Gabon's jungle parks are among Earth's last Edens. But don't expect to find paradise.

I'm trying to look on the bright side of hiking through swamp-filled forests in the West African country of Gabon, searching for elephants which, if we do find them, are likely to charge and send us running for our lives. But it's increasingly hard to be optimistic while a foot worm is burrowing under my skin with the persistence of a Wall Street banker begging Congress for money. As I wonder how many billion times I'm going to have to scratch this parasitic invader, I think, "At least it's digging above the knee instead of in the foot, saving me the effort of bending to the ground every ten seconds."

The high burrowing point of this so-called foot worm is due to the startling depth of the shoe-sucking swamp muck we've been tramping through for three days. I blame this misery squarely on Wildlife Conservation Society biologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Michael Fay. He's leading this little walk in the park for a group of intrepid travelers who've paid a premium to follow him.

Unfortunately for us, Fay has never learned the meaning of the word detour. He picks a direction and marches forward, come foot worms or high water.