Man vs Wild: Costa Rican Rain Forest

Bear heads into the rainforest of Costa Rica during the rainy season. Out of the million that visit each year, about 100 need rescuing each year. Bear parachutes in with a knife and a water bottle. Bear knows that with the thick canopy he is going to get stuck in the braches and make his way down somehow. He moves as far down his chute ropes as he can and falls the rest of the way. He continues on without taking anything from his chute.

Bear wants to find a steam or river to follow out and knows the best way to do this is to head downhill into the valley. As he is heading downhill he warns not to clutch at branches, as they may be snakes that you are grabbing. It is about 85 degree and very humid. Bear is losing a fair amount of water that he knows he must recover. As Bear is walking along he runs into a very deadly snake. He gives the snake plenty of space as he moves on. Bear decides to climb the tallest tree around to get above the canopy to look at the terrain. Bear sees a depression in the jungle that he thinks could be a river. He moves down the tree and heads towards the possible water source.

As Bear heads downhill he runs into very thick ground cover and vines. His knife doesn't really work at cutting through the growth. He is cut up and blistered as has hardly made any progress. Bear realizes that he can't travel through this stuff and works on getting to the stream another way. He soon hits water and will follow the stream down. Bear takes his chances and drinks the water without boiling it. He feels that it is clean but doesn't know for sure. Bear comes upon a large steep waterfall and knows that it will take too long to walk around looking for another way down so he goes and gets some vines. Bear ties/braids the vines together and to a tree to climb down. Bear makes it safely down and continues downstream. Bear knows that he needs to have a sharp knife to make his shelter for the knife so he takes a local quartz and crushes it up as much as he can. He then takes a branch and removes the bark. He rubs the crushes stone onto the bank and it sticks. Bear rubs his knife along it to sharpen it. As he is doing this he sees a poisonous dart frog, he knows it is poisonous because of its bright colors. Bear says that in the jungle it is not worth spending energy on hunting as there are plenty of plants to eat. He finds some garcinia for dinner. Bear stars work on his shelter for the night. He looks for a clearing so he doesn’t have to worry about falling trees. He also wants an area free of ants. He uses a stick to move the ground cover as snakes and scorpions usually won't cross open ground. Bear makes a simple lean-to lashing trees together with vines and covering it with leaves. The air is thick with mosquitoes and Bear knows they are not only annoying, but can carry disease. He finds a termite nest and he eats a bunch before preparing to light the nest on fire as the smoke from this it will keep the mosquitoes away. As Bear has no flint he uses the bow and spindle method to start his fire. This method takes Bear over an hour to get started. At about 2am Bear is awoken with horrible stomach cramps and vomiting and diarrhea. Bear think that it is probably from some animal feces that he may have had contact with, but is not sure. He feels that the water is safe, but not wanting to chance it he boils more in the morning to replace the fluids that he lost.

Bear knows that there are many plants in the forest that can act as medicine if you know what you are looking for. He is on the quest for a milk plant which has sap that is nature’s milk of magnesia to help settle his stomach. Bear must back track 1/2 a mile, but knows it is worth it at this point. Bear warns that plants can also be poisonous so unless you are 100% sure of the plant, do not sample it. Bear knows that with his sickness he needs to get food to build up his energy. After he builds his shelter and fire for the night he makes a torch with camphor and goes fishing. He gets some crayfish for dinner. He almost has a fish but it gets away at the last minute. During the night there is a terrible rainstorm and Bears shelter doesn't hold up under the weight of the rain.

As Bear continues along the water, the stream turns into a river with very flooded banks. He knows the fasts way down the river is to float down. He breaks down some balsa trees. The bark is flexible and the wood super light and very buoyant. Bear lashes the trunks together with the strips of bark and heads off. As Bear heads down he starts into mangrove and he knows that he is getting closer to the sea. He also feels the tide getting stronger and pulling him faster. Bear worries about the current so he heads to the side and tries walking through the mangrove. Bear moves almost nowhere and is wasting a lot of time, plus he is worried about what is in the water. He heads back to the raft and continues down the river. Soon he is swept out to sea. Bear tells you not to fight the current when this happens, just ride it out and soon the tide will bring you back to shore. Bear arrives safely and up the shore a few miles he sees lights and knows that he is safe.