When my son Nik was in middle school, I helped him build a rainforest diorama for a science project. We fashioned exotic vine-draped trees out of dowels and clay and string and covered them with lots of hobby store moss. We stuck in plastic ferns and bromeliads. We shaped animals out of polymer clay. It seemed a little fanciful then, but now that I’ve seen the real thing, I think we got it spot on.
The only thing missing from that grade 7 project was the sound. In the daytime, the rainforest is all dripping water and the occasional troupe of monkeys, but at night the air is filled with the nocturnal cacophony of frogs, crickets, and other unseen creatures.
I know you all want to see the rainforest, so here are some pictures, but you’ll have to imagine the soundtrack. Sorry there are no animal photos, other than insects; the camera-shy fauna we saw included a gray fox, a coati, monkeys, toucans, bats, green vipers, tarantulas, and plenty of frogs.
Lorna of Arabia 