by Carlos Baz
Longlisted: PureTravel Writing Competition 2025
Entering a forest is something wonderful, spectacular, inexplicable, as well as mysterious. Walking miles along different paths that you find. Only accompanied by the silence that these places provoke. Which is interrupted by the song of birds, insects, and the flow of water. Contemplating enormous trees that have been growing for hundreds of years without the presence of humans.
Encountering plants, beautiful flowers, and carpets of leaves on the grass. Stopping in the middle of a clearing and listening to hundreds of crickets jumping around me. Discovering a lagoon, a river, or a waterfall. It makes me smile and happy.
Feeling unique in the middle of the forest. Where only nature accompanies you. Sometimes the heat is intense, the tiredness, but continuing to enjoy these wonders prevents you from leaving or returning several times.
I feel like I am in another world, in another dimension. Sometimes I hear voices that call me, that welcome me. That the branches of the trees embrace me, and I can feel for so many centuries that they have lived. It’s like a time warp.
I heard footsteps nearby, looked around, and saw no one; I hadn’t seen a person for miles. In front of me, the grass was very tall; behind me, lots of trees. I opened my backpack and grabbed my water container; I rested a bit. I heard something again; then, a few meters away, a herd of deer came out. They were walking slowly; I grabbed my camera and started taking several photos. They didn’t notice me; they didn’t care about my presence. There were many of them, I think a family.
One of them stopped. A tall, strong deer with huge antlers. He looked at me silently; I lowered my camera and smiled at him. I tried not to move. Seconds later, he joined the herd. It was a very pleasant experience. I feel like he was the alpha; he didn’t see any danger. He assumed I wasn’t a hunter; my only weapon was my camera. I wasn’t there to kill one of them; on the contrary, I walked for miles to see some animals up close. They try to understand them in their habitat.
An eagle flew over me, observing what had just happened. I didn’t have time to take my Zoom and photograph it. Previously, I had seen different types of birds, some rabbits, and hares, but no mammals of that size.
My experiences in different forests and mountains were increasingly extraordinary and mysterious. At certain times, I felt that they were watching me, that they were following me. That fascinated me as my mind traveled to meet beings within the world from other dimensions.
Once I entered a swampy area, as I passed it, I came to a very large lake, where different herons were flying and others were walking, looking for food. I leaned on a tree to take some photos so they couldn’t see me, since they are very sensitive birds, and with any noise, they fly away instantly. I focused on my Zoom and took a series of photos. A little before putting my camera away, I saw some bubbles coming out. I took my Zoom again and waited; then a huge crocodile came out. It was a surprise I wasn’t expecting; I didn’t know there were crocodiles in this area, or maybe I didn’t see a sign where I was. It lay down on the sand, and I was able to take some photos.
Seconds later, I saw another one take its head out of the water and submerge it again. Birds were flying around. I moved more towards the center since I was a couple of meters from the shore; I assumed that more crocodiles were nearby.
I was exploring a forest that led me to a mountain; I went up and up; I couldn’t see the top. Not only that, but I Stopped to check my map, but there was no signal. I heard movements; I didn’t know what was nearby or what was coming. A few meters away, a coyote was looking for food. It was digging; I think I saw a rodent or a frog… I don’t know.
This is the fascinating thing about meeting wild animals, and you can only do it in the woods. Feeling the adrenaline rushing through your body because you don’t know how they’re going to react.
In all these years I’ve seen different animals… turtles, swans, crocodiles, alligators, eagles, salamanders, snakes, foxes, squirrels, frogs, and many more, but the one that impressed me the most was the wolf. Hearing its howl from afar makes your skin crawl; I don’t know if it’s from fear or if it’s the same energy your body produces when faced with something strong.
A couple of hours later, about 300 meters away, I could see two of them; they were resting, looking towards the horizon. I was in a position where they couldn’t smell me. I took a couple of photos as they got up and continued on their way.
Photo by kazuend on Unsplash
Longlisted: PureTravel Writing Competition 2025
