Iquitos Hotels
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Rio Amazona
Entry 13 of 16 | show all | print this entry |
Once again it's been too long since I last wrote but in my defense its being a period of intense traveling during which time I haven't had a chance to gather my thoughts in any type of cohesive manner. Well I have now found a moment so I am going to take this opportunity to share a small part of South America with you all; at the behest of some people I am sadly going to leave behind all those wonderful months in Asia and across Australia/NZ to give you a more recent entry. I truly hope I someday get the chance to return to all those amazing experiences and people I have been so lucky to encounter through an exciting, emotional, enlightening and often hilarious journey.
Well, where I am now? I have just arrived back from the most exhilarating trip one could wish for; I have traveled with my Uncle up through one of the great unspoilt regions of the Americas to visit Salto Angel in Canaima National Park, Venezuela. It not only contains the worlds greatest waterfall but it is a place of breathtaking beauty, situated deep inside tropical rainforest its surrounded by the fortresses of the Auyan mountains called `Tepuy` or Tabletop mountains. These are huge cubicle shaped mountains with dramatic sheer drops which give rise to remarkable scenery and some of the worlds most dramatic waterfalls. Canaima is a place where you can walk behind thunderous waterfalls and experience the unbridled fury of nature which leaves you absolutely transfixed and adrenalized. Ah the mere thought of it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end! Alas I'll not talk about this trip as it is too fresh in my mind and I have not had the time to digest the entire splendor or experience of it all.
What I`m going to write about is a journey very close to my heart, the fulfillment of a lifelong ambition, a journey that will remain in my mind forever - a journey up the Rio Amazona.
I came to Peru for 3 reasons, the first and foremost was to visit an extraordinary man whom I have admired and respected for many years. He's being a true role model and inspiration to me and to get the opportunity to glimpse at the selfless live he leads has being very emotive and poignant. My Uncle Gene came to Peru over 42 years ago and for the last 30 years of these he has spent in a deprived region of Lima called Villa El Salvador, he's dedicated his life to the growth and development of these often overlooked and forgotten people, the fruition of this community's work has been the establishment of an autonomous and thriving district. Many problems still exist but they continually work together to combat these, it was a humbling experience to share time with these people and an honour to spend time with my Uncle in a place where he is dearly loved and respected. I have written an entry about my time here but it is in a very different light than any previous ones, if anyone is genuinely interested in reading it just give me a mail and I'll send it on to you.
Yeah, of course, my other two reasons, the second was to gaze across the great citadel of the Incas, Machu Picchu - let me tell you I have a thing or two I'd like to say about that ;o) and finally to achieve one of my great ambitions, to trek the Amazon Rainforest, this meant for me destination Iquitos, the worlds largest city with no road access. Situated in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon it's the launch pad for most jungle excursions and its reached by either a 8 day boat trip or a two and a half hour plane trip from Lima, I choose the plane :o) Now the funny thing is I left not from Lima but from a place called Puno on the Bolivian border famous for the floating Uros Islands and the worlds highest navigable lake (Jaysus, this continent seemed to have just about the tallest or biggest of everything). Well this city is at an attitude of about 4000m or 13000 ft, in other words it's f**king freezing at night time and early morning, so I left this place wearing thermal everything, about 4 layers and a woollen hat, as you can imagine when I stepped out of the plane in Iquitos I nearly fainted, not from the excitement of arriving but from the inferno that meet me. I done a Clarke Kent and was back in the game ready for the big adventure! I'd love to tell you about Iquitos but not this time suffice to say it's a real frontier town with a sassy atmosphere. My first priority was to book myself on a trip ASAP - I was leaving in 2 days and couldn't wait.
The morning arrived and I awoke at 6:00 a.m. barely able to contain my excitement, we were leaving in 2 hours for the docks, it's about the first time ever in my life (I kid you not) that I arrived an hour before I was suppose to. We had a 3 and a half hours and 140km in front of us in a speedboat, when I say speedboat I mean rickety 6 person row boat with speed engine attached, a real good job ........
You know I could write a thousand words about how I felt during that trip ..... but I wont .... In brief, it was the culmination of many expectations, it was a moment in which the realization surpassed the imagination, it was like walking inside your dream. You see for me (as native as it sounds now) the Amazon has always epitomized South America, I have long daydreamed what it would be like to cruise down the Amazon, what it would be like to walk amongst the greatest natural hertiage of the world and to do thank is simply indescribable . So to be riding down the Rio Amazona in where (for me) quintessentially was my South America, my daydream, felt like I'd reached the heart of the continent, the middle of somewhere extremely special.
