Dawn in the Rainforest

Up at 5:30 am, on the boat by 06:00.  This may be a holiday, but it is the early bird that catches the worm after all…..

Fitted out with the obligatory wellingtons and leech socks that are essential rainforest/jungle survival gear, we head towards the oxbow lake.   En route, we see monkeys and hornbills and monitor lizards.  A display of vibrant and varied wildlife.   Then when we disembark, it’s boots on, spray on, socks tied tight we walk through the rainforest and try and avoid the leeches.

I wouldn’t recommend this trip to anyone who’s in the least bit scared of “creepy-crawlies”.  I’m not too bothered, but leeches are another matter!  If anyone’s ever seen the movie “The African Queen”, you’ll know they get on everyone and try to get everywhere.   We have been taught how to flick them off or roll them in our fingers, so they are not that much of a problem.  More annoying is the fact that there is mud everywhere as well as millipedes, spiders and lots of mosquitoes. It’s all very David Attenborough really.

Then, to cap it all, we actually do stumble on a BBC film crew with Stephen Bagshaw. They are filming for a series due out this  year called “Deadly 90”. He is going bare foot through the rainforest to catch some leeches on his feet as his dare today. We catch another glimpse of him shinning up a tree in pursuit of a snake but he misses it.  On the way back we go one better and catch a small snake in the water.

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