It is true that the Amazon Jungle is full of dangerous creatures including snakes, caimans, poison frogs, jaguars, spiders, and wasps. However, the real threat to our team on Project Peru 2 comes from things we can't even see, like tiny insects and micro-organisms (life forms that cannot be seen without a microscope). The warm, humid climate provides a great environment for all types of life forms- mostly beneficial to humans. This huge number of life forms, or biodiversity, is the primary reason for going to the jungle, but it also makes it important for travelers to protect themselves against harmful intruders like parasites and the mosquito.

As visitors to the flooded forest, we especially will be careful of parasites. Parasites are organisms that get a "free ride" from a "host." The parasite eventually hurts the host. For example, the strangler fig is a common parasite in the rainforest that grows on trees, eventually killing them. The parasites we need to be careful of are tiny microorganisms that would like to live in our intestinal tracks and feed on our food as we're digesting it. These organisms are tiny, but they reproduce fast and eventually would make us very sick. Parasitism occurs in habitats all over the world, in many forms. We'll keep our eyes open for good examples as we travel through the rainforest-hopefully they won't be us!

Parasites and infectious diseases also happen in the United States. Often, doctors in the US have a hard time identifying what makes people sick, especially when they have a cold or the flu. Have you ever been sick, but not sure why? What kind of things do you do to prevent getting sick?

Stay Healthy,
Patrick