The very same day that we got back from Arequipa my good friend Natalie and I hopped on a plane to Iquitos. When we got there we met up with two more friends who were just finishing out their trip. It was so nice to see them, especially my housemate Erin. Over the semester I have gotten so close with my housemates and it's been really hard to say goodbye to them when people began to go home or travel in different directions. It was really nice to have one last hurrah!
The four of us only had one day together but it was action packed. First we went to Belén market where we encountered a wide variety of local cuisine ranging from turtles :( to fat grubs like they eat in the lion king... That was one delicacy that I was not volunteering to try any time soon. Our next stop was a manatee reserve where we were able to pet, feed, and play with baby manatees!! It was beyond cool!
After the manatee reserve we went to an animal refuge that was started by an Austrian woman. One of the first little critters I met was a red faced monkey!
We then continued on to the butterfly farm. That in itself felt like another world with the hundreds of butterflies gracefully flying around.
Do you see the butterfly on the top right hand corner?
After leaving the butterfly area we went on to meet sloths, parrots, monkeys, and a jaguar. The refuge has saved all of these animals from inhuman situations. The most common situation being when the animals are treated as pets, but their owners don’t really know how to care for them properly.
On the boat ride back to Iquitos we saw some gray dolphins splashing around in the water. And as we approached them the “line” between the Amazon and Nanay rivers became visible. It’s actually possible to see the boundary between the rivers based on their colors. The Amazon River is at the top of the picture and lighter brown whereas the Nanay River is on the bottom and darker.
The next morning we said goodbye to Laura and Erin and headed into the jungle. Before our boat took off a very pleasant Finish couple joined Natalie and me. They would accompany us for our three-day jungle excursion. On the way to our lodge we made one stop in a little village where they had a crocodile farm and 5 of the largest fish I've even seen in my life, the piache fish.
After continuing on the boat ride we finally arrived at our lodge in the jungle. And it was everything you’d expect when you think “jungle lodge.”
Once we had settled into our rooms we went out on our first adventure: pink dolphin spotting. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of the rare dolphins because they don’t often rise too high out of the water (because they weigh a ton!) and when they did I didn’t have my camera on. It's too bad, because that was one of my favorite moments on the trip! I did however, capture the charm of our next adventure, a nearby city, on camera. As we approached we saw kids playing (and back-flipping) in the water...
All of the houses are built on stilts because the water level rises so drastically during the rainy season. I wonder where the goats stay when that happens…
The following day we went to a location where we could hold monkeys, snakes, birds, and sloths. I passed on holding the snake, but here’s a picture of my friend Nat working a large snake accessory…
I on the other hand made friends with the monkeys…
After working up a sweat from playing with the monkeys we decided to go swimming in the Amazon River… It definitely took me a while to stop worrying about piranhas, but once I did it was very enjoyable. We even gave ourselves mud baths! Laying in the shallow water and letting the waves wash away the mud was another one of my favorite moments of the trip.
Later that day we went for a hike through the jungle and our guide told us all about some natural remedies made from all sorts of things found in the jungle. Some interesting ones included: squashed termites as mosquito repellent, "milk" (white colored sap) from a tree that cures an upset stomach, and another acidic fruit that can be used an repellent. Here's a picture of Natalie cutting into the tree with a machete to get us a taste of the "milk". It was pretty good actually.
Another concoction from the jungle that we learned about is semi-permanent tattoos made from the juice of a local fruit. Below our guide is extracting the juice from the green fruit.
The juice starts out green, but eventually turns darker and darker until it’s black. When you paint it on your skin the resulting tattoos last up to a week! Here’s my tattoo…
Later that night we went on another hike where we were hunting for venomous things like tarantulas, scorpions, snakes, and other spiders. Although it wasn’t really my cup of tea I somehow was coxed in to holding a tarantula. Yikes! We didn’t encounter much else though. Phew!
Our final day in the jungle consisted of exploring a nearby city, fishing for piranhas, seeing a snake in the wild (not in a cage, park, etc.) for the first time, and swinging from a vine in the jungle! I am proud to say that I was the first one to catch a piranha… Who cares if in the end it was the smallest one, right?! In fact, you’ll be luckily if you can even spot it in this picture. Nevertheless, it was a fun experience.
We continued our canoe trip along the river and encountered another sloth randomly chilling on a branch overhanging the water. We also saw a lot of parasitic plants taking over trees…
See how it looks like the tree is split into two parts?
That’s really a parasite sucking the tree clean of nutrients.
Eventually we went back to the lodge to cook lunch and try and eat whatever little meat we could find on our catches of the day! Before we knew it our time in the jungle was up and we were back on the boat to the main city of Iquitos.
So long, Amazon! I had a great time and I can check the third “world” of Perú off of my list! All in all, it's been an unbelievable semester... Perú has definitely captured a piece of my heart. Adios, Perú! Te amo y regresaré pronto! <3
Thanks for reading everyone! See you in the states!!
Hasta luego,
Katie J
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