Amazonas-Iquitos Father and Son Edition

Trip Start Aug 20, 2007

Trip End Jul 04, 2008

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Flag of Peru Iquitos, Peru
Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Iquitos is in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. Being in the heart of the largest rainforest in the world one might expect massive trees, wild beasts, and painted indians with multiple piercings running about the place. One might think that, but the reality of the situation is that Iquitos is the largest city in the world that does not have a road connecting it the outside world. The only way here is by boat on the Amazon River or by plane. This has not stopped this jungle city to sprawl in a little metropolis in the middle of the massive Amazon. You can find all the comforts of home in this jungle city. Internet, satelite t.v., cell phones, night clubs, shopping mall, and even a little spot called "Gringo Alley".
I choose to fly in from Lima.to Iquitos. The flight was fine even with a smelly elderly women who had never been on plane before jabbing me out of my naps every time we flew through a cloud. She was very nervous about the clouds

Dad Checking Our Iquitos

. Being in the middle of a rainforrest it was fitting to exit the airport into a nice evening shower. I jumped into the first moto I saw with my backpack and my choosen surfboard in tow. Hobo Hideout I requested and off we went into the rainy night. I really enjoyed the moto ride. This city has the streets filled with the motos and motorcycles. Everyone draped in plastic to keep the rain off. Zipping through the streets we arrived to the Hideout.
The Hobo Hideout is owned by an Alaskan outdoorsman who has killed many beasts and draped them on the walls. Jaguar, bear (yes, a big ass bear skin), anacondas, turtle shells, a massive pirhana without its tail, even a human skull. Does that sound any alarms in your head? Whose head is it? Did he just find it? Did he hunt a backpacker for sport? Am I going to be killed and mounted on a wall as his trophy? Questions to keep me thinking as I try to sleep tonight in the hostel of death covered walls.
Byron Chalker, my dad, is coming tomorrow. I haven�t seen him since he came running up to me on my departure from LAX with my passport in his hand grinning. We are going to have some adventures indeed. We are going to be exploring the Amazon together for the next ten days. Birding, hiking, swimming, camping, maybe even some Indian village experiencing before he heads home, and I continue down the Amazon to the Atlantic coast.