The Wet Season Has Arrived!

Pitfalling today didn’t go quite according to plan. At 7:00 this morning, 5 of us set off from camp on a mission to find any frogs or lizards which had fallen into the buckets overnight. On the ridge and just 5 minutes into our journey, Black-mantled Tamarins (Sanguinus nigricollis), a type of monkey, were spotted jumping in the trees a little way off. This was exciting as they were the first monkeys I had seen at Yachana. We made our way out onto the road and along where the pitfalls had been set up.

We set about checking the four buckets of the first pitfall before moving a few hundred metres to the second. The first two proved unsuccessful and by the end of the second one a thunderstorm had begun.

The rain made the trail far more muddy and slippery causing us to slip and slide to the next three pitfalls. It sure became more adventurous as the path turned into a stream and hillsides became near impossible to clamber up. This was enhanced by the occasional flash of lightning and crackle of thunder. We legged it to the next two pitfalls but found no wee critters in either. By this stage we were completely drenched and my wellies were full of water making my toes squish together as I hurried along. I had slipped three times already and had got mud everywhere. At this point we decided to abandon the last pitfall and hurry back to camp. Just one of the things to deal with when pitfalling in the Amazon!

Lucy Dickie - GVI Amazon volunteer, Nov-Dec 2010

The Wet Season Has Arrived!