We were somewhere where probably no-one had ever been before. There was no evidence anywhere that man existed. I was on expedition in the wilderness of Southern Chile’s Pacific coastline, ten of us, travelling by canoes around the thousands of tiny forested islands and lagunas, tracking uncharted territory. All we had with us was the bare minimum for survival. It rained and was cold too. When we were wet, it was hard to get dry. I slept on the beaches under the canoe. I would keep my clothes on in my sleeping bag, hoping that by morning time I might have dried even just the slightest bit. The food tasted bad but, when you’d been on the move all day, sitting down to a campfire meal was beautiful. The one time of day we could stop and look around at the wonder of where we were, I saw seals and penguins and mink and dolphins. None of them had seen humans before and they were curious about us. I canoed through a mile-long school of giant jelly fish, I canoed through the rapids. I saw the sunrise over the Andes and the sunset over the Pacific. I saw the water glow at night with phosphorate funghi and bathed under a 20 metre waterfall. I learnt how to build a tree bed and stayed dry from then on. I made friends that I missed dearly for months afterwards, people who were strangers three months previously. We suffered and struggled but every minute of the way was truly an experience I will always treasure. Rest in peace José, your skills in survival were an inspiration.
