Bugs and Butterflies

Hello readers! Welcome back to another episode from Jenni in the Jungle. In this post, I’ll be chatting to you about one of my favourite things, or combination of things, to do when I’m let loose in a rainforest. Read onwards to discover just what gets me hyped up and excited, even in the scorching heat…

Touring with my camera, which I affectionately refer to as The Beast, is my absolute favourite thing to do. Why is it known as The Beast? Because it’s bloody heavy, that’s why! It’s great for toning the arms when it’s attached to your side 24/7. It’s also on the large size, especially when I’ve got my zoom lens on, and a microphone with its huge fluffy windshield!

The camera I now use most often, and the one that accompanied me on my journey around the South American continent, is a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. It was the latest Canon DSLR when I bought it at the end of 2018/early 2019, but as with the optical market, changes happen quickly. I chose this particular model, because I’m a Canon brand lover (not an ambassador though…yet), I had used the previous model at uni so was comfortable with the interface and capabilities, and because it was a great option for both stills and filming. My GoPro, my back-up b-roll camera, I bought specifically for Galapagos snorkelling and general high-octane madness. It’s a great action camera, but as I found out, it doesn’t perform well for either close ups or in the dark.

Let it be known, let it be shouted from the rooftops – that I like wildlife. You may have heard me mention this before, but I’m never happier than when I am out and about with my camera, in the midst of nature and with a host of wildlife. Growing up surrounded by and generally covered in countryside has instilled in me a love of the natural world, as did watching all the David Attenborough programmes I could get my paws on.

One of my favourite moments of the Amazon Fruit Festival 2020 was when I discovered that at the top of the driveway, right by the new swimming pool, there congregated a plethora of butterflies, licking up the salt from the rocks in their own little sunny paradise.

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The biggest, brightest and most beautiful butterflies are the most anxious and thus the hardest to get any footage off. These were big incandescent blue butterflies, obviously the most noticeable and enticing to predators, that took off as soon as you looked at them. I managed to get a few precious photos before they deemed me too threatening for their liking.

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There were smaller butterflies nicknamed the 89s, as they have that number patterned on their wings, and subdued brown and orange numbers among their more boldly patterned siblings.

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My favourite was Bonita the butterfly. A gorgeously patterned little madam who, enticed by my butterfly leggings, decided I was a flower and rode on my hand all the way back to the community centre, lapping up the sweat from my hand. Charming. It was a special moment and felt slightly tickly and very delicate. It’s crazy how such stunning, delicate creatures can be so attracted to disgusting things! Those who wish to attract butterflies need not bother with offerings of sweet nectar, the pungent aroma of a urine-based drink will work wonders! (Disclaimer, I did not do this.)

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I also discovered a chain of ants, going to and from a hidden nest. After quite some time spent squatting down in the mud and blazing sun, trying to follow individuals with my macro settings, I eventually gave up. It’s hard work! Kudos to the camera people who do this, but I’m pretty sure they set up rigs and sliders to do this! Keeping the camera still, within focus range, and the ant in frame is darnright near impossible when doing it free hand!

I found a few other interesting specimens around and about the place too. Luckily I was glued to my cameras, so managed to grab pictures of most butterflies and a lot of interesting bugs I found. I didn’t dare venture into the jungle by myself, since that’s a foolish and dangerous thing to do if you don’t know the lay of the land. I didn’t see any interesting mammals, sadly, as I was too preoccupied with the two-legged humanoid variety.

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Unfortunately I didn’t have nearly as much time as I would have liked to chase bugs and butterflies, let alone birds and species of a bigger variety. When all is said and done though, I look at those times spent rummaging around in the blazing equatorial sun as some of my favourite moments of my time in the Amazon. Even now it seems like a surreal experience, and one I hope to replicate in my career ahead.

In my next post, it’s high time I get going! Join me on my trip back to Gualaquiza, and from there on to Cuenca again.

Until next time!

From me to you,

Jenni

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