Things that go BUMP in the Jungle

---

I am the sort of person who has to run up the stairs at home at night so the ‘monsters’ don’t get me. Now picture me wandering around in the Amazon, baiting traps, all alone. At the very time that the logical part of my brain would be incredibly useful, to stop my imagination running riot, it has decided to go on holiday. I can see it now; lying on a beach in the Caribbean, drinking a cocktail from a coconut shell. As you would now expect, my imagination has gone into overdrive so that every sound I hear (including those I’m making myself) are magically transformed into a jaguar stalking me or a herd of peccaries charging towards me. As a result of this I have spent the past few days in a state of heightened anxiety.

Yesterday I saw a rather large, black snake slither away from me. If the logical part of my brain hadn’t been topping up its tan I would have reasoned with myself that the snake was moving AWAY from me so any other snakes in the area would also probably do the same thing. However, that wasn’t what was going through my mind. I think it was something along the lines of, “AAAAAAARGH! SNAKE!!! AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!”. Shortly after this, I saw a huge bullet ant crawling on my shoulder. I tried to flick it off me but couldn’t tell if it had actually just crawled further round towards my back. As I was completely alone I did the ‘looking-over-your-shoulder-while-spinning-around’ dance for a minute or so. I was very nearly tempted to take off my shirt just to make sure it wasn’t on me but that urge passed quickly.

Last night, when Karina and I were heading to our cabins, we got a bit of a fright. Karina heard a large thud behind her so shouted to me to hurry up. I did and ran straight into a huge spider’s web (and the equally huge spider) across the entrance to our cabin. I screamed. Karina had no idea what I was screaming about so pushed me further into the web - thanks! I managed to calm down (eventually) and then it was Karina’s turn to start screaming. I was safely tucked into my mosquito net when she saw a mouse crawling around on one of the screens in the cabin. She dived into her net to escape its clutches! I think the logical part of Karina’s brain is lying on the next sun-lounger to mine. The mouse didn’t kill us in our sleep but it did spend the evening chewing on something very noisily, keeping us awake for a while.

Today I was going to bait some traps that I have never visited before. To get to the traps we use a system of pink flagging tape. The idea is that you follow the path marked by the trees with pink tape. The trees are usually only a few metres away from each other but in dense jungle it can sometimes be very difficult to see the next pink tag. This morning I was trying to find a particular trap (PR 15) but only got as far as the 20th pink tag before I couldn’t find anymore. I decided to whip out the GPS I was carrying with me for such events. Typically, the canopy was too thick for the device to acquire satellite coverage so it was effectively useless. I then tried wandering around for a bit, desperately searching for anything pink (thank goodness we don’t use brown tape!). After 15 minutes or so of searching and getting progressively more stressed I gave up looking and, deflatedly, walked back towards the track. On the way back I heard something rustling in the bushes very close-by. “Oh no, it’s a peccary. Where is the nearest tree I can climb?”. Then I saw the thing moving. Deep intake of breath. It started moving again but thankfully I could now see that it was in fact, a small bird! What went through my mind right then is not appropriate for this blog.

A little while later, after having restored my heart rate to a sensible rhythm, the wind began to pick up. Mini once told me that of all the things in the jungle that can potentially hurt/kill you, indigenous people are most afraid of the wind. As I was cleaning out trap PR 0 a gust of wind blew down a large branch that landed on the forest floor about 10 ft away from me. That was the last straw! I still had three more platforms to visit but I decided that for the state of my own mental health to go back to camp to calm down a bit before attempting them.

Shortly after arriving back at camp, Erin and Karina came back after having gotten lost for over an hour. They forgot to bring a compass with them and deeply regretted it. I later found out that Mini had managed to get a handful of thorns so also called it quits early. It seems that it was not a good day for the Primates Peru team.

Gideon was the last to make it back to camp. He had been cutting down BRANCHES of bananas, for the monkeys, just off one of the trails. He managed to carry one back by himself but asked for help with others. I volunteered to bring back one but I don’t think I quite understood what I was getting myself in for. The bananas were 800m down a fairly steep path - this was fine to go down but coming up, with the bananas, was another matter. Especially as it was raining cats and dogs. I now hate bananas!

Before I go, I want to thank everyone who has commented on the blog or sent messages. I may not have the time to reply to all of you but I am thinking about you and thanking my lucky stars to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. I've been feeling quite homesick recently so its lovely to hear from people who probably don't smell all the time!

Lots of love
Emma and the monkeys
xxxx

---

Comments

[Kathleen Adams]

You are so brave!!!
EEK! Just reading about jungle crawly-things makes me anxious! You're such a superhero. - xx your american badminton pal.

[Alex Cagan]

Sounds like your imagination is working against you, brave to go into the jungle alone! Keep chasing those monkeys.

[Rosie]

Poor you!
Hi emma! Poor you all that wildlife sounds like a nightmare especially the snake! I wouldn't have lasted five minutes and think you're incredibly brave! Hope your feet are feeling a bit better now? It was nice to see your mum and jackie the other week and have an update on how you're doing. I hope the wildlife and weather will start to behave itself soon and that life will get a bit easier. Take care of yourself. We are thinking of you lots . Lots of love Rosie xxxxx

[Lizzie]

Now you see that is why you need an imaginary friend - among others I have a labrador who is most useful when I get it into my head that between the big bins at the end of our road, or in the little grassy bit there, there is someone hiding, waiting to attack me... the logical bit of my brain is always rooting around at the back in a book. But it gives you something to blame the noises on, something to put some of your imagination to use and well... it's nice not being on your own... if you don't fancy a dog you can take me to, but you'll have to tell me what all the plants are called :o) *huge hugs* Lizzie