5. The Rainy Season Arrives in the Peruvian Amazon

Written: December 2006 (translated from Spanish original)

The rainy season starts in December and the rivers rise. On our boat trip to Jenaro Herrera, we saw many trees floating in the rivers that are dangerous in nighttime journeys. It’s constantly raining here, and we have to do what we can to keep up with the monitoring.

Photo: Angel and Italo working in the rain. © Center for Amazon Community Ecology

Another problem in this season is the greater number of mosquitoes that don’t let you work. I fitted a piece of netting fabric around my hat that let me take pictures and make my observations with some peace. With my poncho protecting my camera, I could make notes. We noticed some of the resin lumps had grown substantially. I believe we may be close to finding a copal weevil in the mesh trap. By the end of our time, we achieved our objective. I was very pleased to return home with more than 500 photographs. Now I am preparing the photos to send off.

A small dog named Bandito always accompanied us on our adventures. He is used to the jungle and is always alert to dangers such as snakes. We have not seen snakes yet this month, but one can easily find poisonous snakes such as parrot machaco and aguaje machaco in the forest and abandoned houses. They really like the heat; their favorite resting places are roofs.

Photo: Bandito in the forest. © Campbell Plowden/Center for Amazon Community Ecology