Notes

The capuchin moved toward Camilla. Cautiously at first, and then with greater zeal, he scooped up the fruit and nuts she threw. The little monkey eyed her suspiciously for a moment, and then lifted his head and let out a hooting sound. As Camilla watched, a group of fellow capuchins appeared from the trees to eat her snack. Her new friend soon forgot about her compass, and she snatched it back. So much for her break! It was time to move on. She detangled her boat and paddled along the river once more.
Just a few minutes after she returned to the boat, a flicker of motion caught the corner of Camilla's eye. She turned her head just in time to see the tip of a tail slither over the edge of the bank and into the water. It was an anaconda, one of the biggest snakes in the world. He zigged and zagged his way through the water. Camilla watched, heart pounding, as he made his way to the other riverbank and back out of sight.
Camilla blew out a breath. Anacondas don't usually attack humans, but seeing an animal that big was still scary. She dipped her oar back into the river and pushed forward. As her boat rounded a bend, Camilla found herself amidst a sea of water lilies. Victoria amazonica, she remembered. Giant water lilies. They can grow to be almost ten feet wide. Big enough for a person to lie down on top of them and laze the day away.
Camilla's boat rounded another bend, and she watched as the trees beside the water dropped away. A new smell struck Camilla's nose, charred earth and ash. There had been a wildfire in this part of the rainforest. Where once there had been trees, now there were only jagged trunks. The animals had all moved somewhere else, so it was eerily quiet.
Fire is a natural thing for all forests. It helps to clear out old life and awaken new. But this year, the fires were particularly hard on the Amazon. Camilla knew they would be talking about it when she reached camp. Many scientists were worried that if the fires burned too much of the Amazon, it would impact the whole world. Camilla took pictures, noting that seedlings were already starting to poke through the earth.
Finally, Camilla left the burned part of the forest behind. The green of the jungle returned. Again she heard the chatter of monkeys in the trees. But then the river branched again. Having learned her lesson, Camilla stopped to check her map. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes. Camilla froze, remembering the anaconda. Carefully, she used her paddle to lift a branch and peered into the underbrush.
A bright fuzzy nose poked through the leaves. It was a capybara, the largest rodent in the world. The friendly creature grunted happily at Camilla before sniffing the air and shuffling off in search of food. In the distance, Camilla heard the distinct sounds of munching. She smiled. Capybaras had always been one of her favorite animals. A capybara can eat up to eight pounds of grass in a day!
Camilla had to reach the camp by dark. Pushing off with her paddle, Camilla moved her boat back into the river. It wasn't long before she heard a flapping sound above her. She looked up just in time to see a yellow-bellied bird with a hooked beak overhead. Flipping through pictures in her mind, Camilla recognized a channel-billed toucan. It opened its beak and let out a bird call. Another toucan answered her from the trees beyond.
Camilla grabbed her binoculars and focused on the direction of the calls. There in the trees were five colorful toucans. They all appeared to be eating something off the tree branches. Camilla remembered reading that toucans can eat a lot of foods, but prefer fruit and insects. She imagined that these birds may have found some ants or termites to eat. The tree must be happy about that too, she thought. A perfect jungle friendship.
As dusk approached, Camilla noticed a change in the forest. The sounds she had heard all day started to fade. Instead of the whoops of howler monkeys and the chatter of birds, now she heard insects chirping in the brush. Her boat drifted closer to the shore and the chirping stopped as if the animals could sense her nearness. Camilla tried to remember what she knew about the insects of the Amazon. There were so many kinds!
There were blue morpho butterflies with their bright wings. Giant bullet ants and titan longhorn beetles. The assassin bug with its incredible hunting abilities. And the tarantula, one of the scariest-looking spiders. Even though she knew they weren't the most dangerous, Camilla shuttered. She was a scientist who loved living things, but spiders still gave her the creeps. Especially giant ones like the tarantula.
Just then, Camilla's boat floated through a spider's web. Camilla felt the silk against her face and cringed. She reminded herself that even though there were almost four thousand species of spiders living there, most of them weren't poisonous. And the most dangerous of those, the wandering spider, didn't build webs but wandered the rainforest floor, hunting for its prey. Camilla cleaned her face with her hand and tried not to think any more about it.
In the distance, a light shimmered on the water. Camilla's heart leaped at the sight. She was nearly there. And good thing, too, since the sun had disappeared behind the trees, and the light of the day was waning. She paddled faster, excited to reach the camp. Someone on the shore called out a greeting, and Camilla called back. As she approached, she saw scientists standing onshore, waving to her. She had arrived!
Camilla stepped out of her boat and into the sea of faces. After so much time alone, it was a little overwhelming at first, to hear so many voices and see so many people. The head of the camp was a Brazilian scientist named Doctor Santos. She clasped Camilla's hand and then walked her through the camp. There was a small fire with camp chairs around it. Tents were pitched in a clearing. Doctor Santos got Camilla a cup of soup.