Perhaps because of my own struggle against a formidable and unseen enemy, I am drawn to stories that place a protagonist in an unknown environment where they are out of their element and must find success by overcoming fear, summoning unknown reserves of inner strength. Especially if they are able to do it with humor, relieving life’s tensions with the power of laughter.
Crew massage train … Amazon Jungle style
Film has some all-stars at this. Favorites of mine include Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp, Monty Python, Indiana Jones and Ace Ventura. Characters on a comedic quest that don’t fit in the ordinary world. They are explorers who show the value of inserting slapstick into life’s ongoing tapestry of triumph, struggle, and tragedy. Guys whose resilience and self-discovery reflect what I strive for in my own life. Niche wrote that we consume art because it seduces us back to life. Meaning, the human experience can be quite terrible at times, and it is actually utterly irrational that we keep going at all… so we should all just go jump off a bridge. No! His point is that it is art that brings us back, makes us fall in love with life again; and we continue to consume it so we can experience this.
Comedic tales of silly explorers—oh I forgot to include Don Quixote—have brought me back from the brink more times that I can count. And they inform my approach to exploration in a rather unconventional way. While I would argue that every adventure tale has a good dose of farse, whether intentional or not (the jungle is ripe with slapstick opportunities), there are many times in my expeditions where I get rather fed up with being eaten alive by bugs and finding a laugh brings me back. For example, recalling the iconic Ace Ventura line, “sure gets hot in these rhinooooooos,” and suddenly the bumpy jeep I am curled in the back of to stay out of the shot becomes tolerable.
And speaking of Ace, now a few notes on bats.
I have produced multiple episodes of television that required me to crawl on my hands and knees through guano (bat droppings). Shooting in the Cave of Hanging Serpents in the Yucatán this was coupled with the added delight of waiting for snakes to drop out of hundreds of holes above my head in the ceiling to feed on the bats that left the cave each evening. I love bats, as you can see from the above picture my expression of glee holding a museum specimen (my field producer Mike did not share my enthusiasm). But even I have my limits.
My first job producing docuseries television sent me to the Usumacinta river on the border with Guatemala and Mexico for a story on vampire bats (Desmodontinae). They have become a problem recently because the increase of cattle has given them an endless food source (like their name implies, they feed nocturnally on blood) and loss of habitat has made them move to farmland. Because of their creepy reputation and increasing numbers, people have started destroying cave habitats, threatening many other fruit bat and animal species.
In order to understand this creature better we set off to find a cave full of them and spent hours in dark creepy holes in the jungle. While waiting for the crew at one point, the smell, the heat and the bats were getting to be too much and I made the following video to lift my spirits:
If Nolan had cast me instead of Christian Bale
Ok, so that was more than a few notes on bats. But my point is, that these experiences have taught me to always be open to opportunities to learn more about something that scares you. And if it ever gets to be too much… find a way to laugh. Then you can explore anywhere with confidence and find stories that inspire love for all the weird creatures this planet is blessed with. Alllllrighty then?
Howlers outside the bat cave
