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Published: August 8th 2008
This summer I had an unfogettable experience in the most amazing and alive place on our planet, the Amazon jungle rainforest.
My friend and I decided that we had to take a trip, and where better than to the very lungs of the Earth?
We found our guide-to-be, Gerson, on this very website! He introduced himself to us as someone who had been in the touring business since his youth, and was now offering tours independently with his own company. He was tired of all the exploitation of the local people by big companies who were from elsewhere, so he started the company Curuhuinsi, which actually benefits the locals.
So we toured a bit of Peru, and then flew to the city of Iquitos. He met us at the airport in Iquitos, and greeted us very warmly. I had never met someone as friendly. He brought us to a great hotel, and we talked about what we wanted to do with our trip, since any trip with him is custom-made.
We left the following morning, and on our very first day we saw iguanas, giant kingfishers, exotic neon butterflies, beautiful birds of all kinds, and on our first
day we swam with river dolphins! We stayed at the base-camp for the first night, which was a beautiful place just on the river, with palm-leaf roofs. I can't describe the feeling of watching the many-colored sunset over the river with dolphins swimming by and the most oxygen-concentrated air on the planet fueling your lungs.
We had night expeditions, such as caiman-crocodile spotting for example, and let me tell you, i have never seen a more gorgeous night sky than on the river in the rainforest. The stars were brighter than anywhere else I had ever seen them, and more plentiful than I would've imagined. On our first night in the jungle we caught a giant bullfrog, but i didn't care to lay a finger on it...
Gerson taught us so many things about all the plants and trees, such as their history, nutritional uses, and many medicinal properties. We had wonderful walks through the forest where we would see the wildlife and learn all about nature; we'd see monkeys and different birds of prey, and learn about the ways of the ants and their relationship with the trees. We got to drink from the cat's claw vine,
which is reputed to have the purest water in the world (not to mention cancer-curing), and drank from other fruits.
One time we were on a lake and found a sloth in a nearby tree, and Gerson picked it out and brought it in the boat with us to teach us about it. Gerson was born and raised here, so who better to teach us about life in the jungle than one who belongs to it?
We also got to see his village, located between the Maranon and Yarapa rivers, and we even played a game of football (soccer) with the locals.
After we returned to the city of Iquitos, Gerson brought us to an animal sanctuary where they were breeding all sorts of animals, such as monkeys, sloths, anacondas, etc, etc. This place was very interesting as well.
I couldn't have asked for a better trip, everything about it was wonderful. If ever you plan on going to the Amazon, i strongly recommend that you get Gerson to go with you, because then you will get to know the real Amazon and her real people. To get his contact info, or to pose any questions,
just message me and I will answer you. It costs less to go with him than with the big agencies, and this way you contribute back to the people of the rainforest.
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Alex
non-member comment
Gerson contact details
hey I just read your travelblog about your trip through the amazon from Iquitos with a chap called Gerson. i can imagine there are a lot of cowboys hawking for business over there but he sounds really genuine. do you know how i can reach him? please could you email me back, thanks! Alex