(Dec. 24, 2012)
The time had finally arrived when Peter would return to Canada and I would continue on alone into the depths of the Amazon Rainforest. However, understanding that all good things come to an end so as to make way for new good things, Peter and I said a slightly teary but generally stoic goodbye at the airport and parted ways for the next four months. And after a fairly depressing night spent tucked away in a corner of the airport with all of the other 'in transit' travelers, I arrived in Iquitos renewed and ready to take on the jungle!
I was welcomed into Iquitos by Carolina and her boyfriend Daniel, who met me outside of Carolina's father's hostel in the middle of downtown Iquitos. The situation couldn't be better and it seemed I would have the best of both worlds: the wonderful and supportive friend and economic living arrangements of couchsurfing all while staying in a hostel filled with other enthusiastic travelers, fast internet connection, central location, and access to all the tourism information I could want. What a great start!
My first few days in Iquitos were spent in a fairly relaxed manner - as I have a little over a week to spend here before I find my boat to cruise down the Amazon to Manaus, I am enjoying the leisurely pace. Iquitos is a city of almost 500,000 people, surrounded by jungle and perched on the Amazon River. Due to its remote location, Iquitos has earned the title of the largest city in the world without road connection and those coming to the city must either fly in or take a boat for 3 days down the river from the closest road-connected city, Yurmiaguas. Because of these isolated conditions, the majority of vehicles in the city are small motor vehicles including mototaxis (75%) and personal motorcycles (20%). And I can tell you, especially around the Christmas season when family members are pouring into the city from nearby villages, the roads are absolutely packed. Besides the hustle and bustle of Christmas, Iquitos has a special wild feeling that is brought in on the breeze along with the deep smells of the surrounding jungle. Since I have been here I have seen quite a few grizzly-looking expats of the baby boom generation, who seem to be hiding out in the tranquil foliage of this frontier town.
As this is the rainy season, Dengue is rampant here right now, so I've made sure to add repellent to my morning sunscreen regimen! No one really seems too concerned about Dengue here, despite its prevalence, and I'm the only one donning long sleeves and repellent in the afternoon. Apparently Dengue is just like a bad flu - unless you're unlucky enough to get the one that kills. I'll stick to my long sleeves and repellent rather than chance it!
I spent my first day in Iquitos on a mission to organize a jungle excursion that would pack in as much of the rainforest as one girl can see in three days. I had heard about sketchy tour companies and knew that a jungle trek is serious business and that if I were to do it, I had to find a guide that I trusted. I was thus happy to learn that Carolina's dad also owns a tourism company and lodge in the jungle and I was able to negotiate with them to organize the perfectly tailored tour.
On my second day in Iquitos I joined forces with two other people staying at the hostel and together we ventured out to visit a manatee rescue centre just outside of the city. I was beside myself when we arrive at the centre to find baby and adolescent manatees swimming around in the silly way that they do. If anyone is unsure of what a manatee is, Rory was able to very aptly sum them up as a grey sausage with a snout. They are ridiculous and incredibly friendly! We dipped our hands into the water and the manatees nudged us and wiggled under our outstretched hands, tirelessly inviting us to pat them. In the afternoon Carolina, Daniel, and I visited the Belen market, which stands beside the impoverished Belen neighbourhood of floating houses, which rise and fall with the tides of the river. The market was a forest of wooden stalls selling a rainbow of fresh fruits and vegetables, a myriad of round, long, fat, and huge fish caught in the Amazon, and a selection of black market products such as turtle and boa. We passed by buckets of wriggling grub which are BBQd and eaten as a treat and vendors selling grilled intestine, heart, stomach and liver. I didn't get a chance to try any of these delicacies at the market - I'm saving my culinary exploration for the source: the rainforest.
