I knew the property that my family owns in Mexico is most definitely a jungle landscape. And with the extent of my travels to exotic environments so far, I understood the reality of that environ. I have been waist deep in an Amazonian lagoon in search of an anaconda, stayed in rooms full of cock roaches, and discovered my fair share of tarantulas and scorpions while hiking as well as trying to grab my cereal from the shelf. I feel that I had a fairly solid grasp on the consequences of living in an 'integrated' environment, but the responsibility of being the figurehead for creating the space that will exist in such a wild landscape and the potential for 'co-inhabitation' had not sunk in yet.
Throughout all of our time visiting Mexico, my family and I have never heard of or experienced any crazy encounters with jungle wildlife. Even while we spent a week at an ecolodge in the San Pancho jungle with living spaces completely exposed to the elements the only encounter we experienced was with a pesky tejone (the Mexican jungle equivalent to our NW raccoons) who raided our avocado stash. So we continued to be optimistic, and were surrounded by only positive stories of ex-pat's experiences on our mountain where our property lies....that was until we heard the boa in the bathroom story.
My dad and I had traveled up to San Blas earlier in the day to visit some friends with an organic farm. When the topic of utilizing 'natural' materials for building came up in discussion, they delved into reminiscing about the removal of their large palapa (palm thatched roof) some years ago, which was unsprayed/untreated and located directly above their kitchen. When that enormous roof was taken apart, they said the workers found 2 full grown boa constrictors, hundreds of scorpions and tarantulas, and a whole colony of bats.
It made me reconsidered using palapa roofs to say the least.
They then continued on with their boa stories having picked up on my phobia, and said they stumbled on one once on the drive to town. As they were driving along, there was a huge backup for no apparent reason. They got out to check out the situation and what looked like a huge palm fallen across the road was indeed a boa. A gigantic constrictor with its tail on one end of the road and its mouth on the other with a middle at 20 inches in diameter. You know, just taking a leisurely stroll across the street. Fortunately, this was a first for them in a total of 20 years in the jungle coastline.
Later that day, we traveled back to Lo de Marcos, and met up with our neighbors for a wood fired oven pizza party. We indulged them in the stories we had heard earlier that day, which then lead to the finale. Our neighbor, David, retold his out of this world boa story to us. They have a nice outdoor shower at their place, which they use during the summer months when the cold water is the only relief for the extreme humidity. David was alone at the house when the event occurred, and was really looking forward to cooling off in the shower. He shed himself of his sweaty clothes and wrapped a towel around his waist as he trotted off to the outdoor bathroom. He walked into the front door to the vanity and cut to the right to enter the shower nook. As he turned the corner and approached the shower, he came to a sudden halt. In front of him was a full grown 10 foot long boa standing eye level. David in his towel and the boa at a whopping 6 feet tall. A small portion of the boa was coiled on the ground with the rest of its body standing like a cobra to face David in the eyes. Rightfully so, David freaked. He ran out of the bathroom and went to get some kind of long household object to direct the boa out of the shower. He came back outside with a broom and proceeded to try and scoot the boa out of the shower. Well the boa began to slide across the floor towards the door, but David made the mistake of then backing himself into the other side of the bathroom into a corner with the toilet. The snake simply continued following David into the corner. Literally, there wasn't enough room for this enormous creature to coexist with David in such a tiny space. Luckily, after a few moments of desperation and panic on David's end the snake simply left and went back to its jungle sanctuary.
I still can't get the picture of walking into a shower with a full grown boa staring into my eyes. David is a trooper.
So, my friends, that's why I am going to design a beautiful jungle oasis with windows and doors that can be closed and screened in at the leisure of its occupants. In the end, you just have to be hopeful that no boas find their way into your bathroom. Viva la vida loca!
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