It is Saturday 26th April. It is my final week in the jungle. We don’t usually work on Saturdays, but some volunteers are working with the local community and assisting with a reforestation project today. I, however, have opted to stick with my cats. Val, Lottie and I head over to Gaia at 7am and get her on the ropes very quickly. With Aeddie only recently gone, Gaia is still behaving somewhat out of character and finds herself distracted easily. She eventually calms down and we continue our stroll to her favourite spot – the river. Having only endured a modest amount of rainfall over the weekend, by Amazonian standards, we are surprised to discover the river in flood. There must be a blockage downstream. The walking trail by the river features many low hanging branches. With the water being that much higher, it is unclear that we will even be able to pass through. Instead, we invent a new route, cutting out this section, carefully holding Gaia’s ropes above any branches or vines that they could get caught on. We make it across and she is dismayed to discover that we have cut out her favourite little section of jungle. Flustered, she takes a moment to rest before cracking on. We then return to the enclosure and Lottie unhooks the rope from Gaia’s collar. This is a struggle the first time she attempts it, with Gaia growing a little impatient as she waits, but Lottie knows that she will be doing this without me in a week, so is determined to succeed. Thankfully, she does.

We walk back to camp and I use the spare hour before lunch to sit in the Fumador with Cleo (still resting her very painful foot from her failed piggy back attempt with Matt at the Laguna). Cleo first came here seven years ago. It turns out that one of her first animals was Biton, the howler monkey, a painting of whom still resides on my wall. He’s gone now. As are Lucho and Luis, the two lads I used to work with. Cleo worked with them at one point too. It is sad that they’re no longer around. Lucho is one of best animals I have ever met. He would dart straight out of the enclosure the moment I opened the doors and him and Sabrina would follow me around from the trees as I walked along with Luis on my shoulder, softly whining in my ear and licking the sweat off my neck. I’d then climb a big tree halfway along the trail and we’d all rest. Luis would sleep on my legs and Lucho would come along and sit on top of him. Sabrina would choose a branch to perch on in the distance, safely close by, but distant enough to maintain a sense of independence.

Lunch is quiet today. Everyone is still at the reforestation project. We eat up and then I head into the jungle over to Kusiy. Luca messages ten minutes after I have left saying that they have finished now and that she will be joining me shortly. Had they arrived a little earlier, I may not have found myself carrying all of Kusiy’s food and water by myself. Luca meets me at Kusiy’s kitchen and we do the last little walk together. Kusiy walks a slow lap with us and Luca detects a slight limp in our feline friend. He then hops onto his platform before I get the chance to check it out and spends the next couple of hours there. As always, Luca and I use the time to work on enrichment and clear the fire trail. Kusiy then jumps down again for a final evening stroll and the limp becomes very obvious. He refuses to put weight on his front right paw. We message the camp and Crystal and Carla the vet head on over to see what they can do. Luca and I pass them in the swamp and wish them well on their way.

It is Sunday 27th April. This is going to be a long week I reckon. Matt and I share the morning task of ‘Animal Kitchen’, which I think sounds like a children’s TV show. Despite arriving a month before him, Matt has to show me the ropes, as I have somehow managed to evade this task until now. It just involves a lot of cleaning. We then head over to the road to wave off Alex and Carla as they set off to Santa Cruz, wrapping up their time in the park. For Alex, it has been four months and for Carla, it has been six. A decent chunk of each of their lives, but still nothing on Cleo – today’s birthday girl. With Cleo still unable to stand (happy birthday her), Georgia takes the reigns with our morning annuncios for the first time and does a smashing job. Meanwhile, with my impending exit, I decide to finish up my personal jam stash and consume a very calorific few slices of French toast.

Lottie and I set off to see Gaia. With the water levels having risen yesterday, we start by checking out her trails.  Overnight, the river has risen an additional foot, drowning out even more of Gaia’s walking route. We each grab a machete and clear her a new detour that avoids the flooded areas, whilst still including a spot for her to have a sit down and chill by the river. We then return to the enclosure and enjoy some time together before heading back to camp. Staff are missing today and Georgia is left making juice for the volunteers – way beyond her role as park admin. Lunch is served a little late and I face an additional delay as I serve on an injured Cleo.

It is a grossly sweaty one today. Luca and I head over to see Kusiy and are surprised to find him able and willing to complete four laps, despite his dodgy paw. Nevertheless, we deliver his medication as per the vet’s instructions. As we potter about his enclosure, we are disturbed by the rustling above us in the trees, as several monkeys start exploring his home. I sincerely hope that they have the sense to vacate before the jaguar returns for his supper.

