A Wild Night in the Amazon: I Woke to a Shredded Tent and Terrifying Invaders

Paul Rosolie, a seasoned conservationist and Amazon explorer, has long been accustomed to the wild and unpredictable nature of the jungle. But his recent experience during a solo camping trip in the Peruvian Amazon left him grappling with one of his most harrowing encounters to date. In the early hours of a sleepless night, Rosolie’s tent was shredded by an invasion of giant leafcutter ants, leaving him trapped in a multi-species nightmare.

Rosolie, who has spent nearly 20 years exploring and advocating for the conservation of the Amazon rainforest, captured the chaos on camera and shared it with his 1.1 million Instagram followers. The footage, paired with a candid description of his ordeal, vividly recounts the spine-tingling details of a night that went from routine to nightmarish in a matter of hours.

“One of the worst episodes yet of why you think you want my job but definitely don’t,” Rosolie humorously captioned the video, in which he details the relentless attack by leafcutter ants. The conservationist explained that the ants, known for their leaf-harvesting habits, had set their sights on something unusual: his nylon tent.

At around 2 a.m., Rosolie was awoken by the unmistakable sound of his shelter being torn apart. “The walls have been breached,” he recalled, describing the feeling of helplessness as he lay inside the tent, surrounded by a “multi-species festival of insect life.”

Leafcutter ants, famous for carrying pieces of vegetation to underground fungus farms, had decided that night to substitute leaves with sections of Rosolie’s tent. As he watched in disbelief, they chewed through the fabric, carting off large chunks of material into the night. “There’s about 10 million leafcutter ants outside of this tent,” he lamented. “All they are doing is carving leaf-sized holes out of my tent and carrying away the nylon.”

The situation became even more surreal when one particularly determined ant bit Rosolie on the ear, as if attempting to carry it off as well. Despite his extensive experience with the challenges of jungle life, this episode pushed Rosolie to his limits. “It was like the battle of Helm’s Deep. I got no sleep,” he joked, referencing the famous siege scene from The Lord of the Rings.

The destruction of his tent led to a cascade of other issues. With gaping holes large enough to fit his fist through, Rosolie was left vulnerable to a host of Amazonian creatures. The footage shows a stream of mosquitos, centipedes, and even a dinner-plate-sized tarantula making their way into his already ruined shelter. One chilling moment shows the massive tarantula crawling mere inches from his head as he stares at it in disbelief.

“This is what camping in the wild is,” Rosolie said with a mixture of exhaustion and resignation. “Sometimes you put your tent in the wrong place and the leafcutter ants and the gods of the jungle decide it’s going to be the worst night ever.”

For Rosolie, nights like these underscore the raw, untamed nature of the Amazon, a region he has dedicated much of his life to protecting. As the founder of Junglekeepers, a conservation group that works to protect the Peruvian Amazon from threats such as illegal gold mining and deforestation, Rosolie has witnessed firsthand the delicate balance of life in one of the planet’s most biodiverse ecosystems.

His adventures and advocacy efforts have earned him widespread recognition, including appearances on the Joe Rogan Experience and the Lex Fridman Podcast. Rosolie has also written about his experiences in the book Mother of God, where he delves into his years spent exploring and fighting for the preservation of the rainforest.

Rosolie’s willingness to immerse himself in the Amazon’s dangers has led to numerous unforgettable experiences. In 2014, he made headlines when he participated in Discovery Channel’s controversial episode of Eaten Alive, where he allowed himself to be swallowed by a giant anaconda while wearing a specially designed protective suit. That stunt, which he described as nearly fatal, added to his growing list of extreme Amazonian encounters.

But while some may be drawn to the thrill of such exploits, Rosolie is quick to remind people of the very real dangers and discomforts that come with jungle life. “You think you want my job, but you don’t,” he quipped, reflecting on his ordeal with the leafcutter ants.

Despite the chaos of that wild night, Rosolie remains undeterred in his mission to protect the Amazon. His experience serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of the jungle and the importance of preserving its complex and often perilous ecosystems.