Marshmallows, cake, glass frogs and vipers!

It's late at night and the sound of cicadas flood the towering jungle treetops. Deep in the Amazon rainforest sit five muddy satellite campers, all incredibly satisfied with marshmallows roasting over the fire and the superlative outcome of the night's stream walk.

The late night adventure took us on a three hour walk knee deep through the Cascada stream. The first sighting was of a glass frog (Cochranella sp.). Not seen regularly on the reserve, the little green frog held our attention for some time as we were fascinated by its transparent skin. Not long after we stumbled across another two glass frogs! This time we were given a glimpse of their mating ritual as we caught them in the act of procreation.

The final sighting to tickle our pickle was the spine chillingly venomous 'Dave' the Fer-De-Lance (Bothrops atrox) (there's a lot of them about right now!), who was relaxing streamside. Although giving the appearance of one relaxed snake, Dave suddenly reared up into the strike position (Crikey!). Luckily, camp manager, Chris, used his hypnotic eyes to calm the viper’s fury and bring out his real scaly beauty.

Once back at the camp site. The five of us celebrated Edwin’s 20^th birthday, gorging ourselves on Olly’s famous plantain cake (or pie... no one’s really sure). We call it a night and it is time to hit the 'luxurious' jungle hammocks. A perfect end to another successful day in the Yachana Reserve with GVI Amazon.

Kristie Callahan - Conservation Intern, April-October 2010

Marshmallows, cake, glass frogs and vipers!