The following morning I set off on my Amazon Rainforest adventure! Katie, an american girl my age, had arrived the night before and together we glided into the jungle in a reed-roofed ferry. We stopped in at Renaco lodge for a delicious lunch of catfish and then ventured out to visit Monkey Island. En route we spotted huge eagles and macaws soaring over us, monkeys in the trees around us, and pink and grey dolphins playing in the milky river below us. Monkey Island, it turned out, was an island in the river where a selection of monkey varieties have gathered to enjoy the bananas, apples, and oranges tossed to them by passing tourists. I was interested to see that there were only one or two of each variety of monkey and I suspect that they were the strongest of their families who had fought for the right to be there. Dashing around after the food were two bossy spider monkeys, a vocal howler monkey, a chattering black capuchin, a curious white faced capuchin, and an unknown black monkey, in addition to a small and demure Kinkajou and a pair of fearless coatis. That's quite a good haul in terms of animal sighting!
On our way back to the lodge, we stopped in to a small riverside village called Puerto Miguel to visit Augusto, our guide's, aunt. Walking into the village reminded me of my time spent at summer camps and up at the Alder's summer cabin resort. The village had a tangible festival atmosphere with adults and children scattered over the central playing field playing soccer and volleyball. It seemed that the rest of the village were lounging happily in a nearby communal kitchen, eating, laughing, and watching the games. Apparently this is what afternoons are like in this self-sufficient, fertile (most of the villagers are fishermen or farmers), and happy community.
We stopped in to Augusto's aunt's house and waited in electric anticipation for the return of her pet baby sloth, who had apparently been out for a walk around the village. I simply cannot describe how amazing this sloth baby was besides saying that his sole purpose in life seemed to be to smile and look for things to hug. As sloths usually spend their time clinging to trees, this little guy obviously found us to be trees of a slightly more awkard variety and clung to any part he could find! I was BESIDE MYSELF with love for this little guy and we clung to each other for an hour until I realized that perhaps Katie might like a turn. I wish that there were more sloths in the world because I know they would make the perfect pets! I guess I will have to relive my happy memories whenever I need a sloth hug.
From Puerto Miguel we returned to the lodge for dinner (chicken, how boring!). After the sun had set, we ventured out into the darkness armed with gumboots and flashlights. As we walked through the jungle we found a cornucopia of spiders, scorpions, frogs, grasshoppers, and cockroaches - all super-sized! My headlamp decided to malfunction, so I spent the majority of the walk trying to skip ahead in the light of my fellow explorers and to not step on any alert and hunting snakes.
The following morning I said goodbye to Katie, who had to return to Iquitos early to catch her flight to Lima. Augusto, Jerson (the assistant guide), and I loaded our canoe with camping gear and set out for our camping trip in the jungle. We found a clearing beside the river and set up our hammocks and mosquito nets, before venturing out to explore the jungle around our campsite. On our walk we passed by fruit and medicinal trees, and it seemed that every tree that Augusto cut with his machete oozed resin of varying colours and viscosity. We returned to camp and boarded our canoe once again, setting out to find a site to make some traps. We were aiming to catch the Paca rodent, mainly because I had mentioned that I wanted to try eating all non-protected animals in the jungle.
As I was reminded, jungle animals do not run freely throughout the jungle but rather live in select habitat zones determined by accessibility to food sources. What this meant was that Augusto was able to find certain types of birds, bugs, and mammals based on knowledge of their food sources, habits, and past discoveries of their homes. I learnt that finding animals in the jungle is part luck but mostly know-how and experience of the tracker. We found a grove of breadfruit trees (the preferred food of the Paca) and made two traps using all natural material in the jungle. We used a log for the 'boom' (to fall on the animal, killing it quickly), surrounded by sticks to make a cage around the bait of yucca that we set (yucca is a root vegetable similar to a potato). We used vines of various thickness to tie the trap together and left it over night. We then set out to go fishing using a long stick as a rod, fishing line, a small hook, and pieces of fish as bait. It seems that many of the fish in the surrounding jungle are carnivorous and we (Jerson and Augusto) pulled out fish after fish wish sharp teeth and foreboding spikes along their sides and spines. I think I was 8 years old the last time I went fishing so I was the weak link in the fishing brigade, only coming up with a small sardine (figures!) and a baby piraña. Luckily for me, Augusto and Jerson proved to be excellent fishermen, and they were able to catch our lunch, dinner and breakfast. Though, it is important to note that I think I would have survived for the day subsisting on my pitiful catch. We wove our way through small overgrown creeks in search of glinting-eyed caimans as darkness fell and we glided back to camp. After a dinner of Pango (fish soup) we zipped ourselves up into our individual hammock tents and were lulled to sleep by the sounds of the restless jungle around us.
