Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[brabzzz]

I have done a 4 day lodge based jungle trip in Cuyabeno, Ecuador...but we all know that´s not really doing the jungle.

A drunken plan we´ve hatched is getting the boat up to Iquitos, buying/renting a canoe or other self powered form of water transport and getting lost (not literally) in the little backwater tributaries and waterways around there. Guide-less.

We´re not after hardcore nature spotting (seen it) or ott interaction with locals, just a more raw and independent experice of the environment than you get with guides/agencies.

1) Anyone got any relevant experieces they´d care to share?
2) Is Iquitos a good place for this?

Any input welcome!

[mmbcross]

One of my scariest moments was getting lost in the jungle. I was staying in a lodge near Puerto Maldonado. I decided to take an evening walk. I consider I have a very good sense of direction, but as the evening was overcast, I soon lost my way. It took me over an hour to get back to the lodge. Fortunately my travelling companion missed me, and the lodge had a bull-horn and by calling my name, I was able to find my way back. It reminded me of the terrifying Peruvian movie "En la selva no hay estrellas", a scary film about a criminal who wanders days and days in the jungle eventually arriving half straved and mad back where he started.

I guess it won't be so bad if you keep to the rivers. At least there are only two directions you can take, upstream or downstream.

Let us know if your drunken plan maps out.