In the jungle
In the jungle
The flight to Iquitos left at 5:45 and arrived in Iquitos at 7:30. Our guide, Raul, met the flight and led us with our luggage on a short stroll to the bus for a 30 minute ride to the boat dock. The bus was 35 years old and had no windows. I was grateful for my goggle style sunglasses to keep the dust out of my eyes. The boat was named the “Amazon Queen”. We chose to sit on benches on the top deck for a better view and for the breeze. We cruised up the river for two hours and then transferred onto a smaller boat for another 25 minute ride. The small boat ride was fast and a bit rough.
We disembarked on a simple dock and then hiked carrying our small duffle bags for about 20 minutes along a grass and wooden path to the lodge site. The wooden part of the path consisted of circles of tree trunks. We got a brief orientation to the camp site – sleeping quarters were like camping dormitories (walls for visual privacy, but open tops so there were no private conversations). We had two single beds with strong, well-constructed mosquito netting suspended and well-tucked around the mattress edges. We had pillows, bottom sheets, top sheets, and oddly, a wool blanket. I have no idea why there was a blanket that close to the equator. There were two chairs and a small table holding a metal basin and a pitcher of filtered river water for washing hands. The showers were a 150 feet away – big shower rooms with a bench for your clothes, hooks for towels, and a platform with a single pipe and showerhead. The water was cold, filtered river water. You had to remember not to let any of it into your mouth. Latrines were 150 feet the other direction along covered dirt path with oil lamps along the edge for night time use. The latrines were clean; there were flies but no unpleasant odors.
Lunch was in a screened in dining room – beef/water buffalo stew, rice, beans, slaw, and bread. The stew was nicely seasoned and quite good. Purified water for drinking and tooth brushing was available in the dining room and near the sleeping quarters. There was a bar with cold drinks. They have a small generator for the kitchen and the cooler for the bar, and, sometimes for the ceiling fans. Lighting after dark was provided by kerosene lamps. It is really hard to read by kerosene lamplight.
After lunch we had a couple of hours in the heat of they day to rest or at least be inactive. We read and dozed a bit on the “hammock porch”. We were warned to not take any walks along the jungle paths unless we were being led by the guide. The jungle looks the same in all directions and getting lost would not be a pleasant experience.
We saw parrots – red one, blue ones, green ones, and yellow ones who hang around the campsite and eat the free bananas hung out for them. We also saw a large tapir and a family of small black monkeys. As soon as we got up in the morning we always applied 30 SPF sunscreen and 99%DEET. We carried additional sunscreen and insect repellant with us at all times.
After our siesta the group walked with our guide to a nearby village of native people. Very primitive. Grass skirts, bare chests, bare feet. They hunt for their meat and grow their vegetables. They sold locally made handicrafts and I bought a straw fan for 10 soles ($3). It was helpful in the heat but I had to abandon it later in the trip. We watched a blowgun demonstration and some of the group got to try their skills. Donald hit the target with the dart. We noticed that the natives retrieved every dart that was blown. They put poison on the tips when they hunt. It was a really warm afternoon.
We walked back to our campsite. I took a cold shower although I was challenged by a large red parrot that chose to wrap itself around the pipe just above the showerhead. It was not a fun experience but I did get clean. We talked with our fellow adventurers until dinner. The dinner was delicious roast chicken, rice, potatoes, cooked vegetables, watermelon and coffee.
We went to bed early and went to sleep quickly. We had two kerosene lanterns in our sleeping area. We turned them down to very low but we did leave them on all night.
I think it rained during the night.
Helen’s Journal
Monday, Oct 9, 2006