The jungle rivers crest in June and maintain their high water levels through July but will begin to diminish in August. \u00a0August will follow July which begins the several months transition to dry season, just as March followed February which began the several months transition to where we are now, that is, rainy season.<\/p>\n
After an all night rain, a July jungle morning can be breathtakingly clear with the intense colors, of sky blue, jungle green and river brown, combining to make a sight you can never get enough of. \u00a0Get a good look because late morning will bring the clouds and more rain and it could be days before you’ll see another spectacular morning like this one. \u00a0If you, like most river people have a dugout with an outboard motor attached to the backboard, in your port, you will have left the comfort of your favorite hammock several times during the night to bail the dugout. \u00a0Or maybe you had removed the outboard and just let the dugout fill with rainwater.<\/p>\n
The lagoons are all full of water with no land visible anywhere. \u00a0Actually the lagoons are islands of water with face open to the sky in the midst of an ocean of flooded jungle hidden under the treetops. If you took time to slowly paddle a small dugout among the treetops skirting the edges of any lagoon your eye will be drawn to the beautiful flowers on the branches of these treetops. \u00a0For some reason God made those flowers with the sweetest \u00a0and most pleasant smell I’ve come across anywhere. \u00a0When I began thinking about writing a post for July, that incredibly sweet aroma is one of the very first things my mind went to. \u00a0It’s an experience unique to the rainy season. At no other time of the year do you come across those particular smells.<\/p>\n
In July, if you happen to be traveling downstream you can take the shortest route which is down the middle of the river and from corner to corner. \u00a0There are no sand bars to dodge. \u00a0If you are traveling upstream you will hug the bank on the inside of the river bends. \u00a0The current is usually less swift there which with a heavily loaded boat is to your advantage.<\/p>\n
In July the combination of the permanently soaked soil and the swift current undercutting the trees perched on the river’s banks conspire to topple many jungle giants into the water. \u00a0On one occasion there were seven of us traveling down stream in a very small boat. \u00a0The straightest route in this particular stretch of river took us very close to the right hand bank. \u00a0Suddenly without warning and directly in our path a monster of a tree fell into the river with a tremendous splash. \u00a0If that tree had waited a few seconds more to go over we would have been directly underneath, our boat would have been smashed and we all would likely have drowned. \u00a0As it was we were almost capsized by the waves generated when the giant hit the water.<\/p>\n
One unpleasant reality of rainy season are the clouds of bloodsucking gnats that hound you wherever you go outside your home. \u00a0The dry season’s worst plague tends to be the clouds of no- see- ums, where as \u00a0the rainy season tends to throw clouds of the regular gnats at any warm body. \u00a0Both drain your blood and both will about drive you crazy. \u00a0Here’s how bad these little pests can be. \u00a0Decades ago, everyone living along the rivers used porcelain covered plates and cups for eating and drinking. \u00a0Mostly the plates were of a light color. \u00a0I’ve seen folks apply a lather of the famous “blue soap” to both sides of one of these white plates and wave it back and forth around themselves and within seconds the plates will be black with the gnats trapped in the soap. \u00a0Yes clouds of gnats means, clouds of gnats. \u00a0Back to the blue soap for a moment, it’s the same blue soap that you can use to stop leaks on a fuel drum. \u00a0And speaking of fuel, \u00a0many times, officials would leave drums of fuel in our care as they traveled up or down the river so they’d have a supply for the next trip. \u00a0Sometimes the next group coming through would be totally unprepared for the onslaught of the little bloodsuckers. \u00a0As these guys transferred fuel from the drums to their outboard tanks I’ve seen them literally immerse their arms and hands in gasoline trying to get a little relief. Yes it’s that bad. \u00a0I’m guessing that it was largely because of these obnoxious \u00a0 little insects so few “outsiders” had settled along the river banks before the missionaries came. \u00a0In 1799 the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt travelled through this same area in the rainy season. \u00a0His comments on the insects, the flooded river banks, the Jaguars eating the expedition’s dog are very interesting.<\/p>\n
As you may have noted in the posts on the months of the year, the change of seasons follow a general pattern true to each month. \u00a0From year to year the changes that occur within any given month, relative to the month before and after it, can slide to either side. \u00a0Only once in a great while will you have the seasons totally backwards. \u00a0And even then the case will be more of an entire year without a dry season to speak of or an entire year without a wet season to speak of.<\/p>\n
So, to end; this is July and if the year is a normal one, from now on out the rains will begin to back off and the rivers will slowly begin dropping till the end of January when the dry season peaks out and the jungle starts gearing up for July once more. Personally I prefer the dry season for many reasons but the rainy season is necessary for the cycle of life for as long as the rain forrest shall endure and I’m thankful for it.<\/p>\n
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