Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Upon arriving in Lima at 12:30am, we had to pass time until our 8am flight to Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon. Napping intermittently in an airport coffee shop, we waited until we could check in for our flight, which was then delayed due to weather. When we finally got off the ground, it was after 9:30am.
Upon landing in Iquitos, it was clear from the weather that we were in a different part of Peru. The warmth and humidity was no oppressive, but actually felt good.
Our host, Manuel, and our translator/guide, Larry, greeted us at the airport with a sign that read "Christoper". I was so happy to see them I didn't notice it was missing a letter--we were immediately accosted by taxi drivers trying to get us to use their services. Fortunately, we were with locals who knew what to do!
We quickly grabbed a couple tuk-tuk drivers (tuk-tuks here are motorcycles with a back seated portion for up to three adults "tacked" onto the motorcycle, and they're EVERYWHERE in Iquitos). The drive into town was an adventure in and of itself (as any ride in a tuk-tuk is!). From there we caught a taxi that would take us 60 miles upriver to Nauta, where we'd catch a river boat (canoe) that would take us another 2 hours over to our final destination, Libertad Jungle Lodge on the Ucali River.
On the way to the lodge (think of a beat-up old Toyota with no seatbelts, driving over 60 miles an hour down a country road dotted with children, tuk-tuks, semis, and buses--in a jungle downpour), we pulled off the road for some "cocona" juice (a passion fruit) and a slice of cake. It turns out "jugo de cocona"is the juice of the Brazil nut fruit. And it's delicious.
At dinner (fish, fried plantain, and rice), we sat with our guide, Larry (I know, it's not a very exotic sound name) and talked about the forest, how he grew up in the jungle and killed animals as a child but now works to protect them and treat the jungle with respect.
Reilly and I fell asleep reading in our mosquito nets...
He told a wonderful story about a kingfisher (bird). As a child, his father would kill animals for food, and if the animal had a baby, he'd bring it home for Larry. So one time Larry got a kingfisher as a baby bird, which he nursed and kept until it was big enough to go off into the jungle on its own like the other babies. The bird would sit on the roof of their house and fly around, but wasn't caged in any way. One day, his mother asked him if he'd gone out fishing, or maybe his brothers? No, he said. His mother then told him that several fish had appeared on their table and she didn't know where they came from. Sure enough, his former pet kingfisher was catching fish in his beak and bringing them home for him. I found this an incredibly sweet story.
- comments