I have experienced many “firsts” during my time here in Peru. I am continually amazed by the plethora of breathtaking sites, invigorating adventures, and new experiences I am exposed to during my travels throughout this country. Peru is famous for its coast, mountains, and jungle, and these three distinct geographies are woven together to form an incredibly diverse and beautiful country. I’ve explored the coast and mountains significantly during my first year in Peru, and recently experienced my most epic adventure yet: the jungle.
It all began several months ago when former volunteers were describing a crazy vacation in the Amazon jungle. Their experience sparked our attention and we were immediately intrigued by their stories of a 3 day rafting race down the Amazon River. We immediately decided we also had to be a part of this monumental competition, and signed up months ago. Despite the detailed anecdotes and candid warnings of last year’s escapades, we could have never expected what was in store. I’ll begin by sharing the more tranquil part of the trip, and the fact that this “tranquility” also involved piranhas, jungle hiking, vine-swinging, tree-climbing, Amazon-river-exploring, and alligator-hunting is an indication of just how ridiculous this rafting race was.
As our flight descended over Iquitos we could see the winding Amazon River surrounded by green masses of trees, and as we stepped off the plane we were greeted by a wave of intense humid heat. The adventure began early as we were carted off to our hostel in a “taxi” that seemed like it was about to explode. Fortunately our hostel was a step up from the transportation provided, and even had a pool we immediately took advantage of. Iquitos has a very different feel from other cities I’ve visited in Peru and I truly felt like I was on vacation. The city swarms with motorcycles and mototaxis weaving through the streets and the dense heat penetrates the city and seems to impact the laid-back feel of this jungle town. We explored Iquitos, strolling by the river and trying local cuisine; fried banana balls, roasted fish and vegetable skewers, exotic fruit juices, and lots of frozen treats.
The following day we began our jungle expedition with our fearless tour guide, Wilson. My friends and I had the entire tour to ourselves, so we were able to monopolize Wilson’s attention with our questions and special requests. We departed from Nauta, a small port town South of Iquitos and boarded a “bote” that carried us 3 hours down the river to our jungle lodge. As the river narrowed we were surrounded by unique jungle plants, birds, and animals.
Our jungle home for the next 3 days was a rustic wooden lodge built on stilts and carefully protected with nets to avoid mosquitoes. We each claimed our beds, which were thin mattresses on the ground surrounded by princess-style mosquito-net canopies. We enjoyed a delicious welcome meal of what we thought was Anaconda (Wilson later told our gullible-selves that it was really just fish) and departed on our afternoon boat tour. We traveled along the narrow river enjoying monkey howls, colorful birds flitting against the trees, and strange insects joining us in the boat. We took a brief break from the boat to trek around the jungle a bit and then began our nighttime alligator hunting expedition. Wilson took his alligator hunting very seriously, but as usual I had quite a hard time maintaining the requested silence. Despite Erin and my suppressed laughter we were eventually able to find a mini-alligator along the swampy brush. After playing with our squirmy alligator friend for awhile we returned back to our lodge, enjoying the brilliant stars overhead. We enjoyed dinner and cards illuminated by kerosene lanterns and retired to our mosquito net beds, greeted by malaria-medicine induced dreams as we drifted off to sleep.
The following day we awoke ready to trek through the heart of the selva. As we wondered through the dense vegetation we saw enormous 400+ year old trees, long lines of tiny ants carrying leaves 5 times their size, medicinal plants claimed to cure everything from diarrhea to cancer, winding vines for Tarzan swinging, and more. After hours of trudging through the muddy jungle trails in the intense heat and humidity, I happily jumped in the river, regardless of what creatures may have been swimming with me. In the afternoon Wilson took us to the pueblito where he was from, which featured small, open, bright colored houses constructed on stilts to sustain the heavy rainy season. Local children played soccer in the grassy streets as adults kept cool in the hammocks on their front porches. After our brief tour of Puerto Miguel we continued on the river where we found the famous pink dolphins jumping and swimming along our boat. We were able to swim in the warm river water, admiring the grayish-pink dolphins as they gallivanted past. As the afternoon progressed we could see dark storm clouds advancing and powerful rain hitting the water in the distance. We managed to return safely and enjoyed the heavy rain storm from the comfort of our jungle lodge.
The last day of our jungle expedition began with an early morning boat trip to fish for piranhas. Wilson guided us through the morning mist to a piranha cove and we commenced with our high-tech fishing. Armed with wooden sticks, fishing line, a hook, and fish meat we were able to catch dozens of piranhas without too much trouble. Their sharp teeth were intimidating at first, but I ended up having way too much fun playing with my little piranha friends. When we ran out of bait, we chopped up the littlest piranha and used him to lure more of his buddies to our line- just a little cannibalism in action. After our morning fishing trip we relaxed for awhile while the chef fried up the fresh piranhas for lunch. Piranha meat is quite delicious, and the ferocious-looking piranha heads provided some serious entertainment.
Dinners by candlelight in our jungle lodge
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