DSCN0731The crew fit us with rubber boots. We wear long sleeves, long pants, wide-brimmed hats and abundant bug repellent. Skiffs drop us at a rickety pier and we clamber up the muddy bank, take walking sticks, and head into the jungle. Our naturalist warns against touching the foliage that presses in on us, some with barbs, poisonous sap or camouflaged insects. The canopy shades out the sunlight and we see only a few feet into the dense growth.

IMG_0671IMG_0676We gawk at the jungle’s giants and marvel at the designs of the tiniest.

 

 

DSCN0759We examine a tarantulla, camouflaged by fallen leaves, next to the path we walk on.

 

 

 

 

The tiny frogs are adorable. SomeIMG_0673 are poisonous,

 

 

 

 

 

DSCN1510some merely colorful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A boa constrictor hangs from a branch at eye level. Our photographer shows us the dent in his camera from a DSCN0760boa who snapped at him when he got too close.

 

 

 

 

DSCN0774And here is a smallish anaconda relaxing, wrapped around a tree. He is motionless as we surround him to take his photo. Good!

 

 

 

Another excursion to a private reserve takes us into the canopy DSCN0948on walkways strung from tree to tree. They sway as we walk and we clutch the metal cords that DSCN0973keep us high above the jungle floor. One at a time, please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local artisans are ready with their wares by the time we get back to the skiffs. We wonder at the knowledge that allows them DSCN0991to survive in this harsh (to us) environment where we wouldn’t last a day.