Rain Forest

On Nov 4 took a flight from Cusco to Lima and from Lima to the jungle city of Iquitos, Peru.  Arrived to Iquitos late at night during a thunder storm.  As I exited the airport I was accosted by cab drivers.  I think they were they only true cab drivers in the city.  on the way to the hotel all I saw were motorcycle cabs, thousands of them.  Not very safe looking but they commanded the streets.

After a warm, muggy night in the hotel I made it to the boat that would take me 75miles up the Amazon River and then into a narrow creek for 6days at a jungle lodge.  Iquitos made its early fame as a rubber town.  At one time it was very wealthy and a few shabby looking mansions covered in Portugese tile work remain.

The Amazon is thousands of miles away from the ocean yet at Iquitos it is mighty.  It is over one mile wide and even during the dry season it is 50feet deep or more.  Incredible power.  The rainy season is just starting and the river will rise substantially.  I have much more respect for the word amazon.  The river is very pure in quality but it is very muddy.  We had a chance to swim in its warm waters.  I had my googles on and could only see murky yellow for about 10inches.  beyond that the water was pitch black....never experienced that before.  I feel fortunate to have trekked along some of the raging creeks near Macchu Pichu that end up in the Amazon.  The power of nature is clearly evident.

The lodge is remote yet near by is a river village.  Very simple but very friendly people, many who work at the lodge.  My room was on stilts (the water rises about 20feet or more during the wet season and most of the jungle we visited will be under water in a few months).  The walls were screens.  No need for even a sheet at night because of the warm humid air.  Just moving made you sweat.  I dont sweat easily when exercising but during our jungle walks the sweat was rolling off me. 

The first thing I noticed about the jungle was how noisy it is.  Birds of all types are always singing or cawing and bugs and frogs are constantly singing.  The sounds varied so I was glad I had 6days to experience the variety.

During the dry season the animals have lots of space to roam.  therefore, spotting animals was difficult and would have been impossible with out our guides.  These guys could spot a speck in a snow storm.  They were amazing.  We saw various types of monkeys, sloths, many birds (huge hawks of many types, song birds, king fishers hitting the water, etc), and reptiles.  It took effort to spot all but the hawks and vultures but patience was always rewarded.  We took several night walks and spotted tarantulas, tree rats, giant frogs and caimans (a type of alligator).  Because the water is so low, we saw many small fish.  in some places on the creek, the water looked as if it were boiling from fish hitting the surface.

I spend one night camping in the jungle.  Not as risky as it sounds.  My guides fed me fish the whole time and I ate pirahna, oscar and something called a monkey fish.  It was all excellent.  Along with the fish, it was plantains roasted in a fire and pineapple.  The only close encounter the whole week was stepping near the only snake seen all week.  It happened to be a very poisonous snake and my guide got pretty excited.

During the rainny season it is very easy to see animals since the flooding is enormous, thus leaving very little dry land for the creatures to live on.  It is during this time, that the jungle residents have to worry about caimans and jaguars.  In the village I saw the hide of a jaguar on villager´s wall.  He shot the jaguar dead as it tried to get into his home during the rising water.

Fortunately, we had only two days of rain and this lasted only one hour each time.  The one rain had to be over 5inches in less than one hour.  I saw how much there was when I watched the guides scooping the water out of the boats after the rain.

It was a very peaceful week.  I have a deeper appreciation for the variety of life in this wondrous world of ours. It was fun to get to know some villagers who live in the jungle.  They have a very simple life but appear happy and very healthy (fish, vegetables and plenty of fruit must be the reason).