How four children survived 40 days in the Amazon on their own: Lesly's mission and the secrets of the jungle
The four children lived with their parents in Araracuara, a town in the heart of the Amazon jungle, where in the 1930s, a Colombian president ordered the construction of a prison to lock up the most dangerous criminals. Lock up is a figure of speech. In reality, the prisoners lived outdoors, in the middle of a swampy and overgrown terrain. Whoever wanted to escape and enter the jungle was signing their own death warrant. The following generations that were born there, many descendants of convicts, learned to live among snakes, jaguars and poisonous plants.
Lesly, as a daughter of that terrain, knows the secrets of the jungle. According to her uncle, she knows how to orientate herself by the rays of the sun that filter through the trees, and to recognize passable paths, broken branches and edible mushrooms. A city dweller would struggle to survive in the jungle, but the people of the indigenous communities move easily in the forest and can walk 19 miles a day without hiking shoes. Lesly had grown up with those teachings -- lessons that would end up saving her and her siblings' lives.
The plane that crashed on May 18 in Guaviare, Colombia. Ejercito de Colombia (EFE/Ejercito de Colombia)
But she still had to get on that plane, the Cessna 206, registration HK 2803, piloted by Hernan Murcia, who had previously been a taxi driver. It was May 1. The mother, Magdalena Mucutuy, and her four children were going to meet the father, Manuel Ranoque. He was governor of the nearest indigenous reservation, but had fled from Araracuara after being threatened by guerrillas. He hoped to start a new life with his whole family in Bogota, the capital of the country.
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Where are the children now?
For a reason that so far no one has been able to explain, the three adults died from the impact, but the four children survived with hardly any injuries. The authorities reported the missing flight assumed that there were no survivors. It was not until 16 days later that a group of indigenous people found the plane with the three bodies inside. Where were the children? A bottle, a bitten apple, a hair tie and some diapers were found, indicating that they were alive. But where?
A bottle found near the plane crash site. FUERZAS MILITARES DE COLOMBIA
Lesly, Soleiny (nine), Tien Noriel (four) and Cristin Neriman (11 months) began a journey into the jungle that was going to defy all expectations. Lesly led her siblings, and took care to keep them safe and sound. It is known that they survived by eating what they could and, later, found the food from kits that rescuers dropped from the sky. More than 100 members of the Colombian special forces and 70 indigenous people were in charge of the search for the missing children, who were wandering through the largest rainforest on the planet.
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How did the children survive for 40 days in the Amazon jungle?
Wilson, one of the dogs who took part in the search, is still missing.
At that point, the children had been missing for almost 20 days. The commander in charge of the search, Pedro Sanchez, said that if they had not been indigenous children, there would have been very little chance of finding them alive. He had faith in Lesly. The search patrols walked hundreds of miles, weaving a spider web on the map with their steps. But, they did not find the children. Time was running out.
In this photo released by Colombia's Armed Forces, soldiers and Indigenous men tend to the four brothers who were missing after a deadly plane crash. gobierno de colombia
Indeed, Petro feared that one of the isolated communities may have found the children, and taken them in as their own. Anything was better than thinking that they were dead. And they were not. After 40 days in the jungle, the military and indigenous search team found the four. They were malnourished and tired, but their lives were not in danger. Lesly had succeeded in her goal. For Colombia, she has turned into something of a legend.
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How did rescuers locate the children?
The soldiers airlifted the children out of the jungle by helicopter, and took them to a hospital in Bogota, where they will remain for two or three weeks. At hospital, they are already getting bored. The four-year-old, Tien Noriel, wants to take off the chords, and go for a walk, according to official Astrid Caceres. The children told her that after their 40-day odyssey, they just want to play and read. They are just kids, after all.