Back to the famous jungle city of Iquitos

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Friday morning, we packed up the camp and took off for Iquitos. We left all of those aweful black boxes behind for the locals to use. Any meds we had left over we donated to the village we were staying in (they already had a decent pharmacy, but the meds were greatly needed). One last ride on the bumpy truck and we boarded the boats. This time it was much less eventful ride. I ended up in the slowest boat there was, but had the best seat ever! We were sprawled out on the backseat so I was practically in bed. It was awesome! Laid back with my feet up listening to my (new) ipod (how did I live without one before?! And dang I wish I had my charger... 😞 I slept on and off for the trip back, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the view with the wind rushing by as we went. It was the most comfortable ride I think I´ve ever had on a boat like that. The downside is that we were on the slow boat, so everyone else had been in Nauta for at least a half hour. They all had lunch, went shopping, and were waiting for us. We got back just in time to get on the hot bus and set off for Iquitos. The ride wasn´t bad, and before we knew it we were in Iquitos, checking back into our hotel. The Victoria Regia welcomed us back (a decent little 4-star hotel). This time I had the grand suite I think. Too bad we didn´t really have time to enjoy it. I had just enough time to shower (and wash off the sand from my shower in the morning haha) and veg out watching an american WWII movie dubbed in Spanish. We went out for pizza that night. And if you can believe it, pizza in the Amazon was one of the best meals I´ve had in a VERY long time!! It was AWESOME! I think it was called Antica, but it had great pizza and a very nice place. The only downside to traveling with a lot of people is that it can get hectic trying to go out to eat with 30 people. It worked though. Afterwards, we wandered down to a local bar on the market for some drinks. We hung out there for a few hours and had some so-so beers. The selection in the rainforest wasn´t the best. Their local brew is a Pilsner and tastes an aweful lot like bud. The other main beer is Cusqueña, I think a lager. It´s not bad, but not my favorite. After a few hours, we headed down to the local club around 11. It was a very well-known rainforest club so we were all excited to try it -- and had no idea what to expect. Turns out, the club Noa, is just like any other club with the possible exception of adding spanish music in with the club music. It was fun though. We stayed out for a while and danced up a storm. Our flight the next morning was an unbelievably early flight, so I headed back to the hotel around 2 for a couple of hours sleep before leaving at 5am. And said goodbye to the rainforest!

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Photos

more black boxes
One last time, loading the black boxes from the truck onto the boats

smoothe ride
A nice seat on the way back! JD on the left, me, then Sylvia, then Cecilia. It was a nice way to travel!

Out in Iquitos
A bunch of us at the bar in Iquitos. Here is Nanda (one of the midshipmen) on the left and Fernando (one of the Peruvian translators) on the right.

Out in Iquitos
Another bar picture. I have so few pics for these few days...