Blogs from Iquitos, Loreto, Peru, South America - page 11

“Es él muerto?” I jump out of my seat and gape at a Peruano man standing in his canoe in the rain. I brush mosquitoes from my face. I thought mine was the only boat around for miles, but here’s this man in a canoe pointing to the front of my boat. “Es él muerto?” he says again. He looks worried. He’s standing in the rain in his canoe, pointing. It’s not just any kind of rain, either. It’s rainforest rain. It’s coming down harder and faster than you’ve ever seen rain. It’s thick. It has sound. It’s coming down so hard, it hits the surface with such a splash, it’s like it’s raining up. I look to the front of my boat, to Mark laying on the fishing platform in his raingea... read more

This data for Iquitos Peru is from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Research Center. Latitude: Minus 3.75 degrees south of the equator. The altitude above sea level is approximately 350 feet. The Coordinated Universal Time of Peru is UTC-5, the same as Florida and New York, Eastern Standard Time. The time difference between the longest day and the shortest day is only 18 minutes. The temperature measured by ° F averaged from 22 years of data per month: (Jan. 82.09) (Feb. 81.86) (Mar. 82.60) (Apr. 82.06) (May 82.42) (June 82.20) (July 82.04) (Aug 83.55) (Sept. 85.78) (Oct. 86.59) (Nov. 84.88) (Dec. 82.87) The average rainfall at the Iquitos Port is 103 inches per year. March and April have slightly more rain on a 10 year average, and July and August have slightly less than average, ... read more

This is an account of my interaction with a character I worked with years ago. I hope to develop more stories about Jose and some of what he taught me as I explored the upper Nanay River over 300 kilometers from Iquitos Peru. Jose “Pescado fresco?” Jose brings his fingers to his mouth in the age-old sign of eating. “Comer?” He keeps his canoe steady with a one-handed swirl of his paddle, easy as breathing. He wants to know if we keep the fish we catch today or throw them back. He does not understand catch and release or the crazy gringo who hired him to guide his boat to good fishing on the Nanay River. To come all this way, to expend this energy for nothing is foolish decadence. “Si,” I say. “Fresco.” Fresh fish ... read more

After spending many days in transit we took a while to get going on our first morning in Yurimaguas. Our plan for the day consisted of finding a hammock for me, eating as usual, internet and finding a boat. It turned out to be in this order where if we were thinking logically it should possibly have been the opposite. Luckily though after spending a few hours wandering around we headed down to the port to see when we could jump onto a boat heading up to Iquitos. We arrived to find madness again.....many trucks full of cargo backed down towards the river front, people off loading the trucks, small shops selling everything you might need on your journey, people trying to 'help us' and all of this done surrounded completely by mud and water from ... read more

Wenn wir nicht gerade auf dem Floss den Amazonas runter paddelten, dann genossen wir die Stadt, ihren Flair und die (wenigen) Sehenswuerdigkeiten. Allen voran, die Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm (www.amazonanimalorphanage.org). In der Naehe von Iquítos, einfach mit dem Boot zu erreichen. Gefuehrt von Gudrun, einer Oesterreicherin, und ihrem peruanischen Partner. In erster Hinsicht ist es tatsaechlich eine Farm auf der Schmetterlinge, respektive Schmetterlingspuppen, gezuechtet und sogar bis nach Europa verkauft werden. Sehr interessant die Enstehung eines Schmetterlings! Doch in zweiter Hinsicht ist diese Farm ein Aufanglager fuer verwaiste Tiere. V.a. Affen, aber auch einem Jaguar, einem Tapir und einem Ameisenbaer und Faultieren. Alle freilaufend (bis auf den Jaguar natuerlich). Alles Tiere, die Einheimische versuchten auf Maerkten an Touristen zu verkaufen, es nicht scha... read more