Sunrise At Bedtime

The Pantanal, Brazil.

For the past 4 months, I've been working the night-shift on a new BBC natural history series called "The Dark". The project took us all over South & Central America, in search of never-before-filmed nocturnal animal behaviour. We explored rainforests, climbed deep into caves, waded through swamps, endured blood-sucking insects and spent long, bleary-eyed nights camped out in totally darkness, waiting for the right moment to film.

We discovered that creatures of the night have a whole range of techniques to help them survive in their secret world. I also learned that as an animal species, we're pretty useless at operating in the dark. Often I would put something down only to misplace it seconds later. On one occasion, whilst walking  in complete darkness through the Costa Rican rainforest, I fell into a hole. Nothing was broken, but it was a real shock!

I took this photo after a long night looking for giant anteaters. Howler monkeys announced the arrival of a new day and the sounds of night were replaced by a wonderful dawn chorus. A sight for sore eyes, and ears.

Click here to enjoy sounds of the Pantanal while you're on the move!

Click below to enjoy sounds of the Pantanal on your computer