Peru is a country that requires a great amount of time available once you decide to explore it. Driven by my childhood dream of seeing a toco toucan in person and by that feeling when you want to overcome a big challenge, I and my friend decided to spend ten days in the Amazonia.
I had a very vague idea what to expect and I was nursing my fear of catching some strange and terrible disease being bitten by all kinds of insects. Nevertheless the air tickets were bought and so we left Lima and its pleasant climate.
After a one and half hour flight we arrived in Tarapoto. Before landing I was stuck to the window trying to adapt my eyes to the green and again green dominating the lush vegetation just about everywhere. I could see a wide meandering brown river and thought, wow that is the real jungle!
Outside the very small airport hall numerous moto taxi drivers were trying to offer their service so we picked one and immediately switched to bargaining Asia-style mode. I ordered the driver to take us to the terminal as we were about to take a colectivo to the port town of Yurimaguas. We had read some blogs where other travelers recommend taking a slow cargo ship until Iquitos. The ship should leave about every day in the early morning and you should bring your supplies of water, a hammock and a bowl with cutlery. We didn’t make the trip in the end, but a few more times we heard from other travelers that it is very cool and you are most likely to meet interesting people there.
Our plans changed completely after we met a guy named Ebere waiting for us at the terminal of Yurimaguas. The two hour ride wasn’t as turbulent as you might expect. I didn’t get carsick and in a very good mood, I was chatting with the driver while admiring the beautiful countryside. The winding road was in good conditions and it was safe. Some years ago while Peru struggled with their terrorist groups we wouldn’t dare to take the risk of being kidnapped. It all reminded me Laos, or Southeast Asia. People were nice and smiling, countryside poor and I was imaging a great variety of cheap jungle fruits supply in the local markets. That one turned out to be far from the truth, nevertheless the markets are colorful and worth visiting with your camera ready.
I will never forget the market we found the first morning in Iquitos, somewhere east of the city center, a place to see; with so many vultures residing just at its doorstep, that it took my appetite away. But let’s get back to the terminal in Yurimaguas. As I learnt from the driver and the girl traveling with us there are also fast boats operated by various companies as the locals of course don’t share the same backpackers’ romantic ideas and are not willing to take that sluggish cargo ship. The price isn’t that bad either and we could reach our goal in just one day instead of 4. We had expected to see the amazon from the boat which would save us a lot of money. But that would be a great mistake. Once there I definitely recommend the national reserve Pacaya Samiria. Due to its complicated name, that took me several days to remember, I didn’t even know I had read about it. It was this Ebere trying to sell us a tour which we luckily didn’t buy who gave us this brilliant tip. Thanks to him persuading us, we decided to spend the time required for the boat ride in the reserve. I recommend you book your tour online during high season (there are four local companies operating in the area, their product is pretty much the same) or like us, over the phone that same evening.
We were very lucky as we realized some days later. Upon our arrival in the little village called Lagunas the owner of the agency / Acatupel, the oldest one, waited for us in the port to take us to the office. Her name is Mara, just like my friend’s! She let our extremely young guide explain the details of the trip and we decided to make it last four days (anything between one day to one month is possible and now I wish we had enough time and money to make those four weeks). One day costs 150 soles, which provides food, water, a place to sleep and in our case an excellent guide, cook and a canoe driver in one. In spite of his age (just 21) Kadir has a great working experience background, basically he was born there in the jungle and followed his father’s footsteps. He proved to be a great guide who knows the place like his own backyard, he could easily navigate after dark, find our hut, make dinner and be consistently nice, smiling and informative. We were his first vegan clients. That meant not much variety in our meals, bananas and oranges for breakfast, rice, potatoes, fried banana, onions and tomatoes for the rest of the day. Meat-eaters would also get eggs and fresh fish. I didn’t mind this diet during my four days, but if we went for longer time I would bring at least some nuts, oats and dried fruits.
The first and the last night we stayed in the hut built by guides from our agency, there are always some guides taking shifts there, watching it and keeping the fire. There are simple beds with a mattress and mosquito nets with holes, so my advice is to arrange the bed before it gets dark. That hut has a power generator, so there is electricity for a few hours if you need to charge your camera, cellphone has no service which means no internet and that is one of the reasons I could completely relax. There is a simple toilet that you flush with the river water and you can also have your bucket shower. We were told it is not dangerous to swim in the river during the day, unless you are bleeding piranhas are no threat, but never swim after dark! There are electric fish that could easily kill you. So you can have a swim during the day, but in the evening, a bucket is a safer option. There is no danger of malaria in the area but there are a lot of other annoying hungry mosquitos.
The amount and variety of animals you will be able to see depends mostly on the season, whether it rains or not, how high the river is, how deep in the jungle you get depending on the number of days, how experienced your guide is and of course all the matter of luck. Our guide could spot birds and monkeys long before we were finally able to see them. He also explained facts and his own stories. He even climbed a tree, cut a branch with a sloth attached to it and brought it down for us. That was the closest we got to a wild animal! After dark we also tried to find crocodiles at the river banks and went for a night walk where we saw gigantic trees with a tarantula. Kadir shared scary legends and his own stories about jungle spirits. Jungle people might seem superstitious, like our new friend Georgie, who told me a story he was bitten by a river snake whose bite separates you from death by the span of one hour. Well, he believes he survived and was saved also thanks to the fact that he was able to kill that snake, as he said, just one will survive. Fortunately it was him! There are a lot of medicinal plants in the jungle. Locals can cure basically anything, they even told us AIDS and cancer are possible, you just need to know which plant, when and how to harvest it. Luckily locals still preserve the knowledge.
There is one plant in particular that many foreigners are desperate to try on their own. Mara from the agency arranged for us a ceremony of ayahuasca with the local shaman. Then we managed to take part in one more ceremony while in Iquitos. There, the shaman was a woman and we were in a group, so I was relaxed and enjoyed it more. It is a unique experience which will be very different for everybody. Prior, a dietary preparation is required. You will need to find a shaman that you can trust. The prices vary from 100 to about 250 soles. Iquitos is a place where you will both suddenly miss the quietness of the jungle, will be able to finally dry and wash your clothes and enjoy the variety of food. In our case the choice was easy, a Peruvian version of Chinese restaurant, called Chifa, the name in a funny way remindsme of the Chinese words chi and fan; which means to eat, to dine. Seems there, in the jungle everybody eats chicken! Also our Chifa was a polleria, and so we ordered a dish that could be called chicken with vegetables without chicken. The portion was huge, and got us ready for town adventures.
To reach our bed and breakfast we took the unique wooden made colorful local bus for just one peso, the ride is a priceless experience. Iquitos is safe to walk basically at any time, just be careful in the area of the Belen market during night. On the contrary the market is a must visit in the morning! Though very smelly experience, you will be shocked what kids or strange stuff are to be found there: clothes, herbs, fresh and cooked food, fish, snakes, turtles and much more. We also visited the floating village with a local guy on the boat. In Iquitos lives very prosperous people and there were splendid times during the exploitation of caoutchouc during those rich but short years in the 19th century. A stop in the Iquitos museum will provide more insight. We again took that funny local bus to the terminal called Bellavista Nanay, strolled through the market, and took a boat to see the confluence of the rivers where two color waters meat to form the river Amazon. There are various options around and you can visit an eco-farm, animal sanctuaries, a butterfly farm, manatee rescue center or rest and swim at lagoon Quistococha. Leaving Iquitos many travelers follow the journey by boat to the Colombian Leticia or Brazilian Manaus, and we returned to Lima by plane.
Story and Photos by Zuzana, Káľová