About the middle of August those winds from the East begin to blow. The river is still very deep and full. Much of the jungle covered river flood plain is still under water, flora and fauna still march to the beat of the rainy season but change is in the air. The first thing you notice is that refreshing breeze. You notice it because all through most of rainy season it’s not often you feel a breeze of any kind.
So when around the middle of August the wind kicks in every morning and blows for several hours a day you know the transition from rainy season to dry season has begun. Months will go by before the look and feel of dry season takes over the jungle but the rain forrest which doesn’t need a calendar knows change is coming.
The fish that have been feasting back in the flooded jungle know it’s time to be getting out to the river before they get stranded as the waters recede back into their channels. Every year some fish try to make a good thing last too long and end up as buzzard bait when the ponds they are crowded into dry up completely.
Already by the end of August the larger river boats follow the basic dry season channel as they make their way up stream. Smaller craft still follow the high water channel. From now on until December when the river level is totally settled into the dry season mode the river boat captains and pilots will be asking themselves; should I or shouldn’t I? This is because along some stretches of any given river by, following the high water channel instead of the low water channel you can save you hours of travel time. If however you commit your boat to the deep water channel and you have miscalculated the water’s depth you may have to backtrack and lose many hours of travel time or worse yet get stuck or possible hit a rock and loose you entire rig. Captains and pilots have to be thinking ahead every minute as they steer their cargos up the river but the really tricky part comes as they navigate with the current heading downstream. One slight miscalculation and your boat will smash into the river bank or crash onto a rock with devastating results. As he heads downstream with the current into rapids or sharp turns the pilot must know where each rock is located and which way he’s going to steer his rig long before he gets there and sometimes before he can actually see the rocks or the bend up ahead
For example let’s say you are piloting your rig moving with the current downstream and you know you are coming up on a dangerous stretch of river with rocks some of which are visible, others are just under the surface, and plenty of others which may or may not be deep enough for you to pass safely over. To follow the deep water channel through this maze of rock and small islands will save you a lot of travel time but you have to be absolutely sure the channel is deep enough because you won’t have the opportunity to turn around before the current smashes your rig onto the rocks. If you’ve been running the river for any length of time you’ll make the decision to be safe and follow the dry season channel. The risk of losing the boats, the cargo and even possibly the lives of your passengers isn’t worth the time you may save.
Last year we were in Memphis at the time Dale was getting his donor liver
We had opportunity to visit Mud Island River Park and from there watch the ( compared to our rigs on the jungle rivers) gargantuan barges traveling up and down the Mississippi. It was fun to be an “armchair pilot” and guess about where the real onboard pilot would start his turn to steer his rig safely under the bridges and around the bends. On a related note I noticed on my news source that just a little over a year later the Mississippi is extremely low which is very detrimental to shipping. I can easily believe it having experienced the same river conditions albeit it with boats much smaller out there in the jungle.
We’ve come full circle in our consideration of the months of the year. It’s been fascinating to revisit in my mind the happenings, the experiences, the jungle, the river, the weather, the people and the feelings that made life in the rain forrest what it was over the course of an entire year. I’ve also come to realize in a deeper way how that life in the jungle so far away will always be the defining ingredient in the the lives of all those of us who grew up in and lived most of our lives in that very special and unique blend of diverse cultures that on the one hand are so different and yet at the same time so alike in their expression of basic humanity and human need.
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