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Published: February 14th 2013
We felt very excited to be out of the
gringo-land when we landed in
Terapoto, little town and the closest airport for starting the Amazon River experience. Yes, we could have flown directly to Iquitos but what is the fun in that? We wanted to spend a few fine and quiet days on a barca (cargo/passenger boat) to get to our final destination, Colombia. The moment we exited the plane, humid and hot air hit us and it felt sooo good. No more cold for us from now on, just tropics. We became such wusses when it comes to cold weather. Of course whenever you feel that it is just perfect something must disturb it just to remind you that you are not that lucky. Otherwise life on the road would be too easy and that is just not fair on all the people sitting at home dreaming of travels haha Somebody from the airport crew help themselves to my relatively new and pricey flip-flops that were attached to my bagback so I had one thing I needed to buy asap. Surprisingly it did not even upset me that much – just thought of it as another obstacle. Amazing how your
perspective on things changes with time.
We took a moto-taxi to the center (only 3km away) and got dropped at some budget hotel that the driver recommended. It was ok and close to the main market so we did not look anymore. We only came to Terapoto to catch a bus to
Yurimaguas, port town where the Amazon barcas depart from. However, we decided to spend a day in this little town and then move on. It was like being in Asia again – hot, humid and dusty and all we could see and hear were rickshaws. We loved it. We spent a day wandering around, shopping for my shoes (was not that easy to find them believe it or not), getting much needed supplies as bug repellants and sun screen and other bits and pieces. We had some lovely food served with fresh tropical fruit juices and watched locals making decorations for Christmas on the main market. It did look funny – palm tree and Christmas ornaments.
The way to
Yurimaguas the next day was stunning. The newly paved road was winding around big mountains and lush green jungle with waterfalls and finally led us to a
relatively flat landscape up the river. It was not the Amazon yet but one of the smaller rivers joining the Amazon in Peru, however the ecosystem here is pretty much the same (the Amazon river starts just before Iquitos). We stayed in a little hostal (35Sol/14$) just by the water with colorful paintings of a jungle and animals; balcony overlooking the river and hammocks everywhere and we just loved it. We went for a stroll around the town, went to the port to ask for departure hours and then sat in a bar cold beer in hand. That was the first time during our stay in Peru when we finally slowed down and relaxed. We did not have to rush anymore, we were already at the port and we reserved our cabin so we could just take in the jungle atmosphere in and just be happy. We have always wanted to visit the Amazon but for some reason we thought it was only accessible from Brazil.
We boarded Eduardo IV boat around 10 am as the departure time was supposed to be around 11 am but as usual in places like that people don’t work well with time schedules.
The barca was all filled up with hardly any place left for a hammock at all, even at the second floor which is more expensive and usually emptier (see details at the end). It was just before Christmas so people were going home, I suppose. Tomek was counting on some good hammock space but only managed to squeeze in between others. It was no big deal as we had a cabin but he really liked the idea of spending days there with his book and beer in hands. It was wishful thinking as with so many people around it was too hard to relax. Having a cabin was a good idea as we could secure our belongings, sleep comfortably and still spend time with locals whenever we felt like. Most of the time we did not have to even leave our cabin as children would come to us to watch what we do on our laptop, teach us Spanish or just stare…there was nothing better for them to do anyway.
We were not the only ones on board as we also got two more couples to be our cabin neighbors. We hit it off immediately with Ali and Matt
(from US) and socialize a little with another Italian couple. We all thought to stick together in Iquitos and take a jungle tour as 6 people increase your negotiation power a lot. The cruise down the river is a very chilled out experience and there is really not much to do but socialize, read, watch movies or just sleep. We enjoyed it though and even the very questionable standards of showers and toilets were not able to spoil the experience. The big advantage of having a cabin is also the fact that you get to eat first. They bring you food to your bed literally and if you stay in a hammock you have to queue with others. Despite of what different sources say. food served by Eduardo IV kitchen was really tasty. Every meal was different but always consisted of rice, pasta, some meat, sauce and fried banana. We could not complain at all. I was just not very happy with the morning porridge but that is simply because I don’t like it and I don’t like hot milk. Tomek enjoyed both of our rations very much. We had instant coffee with us and the cook was nice enough
to make coffee for us as well. It was really nice experience.
