Delicious banana slug

10. August 2019 This day begins fantastically: sun, blue sky and everyone is in a good mood. The whole thing is topped with probably the best wilderness breakfast ever: hot, fluffy pancakes prepared by grill master Tobi. Well-fortified, we set off – Lisa and I are finally going to the temperate rainforest for the first time. Toby leads us to impressive “Silence Spots”, where we sit down for ourselves in a place with beautiful surroundings in peace, a kind of meditation. The beauty of the nature takes my breath away. Finally, I can see and feel for myself what I have so far only seen on the photographs in our annual calendar or from our image database. After a short time, the first banana snail crawls over the path. Euphorically, I lick the snail to see if the toxic effect of the mucus leads to numbness on my tongue. But somehow nothing happens. Only a slight numbing feeling, which must probably be because the snail is still very young. So, we continue through the moss-covered forest. A thick fallen tree trunk serves as a bridge over the mountain river. We see several ghostflowers and a variety of blueberry shrubs, which we greedily rush into. Well strengthened by our trail mix, a mixture of nuts, raisins and M&M’s, we make our way back. In the camp, Lisa and I get a crash course from Henri on how to make a fire in the wilderness and after that we begin to prepare dinner: rice-tomato stir-fry with vegetables, tofu and salmon. We enjoy this feast with relaxed conversation by the fire, so that the day ends for all of us with a well-filled stomach and smiles on our faces. – Natalie