What is it like inside a JungleBox?
The film below showcases the density of life inside our prototype build, achievable thanks to the unique innovations and technical expertise of Director and zoo builder Andrew Stephenson.
Exploring a JungleBox is unlike any experience currently on offer, with a sense of discovery far beyond any standard classroom, zoo or botanical exhibit.
You leave the central space and walk along a narrow path without line of sight to anything other than rainforest plants. It has rained recently and the plants are wet, raising the humidity. There is a mist across the ground, where the undersoil heating is turning the water in the soil into vapour.
The air is hot and humid, the smells rich with the aroma of tropical herbs. The plants are close enough that in sections they need to be parted so that you can pass through. Tropical birds flit through the foliage and fruit bats roost overhead. There are large toads on the ground, some butterflies flying around a stand of flowering plants. Leaf cutting ants walk along a branch overhead. You can hear tree frogs singing and water splashing before you see the waterfall beside a bridge over a stream. In this stream there are loaches and tetras darting about and overhead a large orb spider sits in its web.
The path changes to a natural forest floor and the plants are even more dense until, if you stop and look around you could be forgiven for thinking, momentarily, that you are in a real rainforest- the immersion is complete.
You push on and emerge back into the central space ready to share your discoveries. You sit at a horseshoe-shaped lab bench in the clearing, taking a closer look at your samples with the help of a light microscope.
Soon you are ready to explore a different part of the forest. Coffee and cocoa surround this clearing, as well as banana plants with large hands of bananas hanging down. Tropical hibiscus and other flowering plants attract pollinating insects and orange bushes bearing fruit can be seen among the foliage. Tropical herbs such as chadon beni, ginger and turmeric grow and can be harvested for tasting sessions and cooking. Discrete signage explains what to look out for.
Everywhere there are flowers in bloom and everywhere there is movement and life. This is not a butterfly house, it’s not a botanic garden. There is no precedent for what this is; it is entirely unique.
A JungleBox is a statement that the natural world is beautiful and needs to be preserved. It is vibrant and exciting, full of stunning life. As a space to spend an hour in, it is without equal: a natural wonder in your school. With every visit, you see something new- it is always an exploration.
