After breakfast we waited for the boat from Nalta to come pick us up. When the boat arrived they had brought 2 girls from Norway who were to spend the week at the lodge. They seemed pretty adventurous to be out here on their own. I was impressed. They were eager to go swimming in the river. They asked if the piranha would bother them, and I mentioned something about it depending upon what time of the month it was, but that was lost in translation.
We boarded the canoe/boat back to Nalta and retraced our steps back to Iquitos. On the way back to Iquitos we stopped to visit my guide’s parents craft shop where I bought some seed pod art. I could not find the name of the plant, but the pods grow to be the size of basketballs. Natives dry and boil them, then do various elaborate etchings on them.
In the corner of the shop was a sloth chillin’ near the ceiling
Probably not something you see in your local gallery back in the US.
For the 2 hour drive back to Iquitos the driver passed me some CD options. Below was the cover of the one I selected.
As I have often experienced in Latin America, the trip back to Iquitos consisted of stopping for 10+ people along the way. At one point we passed a pickup where 2 guys in the back were messing with the driver. These guys were feeding a 8 foot rainbow boa into the drivers lap. Ahhh roadtrip hijinx! If I had a dollar for every time someone in the backseat threw a poisonous reptile in my lap.
We made it back to Iquitos and moved over to a 1 bedroom hotel as I was a bit frustrated with the hippies that had overrun the Maniti expedition hostel.
Here is a map of the area I traversed over the last few days
It was March Madness. I headed back to the Yellow Rose of Texas to watch some college basketball and just relax a bit.
On the way I saw this Tuk-Tuk driver wearing a Tshirt from my high school. This was crazy because I went to small catholic school in Michigan that had about 500 kids.
I ran into some guys from Kentucky that were in town as they made their way East towards Brazil. We watched some basketball and decided to hit the bar scene that evening. It was comical to say the least with the night ending at some dance club with one of the Southern boys puking Tequila all over the bar.
The next day I hooked up with an existing tour of a local animal refuge. It was me and an ancient Peruvian couple.
They were having trouble standing, let alone transferring from canoe to land. Our first stop was a small island where we were to see some aquatic friends.
The above image is a swarm of Piranahs. Similar to feeding catfish at the zoo, except they can clean a person to the bone in 10 minutes easy. We then moved on to the Crocodile exhibit. This homemade enclosure was made of old 55 gallon drums. I really cant see how this would hold the animals in the pen. I figure after dark they probably climb out and plot some sort of Orwellian Animal Farm Coup.
The next stop was the fish farm. These fish are called Arapaima. They are one of the largest and oldest fresh water fish in the world
We stopped for lunch at another refuge, where I was happy to drop the old people off. They had no clothes or bags and were staying in the jungle for a couple days. I was amazed but put up no argument
Our final stop was Monkey Island. A place where monkeys rule and are about as scared of humans as a fat girl is of a YoCream machine in the dining hall.
They threw a boa around my neck and I looked about as comfortable as holding a new born baby. Actually, that is about what I look like holding a baby. All I could think about as they brought the head near me was that this is going to turn into some YouTube sensation where the snake squeezes the life out of me.
When they were done with the snake they just set it down on the ground
I was like, don’t you think you should put that in a box or something. The next image I shot was amazing. I looked over to my left and saw this
He then turned and looked at me
He was saying, “oh shit, did they just see me walking on 2 legs? I better do something monkey-like quick.” It reminded me of the famous shot of Big Foot
Here is a final shot of a Capuchin monkey just before he jumped on me and stole my camera. I could not stop laughing as he assaulted me. Thankfully he dropped the camera.
We headed back to Iquitos through a local market
I got back to the hotel and relaxed for the night. I had to take a picture of the checkout policy as it made me chuckle
Somewhere in the process I lost my hotel key and I knew they would over charge me to have it replaced so I had to rig up my hotel room to allow me to open the door from my window.
