Kaokoa National Reserve Park, Readtos Island, Kokoro Islands.
This was the biggest natural park of the Kokoro Islands as the government made sure to preserve the natural flora and fauna against the clutches of human destructive hands.
That's why access to the park was restricted, and tourists could only enter with guides to accompany them.
On the outskirts of the park, it existed a controlled outpost to control the entrance of tourists into the park. The only way of entering the park was through this outpost.
That's why on that Sunday morning, three helicopters could be seen landing on the outpost heliport.
Shortly after, Theo and his friends disembarked the aircraft with excited faces.
After the helicopters took flight once again, Nanth guided them throughout the outpost.
Normally, normal tourists would have to pay a fee and register themselves with the outpost guards before they entered the park. But one of the many benefits that Theo and the others enjoyed from the hotel was they wouldn't have to worry about the things like that. Plus, normal tourists would even have to hire and pay for guides to take them throughout the park, but Nanth had already taken care of that as well.
Shortly after, they arrived in front of a fleet of modern offroad jeeps with a group of a dozen people in front of it.
"Everyone, this will be the group of guides that'll accompany you all during your time at the park." Nanth introduced with a professional smile, "And Lara will the be the chief guide of the excursion." Nanth said as he pointed at the middle-aged lady who seemed to be the leader of the guides.
"Good morning, everyone! I'm Lara Yutua and I'll be overseeing your excursion. If everything goes well, I think you'll be able to have the time of your lives today." Lara greeted them with a smile.
Theo and the others greeted Lara and the other guides enthusiastically.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAfter everyone introduced themselves Lara spoke, "Now before we venture into the park, I have to announce some rules that you need to follow." Her tone of voice was serious when she said that.
Theo and the others nodded seriously when they heard that. They had been through this before their dive at the sea, so they were aware that what Lara would say would be important.
"Firstly, I would like to warn everyone that we are entering a wild native forest, so everyone has to be aware of the risks that bring with an excursion through an area like that."
"This means that everyone had to pay double attention to safety procedures."
"Under no circumstances, you should separate yourselves from the group. Under no circumstances!" Lara warned twice.
"If you separate yourselves from the group, the chances of getting lost are too big. And in a region of wild natural forest, the chances of fatality while being lost are high."
Theo and the others burned that information into their memories when they heard that. No one wanted to get lost in the middle of a dangerous forest.
Theo secretly heaved a sigh of relief when he remembered that Sylph would be watching from the skies, which meant that the chances of someone getting lost were almost impossible.
Just like that, Lara continued explaining what they should do and what they shouldn't do in all kinds of situations.
It was only 10 minutes later that she finished explaining everything.
"Any questions?" She asked finally.
When no one voiced any doubts, Lara smiled as she said, "Then we can start with our adventure! If any of you develop any doubts, you can ask the guide that will accompany you in your cars."
Theo and the others exclaimed happily when they heard that, they finally would start their adventure. So, it didn't take long for them to fill up all the off-road jeeps.
On the jeep that Theo was in, he was accompanied by Aurora, June, and Sam.
Theo was seated in the front passenger seat while the girls were seated in the back.
"I hope we can see some wild animals." Sam excitedly said with a smile.
"Me too!" Aurora exclaimed.
"I just want to jump on the waterfall." June chimed in.
Theo just laughed as they heard their enthusiastic conversation.
Coincidentally, a minute later, they saw Lara opening the driver's door and taking a seat in the driver's seat of their car.
"Mrs. Lara, you gonna be our guide?" Aurora asked happily.
The others were equally happy when they saw that, as Lara made a big impression on them. She seemed extremely capable and experienced in her job.
"You can just call me Lara." She laughed, "And yes, I'll be your guide, so let's take care of each other."
The last sentence was said in Yamatese, which made them a little surprised.
Ever since they arrived on the Kokoro Islands, the people they talked to that lived here mostly spoke to them in English, it was rare to hear anyone speaking in Yamatese.
That's why they were surprised when they heard Lara speaking in perfect fluent Yamatese.
"Oh, do you speak Yamatese, Lara-san?" Aurora asked in Yamatese.
Just like any other Sakurean, Aurora and the others knew how to speak fluently in Yamatese and English. Therefore, the other three understood Aurora normally, but they wanted to know if Lara knew Yamatese.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAnd to their surprise and delight, they heard Lara's reply in fluent Yamatese, "Yes, I speak Yamatese. Actually, I lived in Kyoto for 7 years when I studied Forestry and Biome Preservation at Kyoto State University."
"Oh, you lived in Kyoto? When was it?" Sam asked in Yamatese.
By now, they started to speak mostly in Yamatese as they saw that Lara felt more comfortable speaking in Yamatese.
They continued their conversation until Lara received the green light from her radio that everyone was ready to leave.
Soon after, the jeeps were turned on and ready to dive into the wild forest.
Just like that, soon after, the jeeps left the outpost in a long line and entered the forest through a trail.
The jeeps traveled at a relatively slow velocity as the trail was not much leveled.
As soon they entered the forest, the girls became a little afraid when they saw the oppressive forest outside the windows.
Lata noticed that so she tried to alleviate their fears as she drove the jeep carefully, "As I was saying I spent most of my twenties in Kyoto and it was there that I met my husband. As we speak Yamatese when we are talking, I became fluent in it."
"Aww, that's so romantic, Lara-san!" Aurora replied with shining eyes when she heard that.
The other girls were equally distracted from the oppressive forest when they heard Lara's love story.
"Tell us more, Lara-san!"
"Yeah, how did you guys meet?"
"Do you guys have any kids?"
Just like that, Lara and the three girls went about Lara's love life as they dove into the wild forest.
Theo could see that Lara was doing that to calm the girls, so he was grateful for that, but he could only smile wryly as he heard them speaking about Lara's love stories.