Amazon Jungle

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  Iquitos, Peru
Wednesday, November 5, 2008

We have returned from the Jungle.  It was an amazing trip!  We arrived early in the morning on Sat. to Iquitos.  Our excellent guide Gerson was there to pick us up at the airport when we arrived.  We also have a couple from New Zealand who are joining us.  After an hour long search of trying to find an ATM that worked (welcome to the jungle), we took an hour long car ride to the city of  Nauta and there we caught a small boat to the village where Gerson and his family live.  After settling in our cabana we meet Gersonīs family whom are very happy to have us there in their village.  We then had lunch and an hour later we had dinner!  They feed you alot here probably four times a day!  We then rested and went on a night expedition looking for caymans, the first of many cayman expeditions.  We had no idea what to expect but we were excited,  right away in the jungle we found a tarantula and a scorpion!  That was pretty much the first night.  By the way there are a million mosquito's that like to suck all the blood out of me!  Good thing we got those shots, pills and the mosquito net that David wanted!  The second day we started off with a healthy breakfast and then on to another expedition.  This time we were told to bring everything that we needed for 3 days, that we were going up a smaller river and would be camping there.  We saw amazing things on the boat ride which was about 2 hours.  Tons of kingfishers, toucan, many different species of birds and a group of monkeys.  After setting up camp, we rested while lunch was prepared for us by Gersonīs uncle and cousin.  After dark we went on another expedition to look for a giant bullfrog.  We found one right away!  Later that night another cayman expedition.  No dice, but collected some prehistoric fish out of the net for the guides breakfast.  We had fried eggs for our breakfast.  The next day we went into the jungle seeing many medicinal trees, plants, insects, and birds.  We came back rested and then went fishing for parhanas!  That was interesting and fun.  They made us cane poles and away we went.  The catching was good but small.  Dinner again, we eat alot!  Back out for another cayman hunt, no dice after many hours of looking!  All that we could see was their eyes.  By the way when cayman hunting, it is dark and the guide is in the front of the canoe and you have to be quiet.  You are not sure what you are in for, but soon find out that Gerson is going to catch one with his bare hands!  And what is scary to me since Iīm sitting right behind him is that I think that he plans on pulling it into the canoe?  After no luck we head back because it starts to rain and we are tired!  Also the others are falling asleep, it doesnīt help with the rocking of the boat and all the jungle noises.  We go to bed and wait for our next adventure.  It is raining really hard all night and still in the morning,  so we pack up and head back to the village.  On the way we see more wildlife, including monkeys 10 feet away and giant Lilly pads and sloths!  We make it back to the village and eat again, and then off we go to tour Gersonīs family village.  It is quite interesting and everyone is really nice and inviting.  We later think that we have a volleyball game planned with the local girls, but when we turn up for the game it does not involve the guys, only girls.  OH and it is a gambling game.  It will cost you 2 soles to play.  Big surprise, and they also have their own rules.  It was quick and fun, our team lost.:(  It would have been a little better if you actually knew the rules and were playing for fun instead of soles!  But a great time anyway!  Well,  no dice on the cayman expedition again, probably due to the rise in the water from the rain.  This morning we get up really early to take another boat ride up the river to see the gum tree and the rubber tree.  On our way back we stop to see a boa constrictor that someone Gersonīs village found trying to eat its chickens.  Great morning and now we are off to Iquitos!  But before we leave they find another tarantula, this time we decide to hold it!  Yes, we are crazy!  Temperature is in the 90īs and very hot and humid with bright sunshine!  Well we are back in Iquitos and are off to the beach tomorrow!  Photo to come soon. Till later. Adios.

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Angel drinking from a water vine	Angel holding a tarantula	David drinking from a water vine	David holding a boa constrictor
David holding a tarantula	Gerson with a giant bullfrog	Our camp in the amazon jungle

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