There are moments in life when the clouds of confusion part, the noise of the many insignificant details of life are quiet, and pure inspiration streams into the mind, leading to an act of divinely inspired genius. That is exactly what happened when, in the taxi on the way back from the ruins at Kuélap, Wes suggested to Vish that he get a Mohawk. Vish, for his part, instantly recognized the brilliance of this plan, agreed, and we all spent the rest of the car ride in eager anticipation of the Mohawk greatness to come. Now, for those of you who are not aware (as I was not aware when the planning for this Amazon craziness began), the hairstyle that you bring with you to the jungle significantly affects the experience you have there. Let me illustrate what I am saying with a breakdown of the hairstyles that accompanied me into the jungle.
The first person I met upon reaching Cajamarca was Wes, who was on his way to get his jungle haircut. Wes, for the entire time I have known him
, has had long, curly hair. At times he is clean-shaven, at other points he has had a beard, even an outrageous mustache, but he has always had long hair. For the jungle experience though, he cut his hair short and grew out the beard. Sounds very normal, I know, but for him the short hair was an extreme move, and it turned out to be a very wise one as well, since it was incredibly hot and humid in the jungle.
Next up we have Jake, who did his part by growing out one seriously impressive beard, as well as forgoing his normal haircut for a period of time before the trip, 
so that when he met up with us in Tarapoto (he missed the first half of the trip, which meant he was not around for the creation of the Mohawk, much to his dismay) he was sporting this look. It turned out that the beard was not only aesthetically pleasing, but it was also undeniably useful as a convenient place to put your
pen when you’re not using it. For example, when you’re the score keeper for a rather intense game of Farkel and it’s your turn to roll the dice. But then, on the last day in Iquitos he threw us all for a loop by cutting it all off, transforming him from our bearded jungle buddy into the clean-shaven figure you see on the right.
Then there is Frank, who has spent his entire year and a half here preparing for this trip. Well, not really, but he has been growing his hair out
the entire time (with the goal of not putting scissors to hair a single time during the 27 months he spends in Peru). And so, in contrast to everyone else, he rocked the long hair throughout the trip, but skipped the beard and went with a goatee. Apparently, facial hair of some kind is also necessary when entering the Amazon, a trend you might have noticed by now.
And of course, there’s Vish, the one who instigated today’s detour into the Amazon’s hottest hairstyles. When the trip began, he was depending on the strength of his beard to carry him through his jungle experience. As well he should, since a beard of this magnitude would have been enough to satisfy most people. But that is the difference between most people and the crew that went on this trip. We are not content to reach for mere satisfaction. We must have stupendous, stellar, stunning, and every other adjective that begins with an S and signifies greatness. And so, upon arriving back in town, the Beardhawk emerged from the shears of one very incredulous hairstylist (we’re pretty sure she was simply in awe of our daring and charisma). For all the amazing sights we encountered on this trip, the creation of the Hawk will forever be one of my favorite moments. It was just that great. And just so you get the full effect, I’ve provided images of it from all angles.
As for the ladies on this journey, we also grew out our hair, but it was 
the hair on our legs and armpits, and therefore did not feel the need to capture it on camera. So while we don’t have any photographic evidence of our exploits, it was nonetheless a very hairy adventure for us as well. However, while we are on the subject of hair,I would like to take this moment to acquaint everyone with my brief experiment with pink hair. When I went home to the US in October, Amanda was nice enough to help me add a few pink streaks to my hair. Unfortunately, it had all washed out by the time I made my way to the Amazon, but this still seems like it would be an appropriate moment to throw in a picture. I only had pink hair for a few weeks, but I enjoyed every moment of it.
Headgear, which is a vital part of any jungle adventurer’s wardrobe, was also present in various forms this season in the Amazon. The trio from Ancash made their own fashion statements while also protecting their fair skin from the sun.
Vish and Frank added a little extra flair to their hats with a little “Go Ugly” 
action and an authentically vintage peace patch.
I brought a hat along with me as well, but for the most part employed a bandana in my fight to suppress the rebellion that was my hair in the intense humidity of the jungle. And while I wasn’t the only one adorning my knoggin with this ever-so-helpful square of cloth, I don’t think the boys were using it for quite the same reason. You see, everyone 
else on this trip has spent the last year and a half living in the relative coolness of the mountains, and therefore the pervasive heat of the Amazon came as quite a shock to their systems. I could be perfectly comfortable and they would be dripping sweat. Hence, the 
bandanas. Headlamps also seemed to be very popular, and I am sure this was due to how fashionable they are.
Anyway, let’s get back to the story, shall we?
