Blogs from Loreto, Peru, South America - page 14

Finally Iquitos, die einzige Stadt in der Welt, die nicht auf dem Landweg zu erreichen ist. Mitten im Amazonas. Iquitos war heiss, feucht und nett und auf jeden Fall eine Reise wert. Wir ueberlegten, ob wir eine mehrtaegige Jungletour buchen, um den Regenwald und alles was da so kreucht und fleucht kennenzulernen. Doch dann... Wir sassen eines schoenen Abends in einer texanischen (japp, die Amis sind ueberall ;o) ) Bar. Felix genoss das gezeigte American Footballspiel waehrend ich mir die Zeit mit dem Lesen der lokalen Zeitung vertrieb. (nein, ich bin in der kurzen Zeit leider nicht zum Spanisch-Pro geworden, ein Expat veroeffentlicht monatlich diese Zeitung in Englisch). Und ploetzlich, nach all dem typischen Tourikram, etc., stolpere ich ueber einen sehr interessanten Artikel; "The Great River Amazon Raft Race". Dieser Artikel sollte unsere Planung total auf ... read more

Just made it back to Iquitos from our lodge in the jungle and had a brilliant time. The scale of everything is just beyond imagination, the main channel of the river itself must be over a Kilometre wide and the jungle is endless. Visiting in the dry season (only relatively speaking as it rained at some point most days) meant that the tributory that our lodge was on was quite low and the jungle wasn´t too boggy. Being such a large area of unbroken forest, it quickly became apparent that seeing wildlife is not so easy as the wildlife programs have you believe and it was going to require patience, luck and a lot of energy. Each group was assigned a guide, and for better or worse Rach & Me were assigned the top man from ... read more

Op 31 juli zijn we, na eerst een museum in Lima te hebben bezocht, met het vliegtuig naar Iquitos gevlogen. Deze stad ligt diep in de Amazone jungle van Peru en is alleen maar per vliegtuig of boot te bereiken. Na wat koude dagen in Lima was de temperatuur hier wel een welkome afwisseling. Warm maar wel een erg hoge luchtvochtigheid. Bij de tour agency raadden ze ons aan om rubberen laarzen te kopen, omdat de tochten inderdaad door het REGENwoud zouden gaan en dat het vrij vaak blubberig zou zijn. ´s Avonds hebben we genoten van heerlijke chili con carne in het bruizende stadje met de vele restaurantjes. Op 1 augustus startte onze 5 daagse jungle tocht. Met een lange dunne boot zijn we 150 km stroomopwaarts over de Amazone gevaren naar onze lodge diep ... read more

Breakfast at 7am today, since the boat was leaving the lodge at 8. Did I mention how good the food is in Perú? They had awesome french toast, and of course my favorite, platanos. The boatride back to Iquitos was awesome; we stopped at one point to see the pink dolphins! I swear, they are actually pink! You can kinda see the fin of one in the pictures. Not easy to photograph these guys! But click on the pic anyway, if you can zoom in you can see a little. Our 3 star hotel never looked so good! Even though our toilet didn´t flush, and we were told not to flush the toilet paper (again), it was really nice to finally be back in civilization. Since most laundromats are closed on Sundays, and everyone had laundry ... read more

Since we just got back from our "Jungle Weekend," I am going to update all entries. Día 13 (Friday the 13th!!!) Since we were leaving Iquitos pretty early today, Natalie and I had to get up early to pick up our laundry. Even had a few minutes to check email at the cafe! Short busride to the dock where we were met by BF Stephanie, the boat that would be takng us to the Amazon Lodge for the weekend. Gerlo, our guide, gave us a little bit of information on the way but since the motor to the boat was loud he didn´t share too much. So I dozed and listened to my iPod. The ride was about 2 hours. Lunch at the lodge and then a short nap, to regain some energy for the ... read more