The Amazon Basin

Imagine floating down a tributary of the Amazon on a raft! To begin with, it is still dark and the surrounding space is entirely occupied by the sound of insects and frogs. First light brings a moment of calm before the murmur of the howler monkeys increases in volume. The last owls and nighthawks mark the end of the night and the song of the ant-eating birds heralds daybreak. Macaws, hoatzins, smooth-billed anis, arboreal kingfishers, motmots, red-throated caracaras, antpittas, toucans, pihas and more besides. The list of bird species that contribute to the concert in the forest sanctuary is long. The temperature rises and the trilling of the cicada rises to a deafening pitch. A butterfly passes too close to the surface of the water and a fish gulps it down. The trunk of a dead tree obstructs the stream and we hear the sound of trickling water. At midday, the silence is almost complete, only broken by the plaintive call of a plumbeous pigeon. Then as the sun drops towards the horizon, the forest reawakens before night once more returns.