The American Suburbanite’s Guide to Bushwhacking

During this week all but five of my colleagues have been visiting their future sites. Several of us, however, will be living in villages that have experienced severe flooding as of late, so we will be unable to see where we will serve before we swear in. I have thus been in Paramaribo, the capital city (THE city, really), participating in other projects. For the past few days we have been trained in rain forest agriculture by a Dutch man and his Surinamese wife who cultivate a small organic “farm” in the jungle.
Yesterday we cleared bush. This requires two vital tools: boots, and a machete. The boots are quite regular black rubber boots, but with all the dangerous plants, fire ants and snakes in the forest, they really make it easy. Plus, you can ford rivers (or avoid getting wet in hidden swampy holes) up to your knees, and if you are like me and get a little carried away with a machete sometimes, good boots can save a leg. Machetes are a little more complicated, but the most important thing to remember is to get one from a country other than China. I chose an English manufacturer—a Martindale, called a “Cayman” for its engraved Crocodile on the blade. It is bigger than your average machete, twenty-eight inches long with a wide head (about five inches). This makes it good for both mowing (cutting ground vines and brush) and cutting forest (cutting practically anything bigger, including small trees). Mowing is done by swinging from the outside in, and cutting forest from across the body. You can also use a machete to harvest banana by cutting down the stalks and cassava by using the blade to dig and cut the tubers. In a humid climate, machetes naturally start to rust a little in the beginning, but with regular use, they eventually turn black, and the rust goes away.

In addition to its advantages in preparing planting grounds, bushwhacking is a great stress reliever and form of exercise. Naturally, you look like you had just been swimming when you finish clearing a section of bush, but in a country where the effort of eating makes you sweat, you get used to it.