Fishing for Pirañas…. 3 days and 2 nights in the Jungle and the last few days in Iquitos
Like with everything in Peru, finding a jungle tour requires a lot of shopping around, bargaining and in the end just a lot of luck, because really it is impossible to work out if you can trust that you will get what they promise and of course what you have paid for. For the past few days in Iquitos we had already been followed around and offered many a jungle tour by the usual street touts working for a commission but we chose to ignore these. The night before we wanted to go on our tour we took the plunge and walked around from one office to another, all essentially offering the same thing. In the end we just went for one or the other and crossed our fingers. Camilla, Sidsel, Chris, our french buddies and I were off to the real hardcore Amazon jungle!
We began our trip early in the morning with an hour drive to a little river port I cant recall the name of. Here we loaded all our supplies for three days onto a little boat and off we went for over 2 hours, back down the Amazon river and then later a smaller river. Here we saw dolphins (apparently they were the special pink amazon dolphins, but much to my disapointment this wasn´t very evident, meaning I couldnt prove a point which I had been arguing about with Chris for the last two weeks. Grrrrr). After staring out at the river for some time our attention span wavered and soon we were all snoozing as peacefully as you can with the rather loud motor at the back of the boat.
We arrived at a small jungle village and again had to carry all our supplies to an even smaller boat. We soon discovered just how much these boats leaked!!! We wound around smaller and smaller rivers, deeper and deeper in the jungle. The air was even richer than the heavy air of Iquitos, laden with moisture, insects and jungle noises. The river was also a different colour. You could tell it wasn´t disturbed as much. High trees and dense scrub lined the river, entwined with all those perfect cliches of tarzan jungle vines.
We arrived at our lodge, a group of very basic buildings made of mozzie netting and roofs thatched with banana palms. They were high up on stilts because the water rises dramatically in the wet season. It is hard to imagine the river swelling many metres higher than it was now. It seemed as though the river was snoozing, lying dormant, waiting for the turmoil of the rain that would disturb its peace. After lunch we went on another boat trip deeper into the jungle and also went for a walk with Ricardo, our machete weilding guide.
After settling into our little coffins (beds completely incased in mozzie netting that was essentially just white cotton, so you couldn´t see in or more importantly out. Not much fun for those with claustrophobic tendancies) we went for a night walk, where we saw tarantulas, frogs and of course all variaties of insects possible. The biting variety of course all ultimatly ended up on my body, attacking me beyond comprehension, even though I was covered with enough DEET repellant to probably deform me or cause all sorts of health problems for the rest of my life. Jungle at night is fabulous, as our ability to see decreases, every other sense heightens. The sounds and smells especially. With total faith in our guide we trudged through the swampy forest, luckily well equipped with knee high gumboots as we often found ourselves deep in mud.
Sleeping that night was easier than I thought, all claustrophobic thoughts disappearing upon the realisation that the nets were not at all my enemy, instead saving me from even more itching than I was already needing to do from previous insect attacks. We awoke early for a birdwatching boat trip, slowly creeping up the river and just absorbing the collective noise the jungle seems to cultivate. The river was absolutely still and for a change the temperature was almost cool. Mist hung over the river, again adding to the atmosphere of absolute tranquility. On this trip we saw monkeys, countless birds and even a sloth high up in the trees doing what sloths do so well- SLEEPING.
Later that day after breakfast we went Piraña fishing, which was a heap of fun. You can´t really eat them or anything as they are small and boney, but somehow all our hunting instincts kicked in and it felt mighty good ebing on top of the food chain and catching the little fish that are so well known for fleecing anything with meat on their bones in minutes. Back from a successful fishing trip we had lunch and then packed for our camping night out in the jungle.
I always love camping, but doing it in the Amazon jungle was one step more special. We went further into the jungle and arrived at a little site just overlooking the river. We were given hammocks and a mozzie net and told to find suitable looking trees to tie them to. Surprisingly comfortable, thats how we slept that night. You really couldn´t be any closer to the jungle than we were. That night it was Matt´s (french) birthday. Sidsel and I had bought some candles at a little supermarket, so at dinner time we glued these onto his plate of food and all sang happy birthday. What a brilliant place to celebrate your birthday!
The next morning called for an early start, packing up and then heading back to the lodge, packing up the rest of our gear and slowly heading back up river to civilisation. Tired and rather overwhelmed I suppose, we all slept most of the way back on several boats and finally the car. Occasionally opening our eyes at the shout of ¨dolphin¨from our guide, but quickly fell asleep again.
We arrived back in Iquitos late that night, and the taxi driver handed out all our bags. He told me mine had opened but he had put all my stuff back in. Only later that night did I realise I did not have my camera in my bag. As one could imagine, I was not very pleasant to be around that night. All my photos, and memories of the Iquitos trip were on that stupid camera. I went back to the tour office and with the help of Chris explained that basically I needed to have my camera back and they should sort it out. They promised to contact the driver and search all the taxis, but I was hardly optimistic. I mean its Peru we are talking about! The next morning I moped around in our room and felt very sorry for myself. This soon changed when Chris returned with my camera. SOOOOOOOOOOO happy.
That night we all slept marvelously in our beds… (no trippy swinging hammocks this time!) I surveyed the damage my legs had sustained (the ongoing joke was that no one needed repellant when they were around me, because the mozzies would only go for me and leave everyone else alone. NOT fair.)
The next day, my last full day with my buddies and in Iquitos we sorted out how we were all going to get to where we needed to go next and so forth. I needed to be home in Calca sunday night, in time for work on Monday, so I had no option but to fly back home via Lima. Flight booked, a lot less money in my account and all in all I was not happy to be leaving. That night we had a lovely last dinner together at a steak/grill place, craving for some non Peruvian meal. For about 5 dollars we got: A steak each (beef and lamb), lamb kebab, sausage, chicken, potatoes and salad. Needless to say we were well fed that night. The last night in Iquitos came to a close at some club which had the worst, no exageration, DJ I have ever experienced. Hissignature sound was some high pitched waily screechy noise which drowned out just about everything else. We walked out of that club feeling as though we had just come out of a heavy metal concert. I savoured the walk back to the hostel, enjoying the last humid, balmy hot night before my return to the the freeeeeezing Andes. Couldn´t really believe it was my last night with my travel buddies and it was rather hard saying goodbye the next morning….
I flew back home via Lima, arriving in Calca late that night. A strange mix of feelings, of being home but away from those I had become close to and that had made Calca home… still trying to figure it out now! Anyway, a trip full of memories, places, experiences and people I will never forget!!!
Tags: 1, Tag Index
gperuandbeyond