The Amazon

  Iquitos, Peru
Monday, August 18, 2008

me at the Amazon

So around August 12 (I canīt remember the exact date right now as travelling like this, the dates are sort of fluid :), I headed north to Iquitos & the Amazon river.  Iquitos is a water-locked city (I think the biggest water-locked city in the world) that is only accessible by air or by boat via the Amazon & its many tributaries.  So in the afternoon I left the crisp mountains of Cusco (where I had briefly returned after Puno) and at about 9 pm I landed in the 90 degree heat of Iquitos.

I spent a quick night in the city & headed off the next morning to a Amazon Lodge for 4 days and 3 nights. 

river view

The lodge was not directly on the Amazon, but on a tributary river (of which there are many) called the Momo River.  From Iquitos we drove about 20 minutes to the river port & then took a boat about 1 hour to get to the lodge.

sunset over the river Momo at the lodge

I must admit that the lodge would appropriately be characterized as a river lodge -- not really a jungle lodge or a nature lodge.  What I mean by that distinction is that, I was sort of at a lodge/resort versus my other jungle experience near Puerto Maldonado.  For example, near PM, the lodge had no electricity and very modest accommodations and lots of animals around.  Well at this lodge, we had a pool, electricity, fans & TVs in our rooms (with um, direct TV - that is embarressingly not jungle-like), and really delicious buffet food.  Exactly as one would imagine the Amazon huh?!  Hee hee!  I had not expected it to be quite that nice, but there were no complaints when I arrived.

canoeing - & not posed!

So, our days were still filled with jungle-like adventures.  There were lots of nature walks in the jungle, which didnīt really produce that many animal sightings ---- my understanding is that since Iquitos is a larger, more developed city & surrounding area, you do need to get deeper into the jungle to see many animals ---- but obviously there was the amazing, lush vegetation of the jungle.  We did some canoeing, river boat rides & several visits to neighboring villages.  This was something I really enjoyed - the visits to the villages. 

I´m fierce with the blow darts

I have realized that I am much more intrigued by how people live in a place than by how the plants grow or how the animals roam.  All along the river there are small villages that are largely self-sustaining through farming, fishing and tourism.  Unfortunately the latter makes some of the visits very touristy -- you will see me doing the ītraditionalī village dance in some pictures & practicing my blow arrow gun elsewhere, but it was still interesting. My guide, and the villagers, definitely indicated that some of these things are done just for tourism, but it is all based on their traditions.  The local alcohol refinery where the family made sugarcane alcohol appeared to be based on the old & the new -- alcohol seems to be a constant in all cultures over time.

alcohol factory in neighboring village

 

Iquitos city

After my time at the jungle lodge, I went back to Iquitos for a couple days.  I really liked the city.  There was something really fun about the energy of all the motos -- there are not really cars, just lots of mopeds & mototaxis -- and something really lively about the culture.  Maybe the hot weather makes it that the people need to be out on the streets a lot, but there certainly seemed to be lots of activity around the city in the markets and in the square.  The river has a whole culture as well.  Obviously since it is the main transport route, there are collectivos (basically like buses but boats) running up and down the Amazon & its tributaries full of people, animals, whatever or whomever is in need of transport.  The river is used for bathing & playing, washing clothes & food.  It is really pretty fascinating.

Iquitos main square

One afternoon, I took a mototaxi to the port to take a collectivo to a local butterfly farm.  My moto driver offerred to be my īguideī (which is really common that people just offer to be your guide).  After some negotiation on price & plans, I decided this was a good idea to not get lost on the river.  It was a great chance to practice my spanish & ended up being quite fun.  When we returned to the port we grabbed a soda and a beer on the waterfront.  I couldnīt help envision Georgetown waterfront - ha!  No comparison really to the chaos of Amazon waterfront with people swimming & bathing, lots and lots of street food -- random grilled meat & homemade ice creams being sold everywhere, and lots of loud (really loud) cumbia music.  No comparison, but I do love my Georgetown waterfront! 

hmmm a dead plane at the airport