about the boats

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Our last effort before starting back to Takoma Park (by boat and plane) was a trip from Iquitos Peru, on the actual Amazon river, and only accessible by boat and plane, upstream and into Pacara National Park for several days. It was a very basic (and buggy) trip, even by our standards. We traveled first by ferry for a day and a half to a small village, Bretana, just across the river from the park entrance. There we met our guide and boatman, who loaded their motorized dugout canoe with supplies and a live chicken. Steve had everything translated for him by me, since they did not speak English. We stayed in several refugios in the park itself, which at this time of year is mostly water. We did not get out of the boat much for the entire time. Then, because of a general workers strike the week before that altered ferry schedules, we rode 8 hours downstream in the dugout to the nearest ferry, and then on back to Iquitos. This is true Amazon jungle, lowland selva inundated much of the year.

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Photos

Amazon ferry
most folks bring hammocks for the Amazon river boats; we had a cabin

loading bananas
all goods travel by river as well

our canoe
our guide at the front of the dugout