Since time seems to fly I want to speak to the month of September before it goes the way of history for this year. September is that month when the jungle dweller begins to notice definite signs of a change of seasons. The dry season winds will have started to blow in late August and will continue off and on through early January. The banks of the rivers and streams will begin to appear as the flood waters recede. The surfaces of the rivers become like books to be read by the passing mariners. An experienced river man can tell exactly where the sand bars will appear and where the rocks are, by the ripples on the surface. The Mata Mata turtles will lay their eggs on the banks even though the sand bars are for the most part still under water. Fierce lightening and thunder storms will become an almost daily spectacle, until the dry season gets closer.
Rainy season in the jungle is kind of like winter in the far Northern latitudes. It’s necessary for the cycle of life but you’re glad when it’s over. The rains do make the jungle dwellers gardens grow and some jungle fruits, berries and nuts mature only in the rainy season. The rivers themselves seem to anticipate the rising waters to cleanse the sand bars and rocks in preparation for the next dry season. Fish swim back into the flooded jungle where they find an abundant food supply. The air is filled with the sweet scent of the beautiful flowers that can be found only in the rainy season.
But the downside of the rainy season is that the hunting and fishing isn’t as good as in the dry season. And the day after dreary day of rain, rain and more rain wear on the jungle dweller. So by September when the tell tale signs of the approaching period of much less rain approaches, the excitement starts to build. The jungle animals are no longer isolated on small islands of dry land on the vast river flood plains. Even now with the real dry season still months away the jungle peoples are helped by the fact that the fish are back in the rivers again and therefore more concentrated and easier to catch. Some of the jungle is still flooded especially on the lower reaches of the big rivers but bigger animals such as the tapir are more likely to come out to the now exposed river banks to eat the mineral enriched clay their bodies crave. This fact too helps the jungle hunter because he can more easily find game to take home to his village. A tapir will go a longs way toward feeding many hungry villagers.
Dry season is still several months away but everybody can feel it coming! Such is the month of September in the jungle. Look for October in October.
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