At one point, you could only point to the pressure of the ego. Yeah, the woman was wondering, the taxi driver had long given up caring and simply stared at the meter, and his own senses were teetering on denial, leaving that personal enemy, “self-doubt” to slither in.
For anyone, landing in San Jose, CR. is a whirlwind. While attempting to ride in a taxi across town to the backcountry airport, one is tossed about, while the driver, exhibiting what it would not require Freud to identify, as an extreme case of “machismo.” All the drivers have the exact same diagnosis. Crazy would be putting it mildly.
Missed the last puddle jumper of course, and he wondered about this whole scheme as he stood there staring at the driver leaning against the van, waiting for them to arrive at the only $200 option left to them. Of course.
What would be a six hour ride of mostly rough dirt roads up to the N.W corner of the country, along the “rich coast.” Night fell and so did the ability to see the map or read the terrain. It did not take but three hours or so and all knowledge of direction was gone in this jungle. He somehow thought if they could reach the water they could head north and find their way, much as the large turtles do that they were traveling so far to study.
Staring at the unscaled tourist map in the single dirty headlight was producing limited success. The driver, now out of view of all his competitors, could have cared less, and frankly had not a clue anyway. There was no panic on this dark night, no one to step in and say “how may I help you”, and certainly no cell phones or GPS. Wow, is GPS not going to change everything for us wanna-be explorers?
This story should end here, because you the reader, know that the writer obviously arrived at their eco-tourist camp at some point, right? What interests him is the way our minds operate when left to their own devises. Quieting the voices of doubt around us and within us, and releasing the thought that “there must be someone to call and solve this dilemma”, is the first step toward the overwhelming self surge of centeredness that surfaces when we trust ourselves.
Like the endorphin rush of the runner, self reliance is intoxicating.