The following morning we packed up our camp and returned to the lodge for a breakfast of fish from our catch and caiman head and then ventured out in search of a pigme marmoset family that Augusto had seen playing in a glade nearby. True to his word, there they were, in all their tiny but proud glory - scampering up tree trunks and dipping their head inside in search of delicious bugs. We tied up our canoe and ventured into the jungle in search of a massive primary growth tree that was amazingly still standing. While I knew that the jungle was one big decomposing place with trees falling and rotting into humus and earth below us, I had never thought about the dangers that this process posed to people. Augusto told me that the jungle becomes a very dangerous place after a wind or rain storm (which happens almost daily in the rainforest) as this is the time with trees are most likely to fall. Lucky for us, it didn't rain once while we were there, meaning that the trees stood firm and the snakes remained in their holes. On route to the giant tree, we stopped to rustle up some grub (which live in giant seeds and taste like coconut). At the tree I climbed the vines that enveloped it, swinging around and trying to avoid giant spider webs.
Just a regular Jane of the Jungle!
I'll be spending a lively Christmas with Carolina and her family in Iquitos - we'll have turkey, roast pork leg, champagne and dancing. I hope that you, all of my wonderful friends and family, will have a Merry Christmas with loved ones, wherever you may be. While my jungle Christmas is sure to be an exciting one, I so look forward to the white or rainy Christmas that awaits me in Canada (finally) next year.
Love to you all and Merry Christmas,
Robin
The time had finally arrived when Peter would return to Canada and I would continue on alone into the depths of the Amazon Rainforest. However, understanding that all good things come to an end so as to make way for new good things, Peter and I said a slightly teary but generally stoic goodbye at the airport and parted ways for the next four months. And after a fairly depressing night spent tucked away in a corner of the airport with all of the other 'in transit' travelers, I arrived in Iquitos renewed and ready to take on the jungle!
I was welcomed into Iquitos by Carolina and her boyfriend Daniel, who met me outside of Carolina's father's hostel in the middle of downtown Iquitos. The situation couldn't be better and it seemed I would have the best of both worlds: the wonderful and supportive friend and economic living arrangements of couchsurfing all while staying in a hostel filled with other enthusiastic travelers, fast internet connection, central location, and access to all the tourism information I could want. What a great start!
My first few days in Iquitos were spent in a fairly relaxed manner - as I have a little over a week to spend here before I find my boat to cruise down the Amazon to Manaus, I am enjoying the leisurely pace. Iquitos is a city of almost 500,000 people, surrounded by jungle and perched on the Amazon River. Due to its remote location, Iquitos has earned the title of the largest city in the world without road connection and those coming to the city must either fly in or take a boat for 3 days down the river from the closest road-connected city, Yurmiaguas. Because of these isolated conditions, the majority of vehicles in the city are small motor vehicles including mototaxis (75%) and personal motorcycles (20%). And I can tell you, especially around the Christmas season when family members are pouring into the city from nearby villages, the roads are absolutely packed. Besides the hustle and bustle of Christmas, Iquitos has a special wild feeling that is brought in on the breeze along with the deep smells of the surrounding jungle. Since I have been here I have seen quite a few grizzly-looking expats of the baby boom generation, who seem to be hiding out in the tranquil foliage of this frontier town.
As this is the rainy season, Dengue is rampant here right now, so I've made sure to add repellent to my morning sunscreen regimen! No one really seems too concerned about Dengue here, despite its prevalence, and I'm the only one donning long sleeves and repellent in the afternoon. Apparently Dengue is just like a bad flu - unless you're unlucky enough to get the one that kills. I'll stick to my long sleeves and repellent rather than chance it!
