Throughout my month in the Amazon, the roar of the howler monkey became the defining sound. Every dawn and dusk, their calls shook through the jungle, carrying for kilometres through the dense rainforest. One morning, a troop began calling directly overhead, a sound so powerful that it felt more like a thunder than an animal.
Howler monkeys are the loudest land animals on Earth, with calls reaching 140 decibels comparable to the sound of a jet during take off from 30 meters away. Standing beneath the troop, I was at roughly the same distance. It took some getting used to, but before long their calls became one of the most iconic sounds of the Amazon.
This was taken when a curious howler descended from the canopy to investigate, offering a rare opportunity to come face to face with the voice behind the jungle's 5am alarm clock