Anyway enough, at about midday we reached camp, I was greeted by the two men that were to be my companions over the next 4 days, I knew straight away I was in good hands, both were strong, had open faces and were quick to smile but had a real mischievous glint in their eye. First was Enrique (he spoke fluent English), I got the usual introduction and then 'Your name?', 'Hughie' - now Peruvians don't use H and therefore cant pronounce it - 'Yughie?' 'No Hughie', 'Okay Ughie, this is Giro, he's the jungle guide'. 'Well Cughie' .... Okay enough of this sh*t, I was starting to feel like one of the three nephews of Donald Duck ..... 'eh, Hugo (pronounced Ugo) en español' 'Ah Ugo, bienvenida!'
I threw my bags down and went straight for dinner, first trip was an expedition into the rainforest, Jaysus man I couldn't wait, the dinner was gone in about 2 seconds. So off we go, I was walking on air wondering through this paradise! Giro was stopping to show too me and explain all the various medicinal plants, the different flora and fauna, I was like a sponge soaking it all in. Then we came to a marching line of red ants, going along in that precise and informed way only ants know how. Giro approached cautiously and preceded to explain how a bite from one of these can lead (especially in non native people) a fever within 10 minutes, nasty little buggers, off we head. Now to the advice of Enrique I had worn a long sleeve T-shirt over my ordinary one and taken a bath in mosquito repellent but I was still mosquito feed getting bitten in every exposed part. WHACK! Got one on my neck, taken the victim down to look at him and gloat, sh×t I was horrified to see a red ant, one of THE red ants! Holy God I´d only 10 minutes left, should I tell the guys? No, don't be a woos he was probably only joking, haha, funny guy .......
1 minute later: I'm starting to feel really hot
3 minutes later: man I'm so thirsty, need a drink, throats starting to go into anaphylactic shock
5 minutes later: Ah Jaysus my eyes are starting to sting, blurred vision, f**k I hope these guys have the antidote
7 minutes later: I stumble over a log ...... I AM LOSING MY GODDAM COORDINATION
10 minutes later: I'm done in I think ..... I hear an distance echo ...... it must be my maker calling .... 'WHAT?'.
And then like the words of a Shaman I was brought back from the abyss 'It's a poisonous frog Ugo', 'What!?!', this is what I had came so far to see, you see I think frogs are fascinating creatures (I am just about enthralled by all animals, insects and birds but frogs are truly special, where do I start!!). Yep, I was saved by a frog! So I wiped the sweat come mosquito repellent out of my eyes, took off the long sleeve T-shirt and ran up towards the most amazing yellow, red and black frog you'd ever seen!
You see this is where I think I have been given a tremendous gift, I have an extraordinary low threshold where I can become excited or fascinated by the most simple of things. Now I suppose this is subjective to ones predisposition at a time or current circumstance but for me inspiration, captivation of interest or awe is not the sole property of what is considered truly 'magnificent' or 'great'. At the risk of sounding like a prick I can be mesmerized by a butterfly floating by, the changing color of the sky, the spontaneous laugh of a person or the simple meeting of a friend. For me, the disparity doesn't exist in what we perceive but in how we perceive it.
Anyway, you wouldn't believe it, we found big frogs, little frogs, green ones, red ones man I was like a dog with two mickeys, it could not get any better. Then we bumped into one of the local villagers, now I was in the process (how sad is this) of getting a photo of one huge frog in one hand and one tiny one in the other when this guy arrives. He starts talking to Giro and next minute we are off the track and groping around with machetes in God knows where, then he stops and points ..... Oh my God! ..... it was a Bullfrog, a frickin' Bullfrog, it was huge. LOL!! the photo must be hilarious (I lost my digital don't even go there) 'cos there is two stern faced machete wielding Indians kneeling down beside this bullfrog waving Irish lunatic that looks like he's just won the lottery. I tell you, this guy didn't realize it but at that precise time that was the next best thing to letting me give George Bush a kick in the balls.
