Tahuayo Lodge Iquitos

... had paddled the canoe across to the other side of the lake and left it there – Didn’t catch any fish, but I caught a snake, about 2 foot long with black and white checks !! Raul said “never in my life do I see such a thing” – He’s Peruvian you know !! We then plodded on through “deepest, darkest jungle” back to the Tapira river where we did a slow paddle back in total darkness except for Rauls little miners ...

... back with enough sticks for us all to huck out 5 shots at the caiman. Sticks landed a foot behind, a foot to the left, a foot to the right, a foot in front, but the stoic caiman never budged an inch- just like the toad on the lake the night before. We must have had to hit in the head for it to move. So Gedrani went to got more sticks. 3 rounds later of tomahawking sticks at our target got us nowhere. You could hardly see the eyes amidst the floating ...

... full length pants, long sleeve shirts, hats, and knee-high rubber overshoes and with sweat soaking all the way through our clothes, we responded with a yes, we were a little thirsty. He cut a vine hanging from the tree and held it above his mouth. A few drops of vine water sap came out and dripped into his mouth. He tilted it back sideways and offered us some. We sampled what didn’t amount to much, but tasted like regular bland water. A little disappointing, but ...

... within spear stabbing range. He just aimed at the fish and threw it! The spear landed solidly into the water and we paddled after it. As he dislodged the spear from the water, pulled it out, a wolf fish was flapping at the end of it! Unbelievable! It seemed so ridiculous that he actually nailed that the we just laughed. He felt bad after that and gave Andy and I the spear a bunch of times-although our throws were much less interesting. Eric got the spear again, outright ...

... everywhere on the ground and the elevated floor is safer. Fantastic. <br> We unloaded our stuff at the lodge and our guide, suggested a hike. He was raised in a small village inside the jungle and grew up knowing first hand the ins and outs of the wild. At this point we had already met a few jungle folk and appreciated the local flavor to which their names where chosen - Achilles, Diesel, and Gedrani. Our guide came from a family with no less imagination ...

... they picking on me? Do I have some sort of look? It started to become a little disconcerting after a while. <br><br> Continuing my gastronomic tour has been pretty easy in Iquitos. There are a lot of local specalities that are tasty - however, there are also lots of enangered species making an appearance on restaurant menus - I've seen turtle in numerous forms in the market stalls and on menus in restaurants. I was so tempted to try some in a restaurant in Iquitos the ...

... boat ride to Pucallpa, and then another flight to Lima because the road between them is too dangerous for buses. <br><br>After sulking for a while, we went to Port Henry to look at the boat. Only took about 4 minutes to decide just to fly out. The boat looked a bit scabby, no windows in the cabins, too many hammocks in the common area, and they flushed into the river, then used the water to cook with. We´re just not that adventurous. <br><br ...

... by a red faced monkey who proceeded to introduce herself by grooming me. After a few minutes of this I returned the greeting. Gudren showed us the butterfly breeding area and explained their life process. Amazing! Each butterfly is dependent on one particular plant and vice versa. And there are 143 species of butterflies int his area alone! Here are a few more factoids about the Preserve that ...

... they dont eat the leaves but in the nest they create a kind of mold that produces a mushroom which they eat. We saw many different types of birds again includeing the jungle chicken which sounds very much like a chicken, wasp nests, monkeys, perkeri footprints, trarantulas, bugs and more. Thakfully the mossys stayed away when we walked around but when back at the camp the soon returned in the millions which slowly drove us made. We rested in our hammocks and away from the mossys ...

Using a reliable travel agent, a friend of my friends in Lima; really paid off on this trip. She put me in touch with Ricardo, a licensed jungle guide who runs a small tour company in Iquitos. I decided to go on a jungle excursion by myself, without any other tourists; a wise Ricardo turned out to be a reliable, knowledgeable guide, who spoke excellent English. He took care of the organization of my excursion, including a boat with a ...