In dense, exotic and pristinely preserved cloud forests, on the isolated "buffer zone" of Parque National Manu on the Amazon basin frontier, I watch the forest treetops sway tentatively in the breeze as still grey clouds and fresh oxygen usurp the heat, humidity and stale air of the morning, all in ominous anticipation of the approaching storm... Then the rain starts to fall... A steady, cumbersome shower that progressively builds into a heavy deluge as the clouds turn angrier and the river, usually reflecting the lush green jungle landscape in tranquil glassy brilliance, is transformed into dark, muddy and malevolent rapid, reignited by the aggressive downpour... Distant thunder draws closer and the impenetrable ink black blanket of night falls over the forest until brilliant white sheets of lightening illuminate the sky, spidery silhouettes of the treetops
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