. And I’m the blonde, American stranger.
It was so much fun. Probably very similar to what I would’ve seen on the other one, except free. When I left, I noticed the van said something about “Uncle Brian.” The leader of the group was named Brian. So apparently it was a paying tour and he’d just let me join for free.
If you’re ever in Daintree, find Uncle Brian for a great tour! (You’ll probably have to pay.)