Welcome to the Jungle

 
Hours from nearest town by boat: 5-12
4am wakeup call: day 1, alarm clock. Day 2, bat to the face*
*Avoid a bat to any part of your body unless you’ve been vaccinated for rabies
Power: 3 hours a day
Clothes necessary: knee high rubber boots, pants, neutral colored tank top, long sleeve button up shirt, binoculars, braid, bandana, and necklace
Animal  Log:
Bugs
•    Leaf cutter ants
•    Yellow banded army ants
•    Bullet ants
•    Morpho butterflies
•    Foot-long earthworm
Reptiles
•    Common house gecko
•    Yellow-footed Amazonian tortoise
•    Caiman
•    Amazon racerunner
Birds
•    Lettered aricari
•    Crested Oropendola
•    Blue-and-white swallow
•    Coti heron
•    Pauraque (like a nightjar)
•    Undulated tinamou
•    Long tailed hermit (a hummingbird)
•    Fork-tailed woodnymph
•    Black vulture
•    Yellow-tufted woodpecker
Amphibians
•    Basin white-lipped frog
•    Bolivian bleating frog
•    Warty toad

Mammals
•    Saddle-backed tamarins
•    Emperor tamarins
•    Titi monkeys
•    Spider monkeys
•    Squirrel monkeys
•    Saki monkeys
•    Light-faced capuchins
•    Amazon bamboo rat
•    Peccaries
•    White-lined Sac-winged bat (3rd roommate)
•    Tapir tracks
•    Black agouti
Agouti - something like this needs a name to match
Living in the Amazonian rainforest is a lot like staying at summer camp; if campers went out in the forest at 4 am, there was only power from 6-9 pm, the bathroom was mixed gender, and the swimming lake had caimans and giant river otters.  The camp is located on the top of what appears to be the largest hill in view, with the Madre de Dios river curving around on 3 sides and the daunting Andes in the distance on clear days. Showers are cold, the food is hot, drinking water is pumped from a stream and boiled, and the workday starts at 4:30 am.

I felt better about the living quarters when I confirmed that the bat in my closet is not actually a vampire bat, but a helpful insectivore. All the same, he spends his days there, and barks and squeals if anyone in the room is too noisy or uses a light; it’s like having a very small, constantly hung-over roommate. Without regular internet or power, one must find other means of recreation. Popular options include swapping “One time I saw/got bit by/ran screaming from a  _” stories, and shining a flashlight into the jungle at night, to see what's looking back at you (usually, nightjars and spiders.)

During the pre-dawn morning, as I was checking to make sure that a jaguar was not following me, I had the realization that I have somehow made choices that have led to a ‘bored jaguar’ becoming a semi-legitimate concern in life.