The next morning I took a Tuk-Tuk out to an artisan market to pick up some show pieces for the domicile back home. I have collected plenty of paintings over the years, but I needed more knick knacks. The trouble being how to transport them back to the states. I settled on this native paddle shaped like a spear. This being a key point as I tried to fly with said spear.
When I got back, I ventured to the Belen Market. Every major city in Latin America is centered around their market and Iquitos was no different. This market was built on canals, the Venice of the West.
The next morning I was scheduled to catch the fast back back to Leticia at 4am. I decided to do what any reasonable person would do; hang out at the bar until closing.
When I did get back to the hotel to grab my bags, the front desk operator was acting a bit strange. First I had to knock on the outer door to get him to open it. He was asleep on the floor. He stood up, looked at me through the glass and laid back down after tripping over his friend on the ground. I banged again and he opened the door. I could not get my door open through the window so I had to ask him for the key. He got out an old credit card machine, the type where you slide it across a carbon copy, and write some gibberish down and handed it to me. I repeated that I needed a key. His eyes were bloodshot and proceeded to write a new note and hand it to me. I was amused, but after a bit I just found the master key and opened it myself.
I grabbed my stuff, made my way to the docks and boarded the 10 hour ride back to Leticia. When I landed there around 3pm, I grabbed my same room in the hostel from earlier in the week. I was sharing it with 3 Colombian girls and another from Sweden. The Swedish girl had been traveling for 2 months on her own. She was acting all depressed and just wanted to go home. I have gotten this way after a while on the road alone but nothing to this degree. I usually extend my trips too long and end up spinning my wheels for 2-3 days waiting for a trip back to the States. I can only imagine what 2 months alone on the road can do to the psyche. I bought her dinner and then crashed as I had an early flight back to Bogota.
I showed up at the Leticia airport with my spear paddle in hand and they wanted nothing to do with it. I went through the trash and wrapped it in cardboard and returned with a more innocent looking carry-on and I was allowed through. I actually somehow was able to carry it on all the way back to Detroit, which amazed me since my nail clippers often get confiscated.
When I got to Bogota I was starting to get sick with a respiratory infection which was to last a month. I tried to get an early flight out, but could not and holed up in the cranky Croc hostel for 36 hours
The place was full of Eurotrash sitting around planning excursions. Now I understand why guidebooks say you will need a week to explore a place that I cover in 2 days. These people basically book a ticket somewhere and buy a guidebook when they arrive and spend the next 3 days figuring out what to do.
Anyway, I finally made my flight back to the US but got stuck in Ft Lauderdale overnight. The last thing I wanted to do was sleep in an Airport with my flu like symptoms, but I made the best of it and found a 5am flight that rerouted me back to Detroit on another airline.
It took a long time to get this blog done. It is actually time for another trip, so you wont have to wait long for the next installment.
My trip to the Amazon was a success, whatever that means. I have always had images of what the Amazon would be like and I am glad to actually put fact in front of fiction. True, it has lost some of its mystery. It is not all snakes hanging from trees and explorers looking for El Dorado, but a healthy mix of relatively modern society and local indigenous tribes who seem to be happy with there slow pace and simple lifestyle.
It is kinda sad. We are such a spoiled group. Within 24 hours I can be almost anywhere on the planet. Gone are the days of travelling by canoe for 1 month to reach the city of Iquitos. Now, even if you don't go, you can make a virtual trip with all the blogs, pictures and videos on the Internet. We no longer experience a new place and are amazed, but rather arrive comparing it to the images we have already seen. This is different for many of the locals in Iquitos. 90% have never left the city. Can you imagine growing up in a small town and never head to the neighboring village let alone another country and culture?
So, in part I am fortunate to experience these trips, but I do not consider them true adventures because I am always just a phone call, wifi spot, or plane ride away from the safety and security of home.
Would I go back? Probably not until the jungle gets central air.
Until Next Time
Darren
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