We mentioned before how we found out this tour, 3 days 2 nights in the amazons at like 25 miles from Iquitos in boat along the Amazon river. We were so excited about this part of the trip, we did not know what to expect but we were sure that we were going to find a lot of rural and poor and marginalized communities and we were not wrong. Our tour guide was waiting for us and another group of 10 people in the airport, drove us to the port thought the ‘city’ of Iquitos in a very funny looking bus with no windows and painted with many colors, the ‘city’ of Iquitos looks like its best years came and went a century ago, along the route to the port we saw many big industrious structures that seem abandoned and run-out just like the rest of the town, for the most part they try to keep ‘clean’ with ‘not-to-much-trash’ in the streets, however they are not necessarily successful on this task, the town is dusty, hot and humid, is full of little 3 wheel motorcycles that are the main transportation system for most of the people, is extremely noisy and it requires serious skills to drive here, there are not lines on the street and everybody drives no matter who they run over, none of the vehicles here, buses, car, motorcycles and even the boats could pass an emission test in any developed country, the pollution is thick and we arrive full of grit. We finally got to the port and crossed a little market where they sell all kind of exotic foods that we did not dare to even try because the sanitary conditions are deplorable, they sell snails, piranhas, caiman, and who knows what else.
Finally we boarded a long skinny boat that had also better days but we really felt like ‘Crocodile Dundee’, I was using the hat that I got in Cusco and I honestly felt just like him (LOL!), we were all very excited and for the most part the other guys in the tour (all American from California) were impress for how poor the area and its people look. The color of the river is like chocolate milk, there were a lot of sewers dumping its loads in the river; this is one of the most important rivers in the world, the one that feeds the last lung left of the planet and nobody seems to care if they are polluting it like this! Is an absolute disgrace for Peru to be honest, very disappointing! After 1+ hour ride in the river we arrive to the Manati lodge, we were assigned our cabins that are all in stilts and very rustic, we knew what we were ‘signing-up’, we wanted to have the ‘adventure-not-luxury-trip’, this company also have a 3+ start luxury resort not far from here with all the ‘luxuries’ that the jungle can allow. After getting settle, we had lunch in a buffet style that was actually very, very good, after that we took another boat up-river to a wild life refuge that is run by a local community; they take care of injured and rescued animals; parrots, macaw, anacondas, caimans, ant eaters, tortoises a prehistoric looking turtle and the most cute sloths are their residents here.
There are also some wild Capuchin monkeys that if you offer them some banana and pineapple they would climb all over you, we had so much fun holding all these animals but honestly, we were all kind of fighting to hold the sloths, they are so cute that hurts to know what the poachers do to them. We left the rescue center just at sunset and were gifted by a wonderful show from mother nature, the reds and blues in the sky in combination with the reflections on the river were a picture opportunity for at least 1 hour, it was like Christmas for me and my camera. We arrive at the lodge at night, but we were all carrying lanterns and head lamps, so we found our way through the jungle with no issues. Every meal was buffet style and like I said before was really good, meals were mostly made of chickens that they rise in the camp, fish that they pull from the amazons, veggies that are grow by local communities, the 3 days we were here we eat cat fish, chicken, another kind of fish that was breaded and fried and to ‘die-for’, salads mostly of tomatoes and the center of the palm tree that give the fruit of the Acai, w/ some lemon is absolutely delicious. Shower was interesting, the water is NOT potable, we could not wash our mouths w/ it, we were lucky because back in the port we bought 3 litters of water that we use to wash our teeth and also to rinse off after showering w/ the amazon’s water that like I said before is not necessarily clean, our guide said that the people in the amazons can drink it no problem, but of course we could pretty much die. We have to mention also that our guide that by the way what a nice guy, he is a member of the Cokama tribe his name is Anguilla but he goes for Edwin because is easy for the tourist to remember and say his name, he was born and raised in the amazons his tribe is inside the jungle at 2 days-1 night from Iquitos in boat; he is very knowledgeable about the jungle and all its dangers. He has so many histories, had meet many famous people like one of the Cousteau’s and had helped trained people from the Israeli forces and the US forces on jungle surviving skills, he has so many inside knowledge about the ecological problems of the amazons and what other countries are doing exploiting the jungle for profit; the Manati Lodge and the Irapay luxury lodge are trying to help educate tourists on the impact that we are all doing to the last lung of the planet. I hope that you who is reading this find your way here one day because your money helps the people of the jungle and its animals, then, take what you learned here and spread it around.
