16 Once when I was seven years old, I went with Poppi to collect the sap from the trees. I didn’t know it was going to be such a special day! “Poppi,” I called, “I’m going for a walk while you’re working on that tree, okay?” “Stay close by,” he answered from up in the top of a Chicozapote tree. I always felt safe in the rainforest, even though lots of animals were near us. I never went exploring too far and there were always other chicleros nearby. But in the rainforest, it can take a long time to walk only a few hundred feet. The forest floor is thick with trees and plants and vines cover almost everything. I began hiking.