After an 8
hour night bus and a 17 hour night bus, I arrived in Tarapoto. My original plan
was to bust to Yurimaguas right away to hop on the first boat possible, but I
ended up meeting a fab new crew and stayed in Tarapoto for the night with them.
We spent the day searching for hammocks and swimming in waterfalls.
The
following day we got on another bus for 2 hrs and ended up in Yurimaguas …
hammocks in hand! Upon arriving to Yurimaguas, we were swarmed by mototaxi
drivers. They literally hung off the windows before the bus even stopped. We
hopped into a mototaxi and took off for the boat.
Our final
destination was Iquitos – and taking a three day cargo ship is the cheapest way
to do it (biggest city in the world without road access). The bottom floor of
the ship was filled with animals, foods and other random supplies. The top two
floors were packed with people in their hammocks. The boat was meant to leave
at 5 pm. The time came and went and after a few false promises on departure
times, we found out we weren´t going to leave until the following day because the
cargo floor didn´t fill up.
The next
four days were comprised of sleeping in your hammock, reading in your hammock,
playing cards and drinking Gato from a box. It was quite relaxing. My fav. part
was watching the storms roll across the huge amazon sky.
We arrived
in Iquitos with a hankering for anything that wasn´t rice (that´s mostly what
we were fed for four days). I had a sore back from too much hammock laying and
had quite the experience from the local spa in hopes to relieve my pain. I
ended up with bruises on my back and slight burn marks. Another story that I
don´t have the energy to write out right now.
The 5 of us
booked a jungle tour from Iquitos. We spent 4 days camping in the jungle. We caught
piranas, swam in the same area where we caught the piranas, saw huge spiders, monkeys,
river dolphins, snakes and way too many mosquitos.
It was an
amazing adventure, but I was literally itching to get out of the jungle. Turns
out I´m fated to live anywhere that doesn´t get nearly that hot.
Tomales - it was a treat when the vendors came on the boat.
Our boat looked similar to this one.
Home for four days.
Red team vs. green team. Green team always wins.
Bed time!
Along the amazon
Top floor.
One of the many villages we passed.
Iquitos madness.
Another community.
Jungle tour time!
We road on this boat for four days more days.
My fav.
Correction : I know yo fadda.
Rainy season! Last year the river was a meter higher and everyone had to build extra floors in their houses (they´re on stilts).
Pepe
Pepe fell in the water ... I hollared because I thought he was dead. Manuel was showing me otherwise.
River dolphin!
This guy wanted in the Hog Club SOOOO bad!
I am a pirana!
Watch out night jungle!
Pretending I´m only nearly as tough as our guides.... except for the anti itch cream hanging out of my top.
Taking the local transportation for a spin.
This guy couldn´t hack it. Big man in a little boat.
