Read Chapter 8: “The Bonfire”
The next morning at seven o’clock the guide tolled a bell that was hanging under a tree as a wake up call. By 7:30 a.m. everybody was sitting at the table having toast, jam, boiled eggs and tea for breakfast. At eight o’clock all of them were ready to go trekking into the jungle. Because they would not be coming back, they all took their backpacks.
“Don’t forget to take the water bottle with you,” reminded the guide them.
Everybody formed a line. The guide was leading the way through the jungle, while a man from the camp staff was coming along, accompanied by his faithful dog, to make sure nothing went wrong. He was the last one.
After one hour of walking they stopped to rest. Brandon was sitting with his sister on a big rock. At a moment they heard a strange sound.
“What’s that?” Brandon asked his Dad.
“I think it’s a bird,” replied Dad.
“Do you have your binoculars in the bag?” Alice asked Brandon.
“No, I don’t. I forgot them at home,” said Brandon saddened.
“Oh, that’s too bad. We could have gone bird watching in the jungle,” said Alice disappointingly.
“Never mind. We have a football and two badminton rackets,” Dad encouraged Alice.
They started walking again. As they walked the guide told everybody about the kinds of trees they were passing by. Sometimes he pointed at birds that were sitting on branches or that were flying in the sky and talked about them. They soon arrived in a grove.
“This is the place where we will stay for a couple of hours,” the guide informed the group. “You can do whatever you want, but don’t go too deep into the jungle. You might get lost,” he warned everybody.
Alice and Mom played badminton. Brandon and Dad played with the ball. Soon they were joined by other tourists who didn’t have any balls. They made two teams and played football.
“Goal!” shouted Brandon.
Because it was a hot day the dog was resting under the shadow of a tree, at his master’s feet. Around 12 o’clock they all stopped and had lunch together. After lunch they rested for a while and then continued their trek into the jungle. More adventures awaited them!
Illustration by Eric Barrientos