I was floating on cloud nine, I got to see some of the most beautiful butterflies you could imagine, countless other amazing stuff, things that for long had captivated my imagination where now within arms reach. We were on our way home and then it happened, you see, I have one thing I have a fear of, and that comes in the shape of a 6 legged, 8 eyed creature called Araneide commonly known as the spider. like most rational fears mine is rooted in a negative experience, as a child I was stung/bitten by a spider and that has conspired to leave me with a mistrust of all things spiders. Since then I have kept a fair distance from them, now in saying that, small ones I can handle, it's the buggers who can wink at you that make me want to run and get the brush to beat the living daylights out of them. Well, there we are in the middle of the jungle when Giro stops and with a large stick pulls a black tarantula out of a banana plant. These goddamn things are a quarter pound in weight and a leg span of nearly 6" in other words the personification of my worse fears. What did this crazy Indian do next but precede to let this huge black hairy thing climb onto his hand from where he starting pointed in towards me, get the hell out of here!!!!! But i notice he never moved fast and simply let it sit there. The spider then jumps off his hand and sits on the ground ..... good spider ... just you stay over there. Next Giro says 'Ugo you go' (the pun on the name would have been funny at any other time) then, not even thinking (I tell you it must have been the residue of the ant bite) I bent down. I had watched how Giro had gently and respectfully handled the spider, never moving fast so as to scare or arouse it, so I placed one hand down in front of it, it never moved. I waited for what seemed like ages and still it didn't move, so with my free hand I gently touched the rear legs of the spider and ever so softly it climbed onto my hand. And there I was, face to face with what for me had been so long the epitome of my worse fear and all I could do was laugh, I rose to my feet and stared in wonder at this beautiful looking creature, I was memorized, then just to really test me it done what would have been for me the ultimate nightmare, it began to climb up my arm and towards my face, I simply couldn't look away I was captivated, and then it stopped, right at my shoulder and just sat there. I don't know how long it was but at some stage Giro lifted it off and said nonchalantly 'Lets go!'. It was then many things hit me (not physically thank God), it was but a simple spider to Giro, he understood how to handle and respect this creature, not fear it. Fear is a very intense emotion that often leads to a misunderstanding of its point of focus, it can cause undue worry, unnecessary stress and lead us to act in irrational, violent or uncharacteristic behavior. From such a simple experience I took away the lesson that fear is not too understand, to have prejudiced opinions or to be ignorance of behaviour, if it is to be overcome we should first respect and understand it. Wow! I'm gone away on another one, sorry ..............
The bottom line is my first trip was one that was exhilarating, intoxicating and so so enjoyable; we arrived back about 3 or 4 hours later to a late supper but we still had one more night excursion before the end of the day - cayman hunting. At supper I asked Giro how we were going to catch the cayman, and with a mischievous smile he demonstrated how we were going to catch these guys and laughed '¡Con manos por supuesto!' ......... 'With our hands of course!'.
Latest Comments (4)
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Re: Made me laugh (reply)
Oct 27, 2007 12:56 EST by hughie
Thank you amigos, I am very glad you enjoyed it - it is a small piece of paradise out there - I'm planning to head back next year at some stage - I'll definitely drop pass to see you guys :-)
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In reply to:
Hello Ugo, very good story. I chuckled several times. Glad you had a great experience in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru
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Made me laugh (reply)
Oct 24, 2007 17:53 EST by dawnontheamazon
Hello Ugo, very good story. I chuckled several times. Glad you had a great experience in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru
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Fantastic read (reply)
Aug 4, 2005 06:33 EST by ronoeldo
Hugh,
yet again you surprise me with your fine use of words - definitely a side to you I have never met before... you are Hugh Kirk aren't you? ;)
Are you sure you kept your eyes open the whole time when you were with the spider? Cause Im pretty sure they have 8 legs.. maybe thats why your one moved so slow.. it had lost a couple 'during the war' :P
Cant wait to hear the sto... show all
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Hello fellow traveller! (reply)
Jul 29, 2005 22:30 EST by ccandcd
Hi Hugh, how goes it my friend, well by the sounds of your travelog you're having a blast! oh man, i laughed my leg off about the spider when you said: 'never moving fast so as to scare or arouse it' - i just had a picture of the spider humping your arm :)
I know why you like frogs too, it's licking them and getting high isnt it :) were any of them hallucinogenic? i suppose you were wired... show all
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