I spent my first day in Iquitos on a mission to organize a jungle excursion that would pack in as much of the rainforest as one girl can see in three days. I had heard about sketchy tour companies and knew that a jungle trek is serious business and that if I were to do it, I had to find a guide that I trusted. I was thus happy to learn that Carolina's dad also owns a tourism company and lodge in the jungle and I was able to negotiate with them to organize the perfectly tailored tour.
 |
| Friendly Manatee at the Rescue Centre near Iquitos |
On my second day in Iquitos I joined forces with two other people staying at the hostel and together we ventured out to visit a manatee rescue centre just outside of the city. I was beside myself when we arrive at the centre to find baby and adolescent manatees swimming around in the silly way that they do. If anyone is unsure of what a manatee is, Rory was able to very aptly sum them up as a grey sausage with a snout. They are ridiculous and incredibly friendly! We dipped our hands into the water and the manatees nudged us and wiggled under our outstretched hands, tirelessly inviting us to pat them. In the afternoon Carolina, Daniel, and I visited the Belen market, which stands beside the impoverished Belen neighbourhood of floating houses, which rise and fall with the tides of the river. The market was a forest of wooden stalls selling a rainbow of fresh fruits and vegetables, a myriad of round, long, fat, and huge fish caught in the Amazon, and a selection of black market products such as turtle and boa. We passed by buckets of wriggling grub which are BBQd and eaten as a treat and vendors selling grilled intestine, heart, stomach and liver. I didn't get a chance to try any of these delicacies at the market - I'm saving my culinary exploration for the source: the rainforest.
 |
| River ferry into the jungle |
The following morning I set off on my Amazon Rainforest adventure! Katie, an american girl my age, had arrived the night before and together we glided into the jungle in a reed-roofed ferry. We stopped in at Renaco lodge for a delicious lunch of catfish and then ventured out to visit Monkey Island. En route we spotted huge eagles and macaws soaring over us, monkeys in the trees around us, and pink and grey dolphins playing in the milky river below us. Monkey Island, it turned out, was an island in the river where a selection of monkey varieties have gathered to enjoy the bananas, apples, and oranges tossed to them by passing tourists. I was interested to see that there were only one or two of each variety of monkey and I suspect that they were the strongest of their families who had fought for the right to be there. Dashing around after the food were two bossy spider monkeys, a vocal howler monkey, a chattering black capuchin, a curious white faced capuchin, and an unknown black monkey, in addition to a small and demure Kinkajou and a pair of fearless coatis. That's quite a good haul in terms of animal sighting!
On our way back to the lodge, we stopped in to a small riverside village called Puerto Miguel to visit Augusto, our guide's, aunt. Walking into the village reminded me of my time spent at summer camps and up at the Alder's summer cabin resort. The village had a tangible festival atmosphere with adults and children scattered over the central playing field playing soccer and volleyball. It seemed that the rest of the village were lounging happily in a nearby communal kitchen, eating, laughing, and watching the games. Apparently this is what afternoons are like in this self-sufficient, fertile (most of the villagers are fishermen or farmers), and happy community.
 |
| Every day is Games Day in Puerto Miguel |
We stopped in to Augusto's aunt's house and waited in electric anticipation for the return of her pet baby sloth, who had apparently been out for a walk around the village. I simply cannot describe how amazing this sloth baby was besides saying that his sole purpose in life seemed to be to smile and look for things to hug. As sloths usually spend their time clinging to trees, this little guy obviously found us to be trees of a slightly more awkard variety and clung to any part he could find! I was BESIDE MYSELF with love for this little guy and we clung to each other for an hour until I realized that perhaps Katie might like a turn. I wish that there were more sloths in the world because I know they would make the perfect pets! I guess I will have to relive my happy memories whenever I need a sloth hug.
 |
| A face only Robin could love |
From Puerto Miguel we returned to the lodge for dinner (chicken, how boring!). After the sun had set, we ventured out into the darkness armed with gumboots and flashlights. As we walked through the jungle we found a cornucopia of spiders, scorpions, frogs, grasshoppers, and cockroaches - all super-sized! My headlamp decided to malfunction, so I spent the majority of the walk trying to skip ahead in the light of my fellow explorers and to not step on any alert and hunting snakes.
