Biggest tarantula yet

Had an upset tummy this morning, which was really annoying and don’t feel 100%. Still went out into the field though as  I don’t want to miss out on anything. It was quite a hard day. We walked through the entire swamp from one side to the other. The peat was deepest in the middle. The Aguajales are generally dipped in the middle. Hence they are wetter than other forests. We then went back to the middle of the swamp and set up a 50m x 100m plot (half a hectare) the same size as the first plot. Due to species diversity being low and us looking at carbon, a full hectare is not needed for the plots we set up.  A few people passed us today. The route we took seemed to be a used path for villagers. People seemed to be hunting.  Although it is illegal to hunt monkeys, it was assumed that the guys walking past with massive bags may well have had monkeys in them. Hugo held my hand for the entire walk there and back today as the branches were hard to balance on. I seemed to pull him over a few times. I owe him many beers. On the way back we saw the biggest tarantula yet. Also saw a squirrel monkey. It was amazing. Parts of the walk were really fun and others were arduous. I really enjoy a challenge so it was all rewarding and fun.  At the last leg of the journey the villager who was showing us the way started panicking and running really fast. I was so confused and  I sort of froze on the spot. Hugo – my hero started running towards me and hit off all these wasps and pulled me to safety. There was a wasp nest where I was standing. I got away with no stings and Hugo got a fair few on his back. He is literally my knight in shining armor. I now owe him many more beers.