Alison sat there by the porthole window, bored, fiddling with the strap of her Leica camera, when is this contraption going to finally take off? she wondered, stuck in Paris aboard a decaying old Imperial Airlines bi-plane from Croydon that morning. They were headed for Marseilles on the next leg of her trip to Juba in the Anglo Egyptian Sudan. At Marseilles they would change to a Short flying boat to cross the Mediterranean Sea and continue on their 10 day journey calling at Rome, Athens, Alexandria, Cairo and Khartoum among other cities before finally landing at Juba. Although Alison was looking forward to spending time in this fabulous places she was keen to get to Cairo where she would pick up all her gear that the Professor had sent on ahead by freight.
The Professor was based at the Sorbonne University in Paris and Alison had met him for lunch earlier in the day to finalise plans for her expedition to the Belgian Congo. The Sorbonne was world famous for its school of Palaeobotany and although Alison was somewhat surprised at receiving a telegram 5 days earlier saying that she has been chosen to take the lead in an upcoming expedition, she should not have been. Alison's father had long been a benefactor and contributor to the funding of the school from his earnings in the fledgling diamond market in Tanzania before he died along with Alison's mother in a car accident coming back from Monaco.
With a bit of time on her hands Alison read through her notes once more, although a dedicated botanist; extinct plants were of little interest to her as Alison was more interested in the here and now and not the past. But this particular study drew Alison's interest because the specimen study was of an evolutionary pre-runner to Droera regia, or the King Sundew to give it its common name. Droera regia is the world's largest flesh eating plant, a distant relative to the Venus Flytrap and only found in central Africa's tropical rain forests. She had plenty of time on her hands to get to know the subject so Alison settled into a restful sleep.
The stopovers were short and uneventful, Cairo was the only excitement as that is when she was able to go through all her gear needed for the expedition. She was tiring of the glitzy lifestyle she was leading, although the flapper and close fitting maxi dresses highlighted her shapely figure she longed to be back in her expedition clothing and roaming through plain and jungle alike armed only with her trusty Leica.
Eventually she arrived in Juba and then made it as far into the Congo rain forest as the poor train connection would let her. The final stage of her expedition would be on foot with a small team of native guides hand-picked by the Professor. They were three days into their expedition and there was still no trace of any live King Sundew let alone any fossilised remains, normally upbeat Alison was becoming a little brought down by the lack of adventure. Sure the rainforest was all that she expected it to be, it was lush, full of broad evergreen trees, she could hear the sound of monkeys up in the canopy and was fearful she may come across a band of gorillas. What would she do if they became aggressive towards the expedition team she thought to herself as she was cutting through the understory vines and ferns. She would soon find out.
The expedition team were all resting after a particularly difficult fourth morning, the rainforest seemed denser than before and the humidity was becoming unbearable to such an extent that her khaki shorts and skirt were soaked through with sweat. She took off her hat and shook her head in a vain attempt to stimulate some air movement through her hair. She had taken the precaution of cutting her long blonde hair short for this trip to avoid any issues with bugs and spiders trying to nest. Alison closed her eyes as she poured some canteen water over her head and the cool water fell down her face onto her now unbuttoned chest. She momentarily began to feel refreshed then she heard a loud rustle behind her, she turned around and came face to face with a Silverback.
Time stood still.
There were at least ten gorillas in the clearing with the Silverback at the front, tall and incredibly muscular in stature. No amount of research could have prepared Alison for what she was seeing. The other males were waiting his instruction. The native members of her expedition had fled, leaving all supplies in the open. The gorillas foraged through what there while the Silverback stared at Alison for what seemed an eternity. Then the Silverback stepped back and went to his troop, Alison seized the opportunity and went in the opposite direction careful not to make any noise that would attract the Silverback. When she was out of earshot she ran and ran and ran.
Alison had no idea where she was running to but she knew what she was running from. She paused for breath, all she had upon herself was the clothes she was half wearing, a canteen and her camera thankfully still attached to her belt. Great she thought, no chance of getting hold of those supplies and at least three full days travel with only half a canteen of water to drink. Should she wait to see if the expedition party returns or go on ahead alone? She favoured the former but the later got the better of her tomboy side. So Alison set off.
It would be night fall in a few hours, with the dense canopy making the jungle dark even in daytime she needed to find safe refuge soon. She had learned a few jungle tricks in the short time she has been in the rain forest, she could collect fresh water easily and there were some low hanging fruits to be had so food was no issue. Alison climbed a vine and made for a hollowed tree trunk for shelter that night. She was used to the night time cacophony and that night it seemed like strangely like harmony to her. She was alone and up a tree in the middle of the rainforest, but to Alison this seemed somehow much more appealing than been squeezed into maxi dress at one of the Professor awful dinner parties.