The cruising itself is amazing. You get to watch the jungle, sweet water dolphins playing around villages and creeks, tiny towns where you cannot get in any other way but by boat. People would come to the shore to watch the boat as their daily attraction and wave white flags at the captain if they wanted them to stop. Like a huge bus haha Once I was spending some time with the captain to watch my laptop that was charging and I saw this tiny white flag on a shore already behind us. I showed it to the captain and he reversed to the village to take a few passengers – thanks to me haha If the village is beyond the standard stop list then it is just like a lottery for them, I suppose.
We made it to
Iquitos after 2,5 days instead of 5 as water level was good enough for fast transport. This town does not look beautiful from a distance and not better from the land. It was dirty and looked very poor. Only the main plaza area it nicely done and
prepared for the mass tourism as Iguitos is a major hub for the Amazon Experience in Peru. It was raining when we arrived. The Italian couple decided to ditch us all and just left without saying anything but we still had a little group of 4 to negotiate. We took a much overpriced rickshaw to the centre and ended up in Hotel La Casa del Frances, just one block from the Plaza. It was nice, clean with kitchen access for only 40Sol/15$.
The next day we went to see the (in)famous
Belen Market which was supposed to be quite something. Well, it was. You can see all sorts of stuff there from turtle eggs and corpses, through some weird meat to skinned monkeys or their tails. It was interesting that they would literally kill anything in this place (like little China perhaps?) although felt really sorry for the monkeys and turtles. Apart from the meat section you have the Witches Lane and food stalls that sell anything made of local herbs and produce. It is interesting but is infamous for robberies so don’t take anything with you, even sunglasses. We were offered to be guided around the market and
the village by some random guy, who claimed to work for a museum but we refused. The village is a BIG no no and all the hotel stuff will assure you about that unless you want to part with everything you have and maybe be wounded so the guy was way to suspicious for us. I know we could have been wrong and possibly we could have missed some special experience but better safe than sorry.
We also visited two main tourist agents in town for the Amazon Lodge experience and we finally decided for
Amazon Reis. It had these fabulous reviews online providing supposedly 5 star experiences. The only doubt we had was about the distance of the lodge from Iguitos into the Amazon. It was only 80km away and we heard that the more the better. To be honest we should have listened to our gut feeling. We negotiated price down from 130Sol to 115Sol/90$ per day for two people and we were ready to go. We were taken to a port in the morning by our tour guide Abelardo and we boarded our private boat. The first stop was a place where they farm paiche –
the biggest sweet water fish in the world – and caimans for meat and skin. It was a pretty place but not a jungle thing if you know what I mean. We enjoyed it though – it would be extremely hard to see these fish in wild. Then we moved forward to the village of
Yaguas Tribe, one of a few still leaving in a jungle and following their traditions. We had to go by a very narrow water canal to get more into the jungle and it was just stunning.
The Tribe itself felt a little bit ‘trained for tourists’ if you ask me but still quite exceptional experience. We met the chief; we were shown how to shot a monkey by an arrow blown from a pipe look-alike tool and then they danced for us (see the video at the end). We could see their handicrafts and donate money by purchasing some. It was pleasant so far right? We were then taken to the lodge. It was much more than we expected, our tree house was great and the lunch they served us was fabulous. It was a pleasure to stay there, really. During all 3 days
with a sloth
they are so cute!!!we got different food with each meal and were really looked after.
