Today Gamboa had its first serious rain in months! It’s been an unusually long, hot dry season this year, apparently one of the most intense in the past century. In some ways, the dry season is terrific: it’s not that humid, and the roads are much more passable when they’re dry, making conditions safer for most humans. However, it gets REALLY hot without rain, and the plants and animals seem a little wilted.
It was wonderful to feel the fall of a real, prolonged rain today! The skies opened up, the temperature dropped, and the air was flooded with the smell of petrichor. The ground is greedily soaking up each drop of water, and I expect that the local fauna will be especially envigorated. Whenever we get even a mild drizzle during a dry spell, you can notice some increase in animal activity – extra squawking from the birds, a livelier spring in the agoutis’ step.
The storms are bound to get longer and more dramatic, and someday soon I’ll probably get sick of the resulting humidity, but for now, Gamboa is very grateful for the rain. – Kitty