I sit on the top deck of our river boat typing and glimpse the pink dolphins frocking in the muddy water as white birds dance in the sky. Rising and falling to the sounds of nature. It’s a sight to behold.
A two hour flight from the coastal region of Lima had us flying over the Andes mountains and landing in the jungle, Iquitos.
Iquitos is the largest city in the world not accessible by road.
Our boat awaited one and a half hours away. The bus ride ended in Nauta where we boarded the Amazon’s only wooden river boat, the Amatista, for a seven day cruise.
Before the road was paved in 2005 the journey from Iquitos to Nauta took 12 hours.
15 Germans, 4 Canadians and 5 Americans filled 13 of the 15 cabins.
The Amazon’s wet season officially begins in November.
Clear skies on the first evening showed stars so abundant they seemed to be growing out of the tree tops. The Milky Way floated above our heads and the moon looked like it slipped – a U shaped sliver instead of a C shape.
The abundance of flora and fauna was staggering.
Here’s a partial list of what we’ve seen: pink dolphins, manatees, a kinkajou, a coatimundi, butterflies, an ajouti, pigmy marmoset, bats, a black caiman, monkeys, frogs of all colors, a red tail boa, an anaconda, 3 sloths, birds too numerous to count, piglets (special Amazonian variety – HA), a tarantula, gray dolphins, turtles, household pets, ducks, chickens, roosters, piranhas and gazillions of unwanted bugs/mosquitos.
Every day we took two skiff boat trips – one before lunch and the other later in the day. The naturalists pointed out wildlife while cruising through either muddy brown waters or sleek black water tributaries. Jungle walks gave us the opportunity to get up close and personal with nature and it’s critters.
We visted the small community of Pampacaño – 192 people strong and not in possession of clean water.
A pipe pulls their drinking water from the dirty Amazon. To make it safe as possible to drink the captured water stands for several days so that the contaminates can settle and then they use the water from the top. Oil and lead are amongst the carcinogens.
That day lunch was served from the floor in Maria’s home – we ate with our fingers. One of the items on the menu was paca – a huge two foot rat that lives in the jungle. There too we saw the 15 foot anaconda that crept into their village five days prior.
Chicken and catfish are the main sources of meat in the Amazon. Fish and chicken farms are abundant. In the villages people also fish out of their lagoons instead of the unhealthy river.
However, we did go piranha fishing in the black water and dined on them for dinner. Fishing for those infamous people-eating machines (lore) with tiny vicious teeth is quite basic. Take a four foot stick with fishing line tied to one end, a hook on the other and a little bit of beef for bait. You splash the water with the end of the pole and wait to set the hook. Bill successfully caught one flinging it with excitement right on the bag in front of me! They were served deep fried – had a tiny amount of meat, lots of bones and tasted like the grease they were cooked in.
We visited a shaman/midwife. This calm woman all of five feet tall with hair past her bottom and bare footed, studied deep in the jungle for eight years to learn how to use plants to heal. Part of her spiritual therapy is using the hallucinogenic ayahuasca plant. Nine villages are dependent on her to cure aliments and deliver babies.
Our crew was the best. The two naturalists were informative and have worked on the boat since it’s inception 23 years ago. The chef could make pollo and pescado in so many different ways you barely knew you were eating it twice a day.
It only rained for a short period of time on a couple of days.
Soon it will be raining everyday and the Amazon will swallow the shores – rising as much as forty feet by the end of the rainy season. Homes on stilts will become islands and life goes on.
Look at the waterline on the trees!
More iPhone shots:
Our good friend turned us on to the La Mar restaurant in San Francisco. Over the years we’ve frequented this place many times. They’re famous for savory ceviche dishes and Piso cocktails.
We were lucky again this time. There were two seats at the bar. With stuffed bellies and two Pisco Sours we staggered back to our hotel and slept after having been awake for 25 hours.
We stayed in Miraflores a few blocks from the Pacific. Foggy until noon, clear for a couple hours and then foggy again.
The historic district has grand buildings and big parks.
The best part was the library containing 25,000 books dating back to the 14th century.
In Puntarenas, Costa Rica we hired a driver to take us to the small town of Sarchi – home to colorful handcrafted oxen carts. To our dismay the craftsman opened a huge store and filled it with tourist….
