Diary Extract - Marius

It’s 7.30pm, it’s dark outside, my stomach is full of beans and rice and my body feels tired from a long day, but my backpack is on my back, ready to go with my water and my torch in my hand and I’m ready for a new adventure – the night walk. After 25 minutes walking, some sliding on the mud, we enter the primary forest, even though it’s night time, it’s still hot work. It’s now time to walk slowly and see what we can see. Apart from my annoying wind up torch, everything is calm and exciting at the same time.

A Yellow-tongued Anole (Anolis nitens schypheus) sits motionless on a tree trunk, a Tailless Whip Scorpion (Amblypygid) lurks under a leaf, a Flycatcher sleeps, feathers puffed up, on a branch, it’s amazing what you can see if you just take the time and scour the night’s foliage. The group of intrepid volunteers are now on their way back to base camp and I catch a glimpse of two eyes in the night. I quickly shine my torch that way and wind it up to have more light. I see a little handsome green frog on a green leaf right in front of me. I immediately call the rest of the group over. After an epic capture, Jon says he’ll take the little green one back to camp for a closer look, to be sure to get the identification right. So the frog is put in a plastic pot and makes the last bit of the journey back to base with us. A welcome return to base for a cold shower before turning in – another early start tomorrow – who knows what the day will hold.

Diary Extract - Marius