Natures Messengers

Sarah had dreamed of making a difference on this planet, but soon learnt the planet would make a difference in her. This story is one of her first encounters with natures messengers...

Sarah was an ordinary girl from Wales, UK, and had an unconditional love for animals at a young age, this led her to study Wildlife conservation, she learnt about the destruction of the worlds wildlife an soon realized she couldn't save it all. Her love for the rainforest became almost an obsession, preaching about the harmful effects of palm oil years before it hit the mainstream media. Sarah wanted the world to see what was happening and how we are all connected, wherever in the world we may be.

In 2015, Sarah had set out to raise money for Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation with great intentions of spreading the word and creating awareness at the same time. She decided to do a solo hike in the Wye Valley, Wales. To make the biggest impact she decided she would start the hike on Friday the 13th in November and walk for 2 days, camping in the forest alone! (The beginning of winter in the UK and Wales is renowned for its wet and windy weather!) Was she mad? Probably, but little did she know of the lessons the forest would teach her on this journey.

Sarah was a little naïve (ok, maybe a lot!) but this gave her something special and her journey would not have been the same without it! With little planning of the route she would take, sarah packed her backpack and set off for her journey taking her family dog with her (obviously her family were worried and made her take the dog as extra protection), and no map!

She rode the train to Chepstow where she would then find the beginning of the Wye Valley path.. it was then that it hit her, she should have brought a map!

But there was no going back and she was not going to give up straight away, after walking in what appeared to be a circle she eventually found the entrance, and this is where the magic began..

As soon as she was on the path, sarah noticed a little robin perched peculiarly low on a branch and said 'hello Mr Robin', she knew she wouldn't be alone on this journey and it filled her with hope again. The sun was shining through the trees and the river flowing fast below, sarah was smiling with no idea how difficult it was about to become.

Thunder, sarah knew that being underneath trees is the worst place to be in a thunder storm and she was surrounded by them. Being brave she carried on, praying for some kind of shelter from the storm. Through the trees she could see the lightening in the distance but gained peace knowing it wasn't above her, just as the heavens started to open, out of no where, shelter appeared! A large rock with a cave like hole, enough to shelter in, covered in crystals that twinkled like glitter, it was beautiful and again filled her with hope.

Once the storm had passed an the sun started to shine again, Sarah and her dog got back on their journey. Smiling and singing along the way, she absorbed the scenic path and it filled her with freedom.

I could go on about the uphill struggle she faced and the weird looks she got as she walked through the village to get to the next part of the path (which she absolutely couldn't find, and ended up walking miles in the wrong direction) but its these little messages that I want to tell you about, so I'll get to the point.

The day was growing short and sarah needed to find a place to camp for the night, she'd had no signal on her phone for a long time and wanted to be able to at least call for help if something happened, she carried on an then out of no where, a deer came leaping through the trees just ahead, again filling her with hope, she carried on, just a bit further she thought. She was right, she found phone signal! Close to that she found a flat patch hidden by trees and made her camp just in time for complete darkness.

After getting cosy and tending to her blisters (on her feet and back) things started to get scary. Foxes were screaming close by, paranoia was turning snapping branches into footsteps close by and even her dog was starting to get worried. But for some reason, sarah had an urge to open the tent and look outside, bravery or stupidity, it was the best thing she could've done. As she pulled the zipper open and the stars caught her eyes, a shooting star flew across the sky! All her fears disappeared and she was in awe of the magic she had just witnessed. How was the timing so perfect? she thought, she gazed at the sky waiting and hoping for another, but the clouds soon came over and hid the stars. Sarah got back into her tent and cuddled up to her dog with a huge smile of what she'd just witnessed. And took it as a sign to not be afraid, and had an overwhelming sense that someone or something was looking out for her.

The next day it rained continuously and sarah was aching like never before, she knew she couldn't give up (her lift would be waiting at the end) but oh, how she wanted to stop. Sarah got lost a couple more times, with sign posts being pulled down and having no idea which way to turn, wanting to cry at every point (why didn't she bring a map) but she carried on! She knew she was reaching the end an also the end of her tether! She was faced with a choice of two directions, in her exhaustion she prayed that she wouldn't go the wrong way.. and just like that, there was a little robin sat on the gate.. without hesitation she set off that way and the end was insight! The joy she felt was multiplied by the 'coincidences' of her magical encounters, if she had planned her route and brought a map, would that little robin or the deer have felt so significant? was it fate or just coincidence?

Sarah will say that you can believe what you want, but if your ever faced in a dilemma in the wild, take a look at what's around you, maybe it will speak to you in other ways, you just have to open your eyes :)