Come fly with me...

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Well, I finally received my bank card that I desperately needed (actually the package got to Peru faster than mail from Chicago to NJ) and I decided to leave Lima. I´ve been quite bored there and have only been catching up on my sleeping and drinking, so it was high time to leave. So last night I booked a flight to Iquitos for today (it only cost $64 --$74 with tax) and now find myself deposited in the middle of the jungle, literally (check out Iquitos on the map). It is the largest city in the world with no road connections, and was built during the rubber boom. No, not condoms, rubber from trees.

So I get on the plane and settle down with my book, and am looking forward to relaxing. Just my luck that there is a 4 year old who is learning English sitting in front of me. And he begins to sing 'The A says ah, the A says ah, the A says ah. All letters make a sound. The P says pah, the P says pah, the P says pah. All letters make a sound.' (Are you chanting with me? You really need to chant this at the top of your lungs to get the full effect.) 'The C says suh, the C says suh, (he was a little confused), The O says ah.' Well, you get the point. Needless to say, my flight was not as relaxing as I thought.

Finally we land. I step off the plane onto the tarmac in Iquitos and take a deep breath of jungle air -- hot and humid, but hey, it beats snow! I walk into the open air terminal, which is a step above a straw hut (it´s walls are concrete), grab my bag and exit to find a cab. Instantly I am rushed by taxi drivers and have a moment of deja vu; it´s like being back in Cairo. So I instinctivly go with the smallest taxi driver (I didn't realize this til after I got in the cab and had to pat myself on the back--'bueno Estefani'). We walk to his 'cab' and I find myself climbing into a moto taxi (see photo). 'OK,' I think, 'How bad can this be?' After about 5 minutes and one incidence of the moto stalling, my driver turns and says to me, 'Moto taxis en Iquitos son muy tranquillo' and as I clucth my backpack and purse (not for safety but so that they don´t bounce out of the cab), brace myself with my leg against the metal frame, wishing that I wore a more supportive bra, I think 'It´s more like peligroso to me.' But hey, this is traveling (and it only cost me 5 soles = $1.50!)

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Comments

[CJ]

snow
Easy with the snow comments there kid....be careful or else I'll mail ya some! ;)

[elizabeth]

sounds like fun
wow you went to macchu picchu! sounds really neat. the pics you posted look great. glad you are having fun.