The following morning I said goodbye to Katie, who had to return to Iquitos early to catch her flight to Lima. Augusto, Jerson (the assistant guide), and I loaded our canoe with camping gear and set out for our camping trip in the jungle. We found a clearing beside the river and set up our hammocks and mosquito nets, before venturing out to explore the jungle around our campsite. On our walk we passed by fruit and medicinal trees, and it seemed that every tree that Augusto cut with his machete oozed resin of varying colours and viscosity. We returned to camp and boarded our canoe once again, setting out to find a site to make some traps. We were aiming to catch the Paca rodent, mainly because I had mentioned that I wanted to try eating all non-protected animals in the jungle.
As I was reminded, jungle animals do not run freely throughout the jungle but rather live in select habitat zones determined by accessibility to food sources. What this meant was that Augusto was able to find certain types of birds, bugs, and mammals based on knowledge of their food sources, habits, and past discoveries of their homes. I learnt that finding animals in the jungle is part luck but mostly know-how and experience of the tracker. We found a grove of breadfruit trees (the preferred food of the Paca) and made two traps using all natural material in the jungle. We used a log for the 'boom' (to fall on the animal, killing it quickly), surrounded by sticks to make a cage around the bait of yucca that we set (yucca is a root vegetable similar to a potato). We used vines of various thickness to tie the trap together and left it over night. We then set out to go fishing using a long stick as a rod, fishing line, a small hook, and pieces of fish as bait. It seems that many of the fish in the surrounding jungle are carnivorous and we (Jerson and Augusto) pulled out fish after fish wish sharp teeth and foreboding spikes along their sides and spines. I think I was 8 years old the last time I went fishing so I was the weak link in the fishing brigade, only coming up with a small sardine (figures!) and a baby piraña. Luckily for me, Augusto and Jerson proved to be excellent fishermen, and they were able to catch our lunch, dinner and breakfast. Though, it is important to note that I think I would have survived for the day subsisting on my pitiful catch. We wove our way through small overgrown creeks in search of glinting-eyed caimans as darkness fell and we glided back to camp. After a dinner of Pango (fish soup) we zipped ourselves up into our individual hammock tents and were lulled to sleep by the sounds of the restless jungle around us.
The following morning we packed up our camp and returned to the lodge for a breakfast of fish from our catch and caiman head and then ventured out in search of a pigme marmoset family that Augusto had seen playing in a glade nearby. True to his word, there they were, in all their tiny but proud glory - scampering up tree trunks and dipping their head inside in search of delicious bugs. We tied up our canoe and ventured into the jungle in search of a massive primary growth tree that was amazingly still standing. While I knew that the jungle was one big decomposing place with trees falling and rotting into humus and earth below us, I had never thought about the dangers that this process posed to people. Augusto told me that the jungle becomes a very dangerous place after a wind or rain storm (which happens almost daily in the rainforest) as this is the time with trees are most likely to fall. Lucky for us, it didn't rain once while we were there, meaning that the trees stood firm and the snakes remained in their holes. On route to the giant tree, we stopped to rustle up some grub (which live in giant seeds and taste like coconut). At the tree I climbed the vines that enveloped it, swinging around and trying to avoid giant spider webs.
Just a regular Jane of the Jungle!
I'll be spending a lively Christmas with Carolina and her family in Iquitos - we'll have turkey, roast pork leg, champagne and dancing. I hope that you, all of my wonderful friends and family, will have a Merry Christmas with loved ones, wherever you may be. While my jungle Christmas is sure to be an exciting one, I so look forward to the white or rainy Christmas that awaits me in Canada (finally) next year.
Love to you all and Merry Christmas,
Robin
Wow, now there's a Christmas story for you, for us!
ReplyDeletep.s....Looking forward to the float stories too, lots of love: Tante Heloise.
ReplyDelete