Yagua kids
Anyway, the second day we woke up at 4.30 am, took the boat again up-river to see the sunrise and the Pink Dolphins, we saw maybe 50 of them, it was absolutely fantastic, we also went to see a native tribe that has a little place on the north east side of the river, the tribe of the Yagua, their settlement is really like 3kms inside the jungle but they come to this location to sell their crafts to the tourist and to send their kids to school every morning. It was an absolute shock to meet this kind people, they are all naked (for the most part), but the segregation and the poor conditions that they live is overwhelming, it totally squishes your heart to see them and the inability to help them, as we interacted with them we understood how little future their kids have, their girls are having kids as young as 13-14 and all they do is fishing, some agriculture and crafts, it was hard for me not to start crying, this was an absolute humbling experience, everybody should come to the amazon and have a little dose of REALITY outside the bubble where a lot of us live.
Yagua tribe and our group
After that Edwin took us to fish piranhas, they, as it turns out are the favorite meal for pink dolphins, the fishing poles were rudimentary, a wood stick w/ a line and a hook at the end, the bait was chopped Tapir, I must brag about this because I fished 6 piranhas!! I was soo lucky, sadly Bryan fished none, at the end between the 12 of us I fished the most; at dinner time they grilled them for us, I ate 2 of them and even they are not meaty they are delicious!
On one of the nights we took a night hike through the jungle, many animals come out at night, we all had lamps and head lamps wore long sleeves and long pants and water boots, it was kind of terrifying because most of the animals and insects here can basically kill us or damage us forever, we saw several ‘Crab Spiders’ that are one if not the most dangerous in the world, tarantulas and all kind of insects, it took like 1 hour but I was absolutely relieve when we made it back on camp in one peace. One of the afternoons there Edwin took Bryan and I to hike through the jungle with day light, it took like 3 hours and went from ‘low jungle’ to the ‘high jungle’ where some of the biggest trees in the amazon’s live, ‘holy Indiana Jones’ it was so exiting, Edwin walked in front of us with a machete making way through the over grow, the path was there but the jungle keeps taking over it so the machete is a must have, he also mention the danger of anacondas and other snakes that love to be in the trees and can basically kill us in a few minutes (so the machete is a necessary part of the hiking equipment); he told us the story about how his dad died, a seasoned indigenous hunter that went hunting one day and did not came back, so he and his brother went looking for him to find him dead in the jungle by a snake bite, the lesson here is no matter how good you are, something here can always kill you. We talked a lot about the medicinal qualities of plants and trees all around us during the hike, saw wild monkeys on the top of the trees and giant carnivorous ants that honestly freak me out. I was also relieved when we were back in the camp with no issues, that we wore long sleeves, long pants, water boots and TON of DEET, we did not want to bring home any souvenirs like Malaria or Dengue. On the final morning Edwin took us to a canoe ride on a creek that feeds the amazon, the canoe was really old and the water level was almost at the ledge of the boat, kind of freaky, we made our way slowly thought the jungle, it was like being in a movie, on our way back he took us to the neighboring community across the creek from the Camp, and even when they are more ‘developed’ than most, it was shocking to see the living conditions of this people, the kids are so sweet and follow us around, we brought cookies and sweets we us to share so we were kind of a hit!, the little community is in a very swampy area and they have giant lily paths called ‘queen Victoria’ with pink and white flowers, very beautiful. This one last day after lunch we took the boat back to Iquitos where we said good bye to Edwin and then we ride one of those funny 3 wheels motorcycles thought the ‘city’ to the airport, that one ride was an absolute adventure, we arrive to the airport cover in grit.
One thing that I’m keeping to the end of this entry is what Bryan and I did at night, we wanted to try the Ayahuasca ceremony with the local shaman, but unfortunately because I had 2 broken ribs I could not do it, so Bryan did his ceremony the first night and he also did my ceremony the second night. The Ayahuasca is being falsely called a drug, this is really what the locals called the medicine of the jungle. It clears and purifies your body from toxins and is known to cure people of some cancers and drug / alcohol addictions, is a process that starts a few weeks before eating as clean as possible and avoiding many kinds of things.
The reason I was not able to do it is because once the Ayahuasca is ingested within 20 to 30 minutes the you start vomiting and with 2 broken ribs I knew I was going to be in more than in pain (I had pain sneezing, coughing, and in certain movements). The shaman prepared the Ayahuasca the same way his ancestors had done for centuries and realized the ceremony in total darkness, with chanting’s and prayers.
