Bitten but not defeated

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Well we are back safe and sound from the jungle although the mozzies can find any mm that you have missed with repellent and sting through your clothes, so despite my best efforts I still managed to get a few bites - almost more than Marty!

We stayed at 2 lodges - Sinchucay about an hr from Iquitos for the first night, then for the next 2 nights another hour further in at the Yamanacu lodge. Neither of these lodges have electricity so from about 6.30pm everything is done by kerosene lamp. Also because of the heat we had a couple of hrs siesta after lunch each day which was nice. We cruised along the Amazon which was only 20km wide and 20m deep where we were - it gets twice as wide and 200m deep closer to the ocean. It is brown and looks dirty but apparently it is the sediment on the bottom and they eat fish out of it.

The first day saw us getting to the first lodge, visiting a couple of villages, visiting the local shaman to learn about local natural medicines, almost melting and going for a cruise down the various tributaries. Day 2 we went to the 2nd lodge, saw the pink dolphins (although they dont jump or come out of the water much so a little hard to see), took a canoe ride into the forest where we walked for a bit. Its not as easy to walk as the jungle is flooded at the mo as it´s the wet season and the mozzies are out in force. In the afternoon we went Piranha fishing. I managed to catch 3 small ones, plus a small catfish and a small silver dollar fish. I almost got 2 more larger Piranha but they came off the line. The others weren´t quite as successful but still manged a few Piranhas and fish. The first one I caught, I almost capsized the boat, amidst screams and the piranha chasing me around the boat. The others thought this hilarious, I thought I was going to have a heart attack! After dinner we went for a night canoe to listen to the sounds of the jungle and on the way back treated the various inhabitants of the jungle to a lovely duet of ¨Lion sleeps tonight¨ 😊

Day three We went on a long canoe into the jungle in the morning and then a long boat ride in the afternoon back dow the amazon to visit the giant lilly pads and see iquanas which we managed to see along with a red poisonous snake. Day 4 we started the trk back to Iquitos visiting the anaimal refuge centre where we saw an anaconda, a sloth (ET looking), lots of monkeys, a turtle and a small aligator. They have a special license from the government to take in animals that have been found by people in their homes to stop them killing them, or if they have been hurt. They are nursed and then put back if possible. We arrived back in Iquitos in the late afternoon and after changing rooms (aircon didnt work in first room), we heaqded out for dinner on the esplanade and then to a local concert where a local band played covers of popular local music. There were heaps of people there, it was open air dirt stadium with a plastic cover over the main part. Everyone was dancing away for hours. The first band played from about 10.30 till 1.30 and then the second came on. It was sweltering in there - I don´t know how they kept up all the dancing on stage!

Well thats all for now. I am heading home via Lima tomorrow and Marty onto Colombia by boat, so he will continue the story from here on. I will upload some pictures later tonight or the next couple of days when I have time and have downloaded them from the camera.

Adios from Peru...

Julz & Marty

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