The problem laid in animal spotting. Why? Because we simply did not see many, that is why. This is where the difference from the city is important. What they alo had not told us before was the fact that the lodge itself was located in a village and there were loads of other villages around. For us the rule is simple – where there are people, there are no animals. At least not in places where they hunt for everything that moves. You cannot blame the poor animals. Even though Abel was trying we only saw small monkey (maybe 3 all together), one sloth (Ali was the most excited about) and only because it was in captivity, some piranhas (but tiny as everybody fish for them) and many dolphins. People don’t hunt for dolphins and sloths because of local legends (babies being born lazy if you kill a sloth haha) so good for them. We went for an evening caiman spotting but saw none, whatsoever. Piranha fishing was nice even though we mainly caught sardines but the nature around was just like you imagine the Amazon jungle.
sun setting over the Amazon
finally we can have some electricity haha We saw some tarantulas and big bugs and learnt about trees and plants but it was all very vague and we were confused a lot. Not all was bad but we just expected so much more, that is all. It is the Amazon in the end. We remember being in similar forest (distance from Equator) in Borneo and everywhere we looked there were monkeys. We did a lot of trekking around the jungle and got eaten alive by mosquitoes hahha Just joking as actually we thought it would be worse in that respect. With a decent repellant you can get away with just a few bites like we all did. Good that there is an animal rescue centre very close to the lodge so we could see all the animals we wanted to in the end: spider monkeys, capuchins, anaconda, ara parrots etc. Overall we enjoyed it and Ali and Matt were fabulous company. They made us laugh so much and they both have this enormous and contagious optimism.
When we came back to Iquitos we decided to stay one more day to see one more important place – the
Manatees Rescue Centre. It is a very low
our luxury cabin on the barca:-)
so hot in there but the only way to keep your stuff secure key establishment, run by volunteers and students of veterinary and it is such a rewarding place to stop by. We could feed these amazing animals, pet them (see the video) and see the baby manatee being bottle-fed. They are so cute and unfortunately hunted for in the Amazon region. People kill them for meat and then take the babies as pets. However they don’t know how to feed them (they are lactose intolerant and need special milk) and they die or are sold. This is where the centre is coming in educating locals about the animals and taking care of the babies. We probably spent more than 2h in there and were late for our checkout time hahah That day with great spirits we boarded another barca and made our way towards Colombia. This one was much smaller but also very nice and we had a similar experience as before. It took another 2 nights to arrive in the border of 3 countries: Colombia, Peru and Brazil. We had a lot of time to think of our previous experiences and we were so happy we did this part of Pare. It kind of made up for the ‘not so great’
southern experience I guess. We were very excited about our new place of destination especially that we had another chance for the Amazon jungle experience in here;-)
Additionals - costs and recommendations: •
Terapoto – Yurimaguas bus costs 20Sol/7$ each •
The river hostal in Yurimaguas (35Sol per double room) is just the steps down from the main plaza – there is a bar on the way down and every rickshaw driver knows this place •
Eduardo IV barca in Yurimaguas is said to be the most comfortable and costs: cabin 150Sol/50$ per person for the whole trip with food: 100Sol/35$ for an upper deck and 70Sol for lower deck but you have to bring your own hammock (or rent for 20Sol per trip) + plate and mug for food (no necessary for a cabin). They depart every day except for Sundays and local holidays. •
Iguitos – Leticia barca costs: cabin 90 Sol/30$ per person with food for the whole trip, deck was only a little bit cheaper like 75Sol. They leave every other day so need to check. •
Please DO NOT book any Jungle Lodge via internet or in advance as you will be charged double or triple. People caimans
we got to feed them with fish were paying around 150$pp per day instead of 45$ like we did. They admitted to us that the price they offer, despite the busy Christmas season is just because we walked in and booked it.
•
When choosing a Jungle Lodge please ask how far it is from Iguitos. We think we should have taken a trip up the river to the National Park where there are no villages. It is always luck with nature and even though Amazon Reis is a very professional establishment they cannot do miracles and make animals appear if they already relocated.
Additionals -Videos: Yaguas Tribe - dancing Feeding Paiche in the Manatees Rescue Centre
on the way to Iquitos
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liliram
liliram
Wow
And I had to join a long line in Sentosa Island to see one! (In captivity)