Rainforest experience

Breath-taking, awesome, and entrancing are words that have a new depth of meaning for me (Fred) after todays walk thru the highs and lows of the rainforest. The exhilarating sights were provided by an intricate trail that crossed canyons and rose to the top of ridges facilitated by a network of bridges. The hanging bridges were suspension bridges that spanned as much as 75 meters over chasms as deep as 150 meters below our feet. When I say below our feet I mean that is where part of the view was. The floor of these swaying wonders were grates about 4 x 2 feet and articulated to rise and fall with the treading along their surface and the sway induced by footfall. I have never seen such wonders as I beheld today and there is no camera that could capture the true wonder of these sights. Always the canopy was above and alive with birds and howler monkeys, down at our level it was occasionally so dark we had to use flash. Layer upon layer was life in the forest. Every plant, alive or dead, was a structure upon which another plant-form flourished. The clarity of the interdependency came thru to me. So often I have read about it, so many times I have told my students of it but never has it been so real to me. I will never be able to relay this to others without feeling so inadequate.

With this I will end without having really scratched the surface...and I realize I can't even find the words. This picture of a small clearwing butterfly says it all...army ants march through the forest searching for food, and as they near insects of all sizes flee their angry bites. Birds follow the ants so they can dine on the fleeing insects, and the clearwing butterflies follow close behind to sip the nutrients from the bird droppings. What if a uncaring, uneducated human decides to kill the ants...look at how many others would perish...true interdependence!