Six of us flew from Lima to Iquitos. We expected to see nothing but rain. The clouds parted just enough to get our first view of the river from the air.
In Iquitos we met our Amazon tour leader and took a short bus ride through the city. This panorama was recorded by holding a smart phone still as the bus moved along the street. Other than a few trucks and busses, these are the only vehicles on the road. A chain drives the left rear wheel while the other two wheels turn on their own. A few of the more expensive models have a rear differential. As with the majority of such pictures, click it for a larger view, then click the return arrow to get back.
After an hour or so on the river, we arrived at our first lodge, where we spent our first two nights. Some called it primitive. Cold showers, mosquito net on the single beds. But we had wifi and they served Pisco sours at the bar.
And we had a friendly bright red parrot.
There was a native village nearby, where we sharpened our blow gun techniques.
What we visited was really a show for tourists, but the next day we visited the real village. They wore niki tee shirts and slept under mosquito netting. One small girl came up to us with what we thought was a stuffed animal. It was a baby Three-toed Sloth.
As you can tell, the ground was soaking wet. We considered ourselves very lucky. It rained at night, but plenty of sunshine during the day. We cleaned our shoes every evening.
The natives appeared happy and friendly. We went near the shore one day and the boys there showed off by jumping into the river.
After dark we took a boat ride to listen to the sounds of the jungle. We saw one small snake, caught a small crocodile, and held a small frog in our hands.
On a daylight excursion into the marshes we saw giant lilly pads and fished for piranhas. We had them for dinner that evening.
Our third and fourth nights were at a much more upscale resort. Hot and cold running water, no mosquito nets, and a swimming pool.
Tapirs are rare and endangered, but one wandered through the resort.
Our canopy walk was another highlight. There were about a dozen spans from tree to tree.
One of the most enjoyable experiences was our visit to monkey island. We saw about a half dozen different varieties and they were all very friendly and playful.
Next: Cusco and Machu Picchu