boat ride

It's been a while since I told you about how we arrived to Iquitos on the eve of its 148th anniversary. We woke early in the morning to see the town getting ready for the celebration...

All the local chapters of the armed forces got together...

But Pame and I didn't stay for the party. We only woke up early because the tour agency wanted us on the way to the lodge bright and early! With our tour guide Artemio leading the way, we took a bumpy moto-taxi ride to Nanay and boarded the lodge's boat. It was the beginning of our overnight jungle adventure!

the market in Nanay

looking back from the dock

river life

Nanay marina

this dock is more steady than it looks

On our nice one-hour boat ride we saw quite a few sights along the river. Artemio pointed out houses on the opposite riverbank...

I always wondered where all the green was in Peru. The North (Trujillo and Chiclayo) are very dusty and have sparse natural vegetation at best. Cuzco lies in the mountains but isn't covered in greenery as much as red dirt. My memory of Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, is similar to Cuzco... I don't remember many trees but I remember graffiti, rain, and red earth. And Lima? It's too crowded to comfortably fit all the people inside, much less trees. But Iquitos and the Amazon! It's like all of the green was sucked out of everywhere else in Peru and dumped into the Loreto region. Coming to Iquitos was literally, a breath of fresh air.

Guide Artemio also explained the brown color of the river (due to the waste product of all of the plants underneath) and showed us the mixing of the Momon and Nanay Rivers, both tributaries to the more famous Amazon...

We passed by a small town (ended up visiting this place later.)

We also saw some commercial activity... I think after rubber and tourism, oil is a pretty big deal up here. Unfortunately it also leads to a fair bit of pollution in Iquitos.

But most of the views were just trees and water...

As we neared the lodge, we came into close contact with a boat similar to ours. The lodge is just a short walk to the village of San Juan de Huanshaldo (I never quite got the name right) and the people there use these boats to get supplies from Iquitos. Smaller boats are used to navigate the riverlets... you'll see.

If you're in the jungle, forget the motorbikes. You need a boat.