The boy's in Brazil
He's literally in the middle of the Amazon jungle now and the only way to communicate is via satellite. We have one quick conversation every night via satellite phone and during the day I'm able to track him via this groovy GPS gadget called Spot. I'm not a huge fan of Spot's marketing since the whole pitch is about making it back alive and I don't need much provocation to get to my worst case scenario (Yes madame, I'm sorry to inform you that your husband has been eaten by insert name of giant reptile here). Spot's tagline is "THERE IS LIFE AFTER CELL PHONE SIGNALS DIE." Hey kids, give me a call, I can help you with that tricky messaging stuff. Anyway, from my POV the highlight of Spot is that I can literally watch him make his way down the river, 5,000 miles away.
Here's the big pic, showing where he is in Brazil:
And here's the pic that shows where he spent his day:
In theory I should be able to track him without him doing anything, but I haven't figured out how to make that work yet. Happily there is a little button on the device marked "ok" and everytime he pushes it, the device sends an "I'm okay" message to my phone. It sends that same message, along with his GPS coordinates to my account on Spot and when I log in I can see where he was last, and where he's been all day with a sweet google maps mashup.
I have to say this newfound visibility has made a big difference for me - just knowing where he is makes me feel better about him being out there in the middle of the jungle. There is another safety feature, a 911 button. Press and hold that one and the Spot guys will send the local country search and rescue team to your location. Cool huh? But don't press it by accident because sometimes the local search and rescue team is also known as the army - and they really are coming and they don't like false alarms. Press and hold the same button to say "never mind, I can limp my way home from here."
In addition to catching lots of beautiful peacock bass, he saw some amazing things today: jaguars and tapirs and caymans, oh my! The big moment of the day came when he saw a large ray being attacked and eaten by boiling piranhas. I know. But to him, and to the rest of his crew, a piranha attack is the very definition of fun - as long as none of their body parts are involved.
Comments
I love how Spot says "OK." I'm simultaneously reassured and terrified by that, like what if you lose the OK icon? I'd freak.
But as long as it makes you feel better that's all that matters--and that Xav enjoys the wild creatures eating the other wild creatures.
That Is So Freakin Awesome. I'm Jealous!
(love the bit about the army, funny girl)
shhhh, that's a different button.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxw1EFcm3vw
No testicle required.
I can give you Xav's number for next time... ;-)