Lima to Amazon

"Time to rise and shine." Yep, an early morning flight means up by 5:30 so we can have the luggage out that we are leaving at the hotel upon departure. We had to reduce our luggage to a carry-on/backpack size for the 5 days we are going to be in the Amazon River area. Luckily, since it is a domestic flight we can take our mosquito spray and sunscreen. After breakfast we left the hotel at 7 to head for the airport for our flight to Iquitos. The flight only took about 1 1/2 hours and we landed around 11.

Had some fantastic views of the mountains outside of Lima from the plane.

Our local guide met us at the airport and we climbed aboard a mini-bus for transportation through town and to the waterfront. There are around 1 million people that live in Iquitos. Many have located here from the jungle villages looking for jobs. Celso (our guide) said that many used to work for the oil companies, but since the price of oil has plummeted, the oil companies have shut down. Large neighborhoods of low income households were evident as we drove through town.

Some pretty downtown park areas.

The markets looked just like those I have seen in other low income developing countries. We didn't have time to stop and wander around but got some street shots from the bus.

We boarded our "speed" boat for the 11/2 hour ride up the Amazon River to reach our lodge. The river is very wide and deep in this area (over 1 mile in places and 500 feet deep). It is just beginning the dry season and the river level will drop over the next 2 months. 

The jungle was very evident as we approached our lodge. This is the village located close to the lodge.

A small village along the river.

The lodge is more like a summer camp you went to as a kid. Palm that he'd roofs cover the buildings and walkways. The rooms do have 1 electric light that is usable until midnight when they turn off the generator. The private bath has a shower but no hot water. The beds are covered with mosquito netting to help protect you at while sleeping. There is no "ceiling" for the individual rooms so sound carries from room to room.

The elevated walkways are needed when in the rainy season the water can be 45 feet higher.

This is a torch ginger plant.

This macaw was squawking from a roof peak.

These squirrel monkeys where begging for some banana bites.

No, I didn't stand under their tree.

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After we got settled, we went on a boat ride back into some of the tributaries to look at birds and wildlife.

We did see several sloths hanging up in the trees.

After dinner, we took a boat ride back into a waterway with flashlights to experience the jungle at night and to try and spot some creatures. It was really interesting floating along and hearing all the different sounds. We didn't see anything exciting, just some butterflies and a tarantula.

Time for bed!