Travel Day -- Puno to Iquitos

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Packing and repacking our bags each day has been a challenge. Today we are leaving the Andes behind us so we are able to get all of our stuff in one duffel and leave the other behind -- much easier!

We had a leisurely morning enjoying breakfast and taking pictures on the lawn of the hotel of the llamas and Lake Titicaca. We met a Canadian family with four girls who had just been to the Amazon and loved it! Let the adventure begin!

Maria and driver picked us up from our hotel at 10:15 to catch a flight out of Juliaca at 1:15. Although it was only an hour ride, this guide with Kontiki Tours was excellent. We learned a lot about the conflict of the pre-Incas and the black market activity in Juliaca which is fed by cheap goods coming in from Bolivia.

At the airport, Maria was great in getting our boarding passes for our flight from Lima to Iquitos (our original flight was canceled). It took us about 30 minutes to get through check-in and security. That left us about an hour to wait in maybe the smallest yet busiest of airports?!

Our layover in Lima was about 3 hours so we went to the airport Ramada and had a drink and checked email. The flight from Lima to Iquitos got us in after dark. Amazonia Expedition staff were there waiting for us and a woman from San Francisco, Lauren. Our 20-minute ride through Iquitos with the streets filled with 3-wheelers and motorcycles was crazy!

Our room was in the Amazonia Expeditions (AE) B&B/Headquarters building. We had a beautiful, large room with a balcony overlooking a wide river which flowed into the Amazon about a mile or so downstream.

After getting settled in, we followed the advice of AE and took a motorized "gondola" across the river to a floating restaurant, Frio y Fuego (cold and fire), situated in the middle of the river. We were joined by Lauren and had an excellent dinner. The best dinner was the catch of the day with sliced onions, peppers, tomatoes, wrapped in a ginger leaf. Dave won again!

Too tired to finish the bottle of wine we got at the restaurant, and excited about our trip up the Amazon, we called it a day!

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