As we return to camp, the heavens open and I find myself stood in my underwear taking a pre-soak and rinse as I wait for a shower to become available. This rain will continue through the night, with us waking up on Monday to an even worse ghastly downpour. Unwilling to get wet, I get changed inside the dorm and hold my hands out into nature’s shower to wash them with soap, ahead of putting my contact lenses in. Ready to tackle the day, I then race for the Comedor for breakfast. As I am eating my porridge, Lottie arrives, more disheartened than I am. At least I stayed dry in the night. There was a leak in her roof and her bed got wet. One has to love the Amazon.

The rain begins to ease as Val, Lottie and I journey over to see Gaia. Today is a walking day. Once again, Lottie gets her on the ropes and we begin our stroll. The jungle path is wet and deep with water today. Gaia tip toes around the puddles where she can and is once again perturbed by her new route, with her usual trail being even deeper underwater than before. We approach the enclosure and the rain finally begins to ease.

Mondays are usually chicken days (for the humans), with something significantly less nutritionally complete for the veggies, such as myself. Today, with the chicken having failed to arrive, the cooks prepare a meal for everyone using some spare squashes. They nail it and deliver a win for the vegetarians. Lunch is disturbed by the sound of an almighty crash in the distance, however, with Nena and Crystal running over to discover that a tree has fallen on the other side of the road. Luckily, it is not near any cat enclosures.

With the sun now shining, Luca and I head over to Kusiy. We fancy making him some new enrichment today, but there is a shortage of vines in the pile that I had been adding to on my way back from seeing Gaia. I, therefore, stroll around in search of anything I can find nearby. I discover a good set of vines running parallel to a large tree and slice and pull them from the trunk. As I take an almighty yank, I am overwhelmed by a violent buzzing and find myself in an agonising pain under my chin. Realising instantly that I have probably disturbed the wrong bit of nature, I quickly drop everything and flee. I then collect myself (and everything I threw on the floor) and return to Luca. Having heard my shriek, she asks what happened and I explain that I have been stung by a jungle wasp. This is not a wasp that I have seen before. The body is more black than yellow and it is smaller in size. I feel pretty peaky so take a sit down. My chin aches, but my whole body feels a bit wobbly. I take a look at my torso to discover several red dots. I explain my concern to Luca, who feels that they don’t look like particularly bad wasp stings. I then feel it is appropriate to mention to her that I was not stung on my belly. A few minutes later, I check again and discover even more red dots. I then ask Luca if she will look at my back. I lift up my coat and there is a pause… “it’s bad”. It would appear that I am coming out in hives.

I message the group WhatsApp asking if I should return to camp. Cleo replies saying that I am better off sitting still and keeping my heart rate low in case I go anaphylactic (which would be a very dramatic response from my body to one wasp). I wait patiently as Luca gets on with the jobs inside Kusiy’s enclosure. The vets arrive and give me a strong antihistamine to swallow and then hand me a cream to rub onto the hives. I start with my chest and feel very grateful, as I get naked, that the mosquitos are largely absent today. I then request that my coworkers turn around and face Kusiy as I get my buttocks out and apply the last of the cream. These fine buns of steel, and my groin, are by far the worst affected parts of my body.

We walk back to camp, with the vets regularly turning and checking on me, to ensure that I am not getting any worse. They advise me that I should not shower for at least two hours after applying the cream. With little to do, and feeling a lot better, I decide to volunteer myself to Lottie, who is looking for someone to help her with the compost task for the first time. We grab an end of the bin each and I walk her along the trail, explaining that the job couldn’t be simpler. As I am finishing this sentence, we hear a grunt behind us and start getting chased by chanchos. With the gap between us and the little piggies closing, I advise that we should drop the bucket and make a run for it. Lottie and I watch from a safe distance as three chanchos start raiding the bin and dining on our leftovers. Not sure what to do, and with it already quite dark, and with my phone in my dorm charging, we decide to shout. Crystal and Raul, our favourite power couple, rush to our aid and provide moral support as we wait for the pigs to lose interest. When they are sure that the coast is clear, they invite us to join them back at the animal kitchen, and take the bin themselves, protecting us from potential peril. Cleo is certain that the chanchos would never do anything to harm us, but I don’t trust those little tikes.

With two hours having passed, I am finally able to shower by the light of my head torch. As I pull down my underwear, I am alarmed at the mountain of hives that have carpeted my entire groin. I sure hope that this cream will work its magic overnight. At least the rest of me looks better.