River Journey
Trip Start
Feb 06, 2007
1
65
332
Trip End
Jan 14, 2008
Tarapoto,
Peru
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
We woke to thick mist on the river, and a couple of hours later than expected. Navigation is tricky in fog. The remaining 10 or so 44 gallon drums were dropped off into a muddy patch a few kilometers short of Yurimaguas. At this drop-off several crates of illegally captured parrots were sneaked off too, for resale one or two at a time to passengers on the passing boats. Illegal hooch in the barrels now seems much more likely than boring old fuel.
Sadly we departed from the boat, only to be swamped by men trying to sell us a journey to Tarapoto. 'Tomorrow', we kept saying. If only we had known what we found out later ...
Our paint friend Daniel and Lonely Planet both recommended Hostal De Paz, which turned out comfortable and clean (25 soles). We set off to the market in search of breakfast, found eggs and powdered coffee, cheap but uninspiring
Pic 1
. This market had a cage of turtles, a baby monkey and an animal that had a pointed nose and long striped tail - an opossum ? We had seen a similar one dead on a road at Jaji in Venezuela. Pete saw monkey parts for sale, but thankfully Barb was looking the other way.A wander around town showed that there was not much to see, and it was very hot near the river. This was fixed with a beer. The next task was to find a bus to Tarapoto for tomorrow. The minibus stops marked on the old Peru Lonely Planet map are no longer there. There is now only 1 bus company that operates from Yurimaguas, Paredes Estrella. Their bus leaves at 4am tomorrow en route for Lima. Only on a few days in the week is there usually a 7am bus. Further up the road we found the minibuses. They have seats at 3am tomorrow, unless we go back to the hotel, grab our bags, and go Right Now. Our paint friend Daniel was going on this Right Now bus, and explained that today is May Day, a public holiday. The entire road to Tarapoto is open all day, no-one is digging holes, For the time being, on normal working days an essential chunk of the road is closed from 7am to 7pm for major roadworks. Alas, 3am tomorrow we leave. The only alternative (also going early, but not THAT early) is a car at 30 soles each. We would rather pay 13 soles, grumble, and rise early.
