Cha Cha Cha

As much as we liked taking a boat down the Amazon, the return journey wasn't quite as fun. Not that it was a bad trip; it was just same-old, same-old. It took a little bit longer too, so we ended up spending 3 nights aboard.



Banana raft. Which reminds me...while we were in Iquitos I read about a yearly raft race on the Amazon. Participants build their own 4-person rafts and steer them down the river for 3 days or so. If you want to be on my team next year, you should let me know.



4 boats in one! I wonder if they all need repairs?



This kid flew his bag kite off the side of the boat for about 20 minutes until it got loose.



Sunset on the Amazon.



Have they all melted, or are they just running around naked while their laundry dries?



This kid enjoyed belly-flopping into the water repeatedly.



At every stop food vendors came aboard to sell their wares.



You can buy an exotic bird from the Amazon for less than $10.



A picture perfect sky!

After getting off the boat in Yurimaguas we ran into a bit of a road block -- literally. The whole town was in the middle of a 48-hour protest that barred any traffic from entering or leaving the city. We had to sit around for most of the day, but luckily the protest ended around 5 and we were allowed to head to Tarapoto. (By the way, these town names should sound familiar -- we went through them on the way into the jungle).



The protest blocking the road. Turns out they were protesting deforestation.

In order not to repeat our entire journey into the jungle we stopped in a different mountain town on the way back to Trujillo. The town, Chachapoyas, boasts several tourist traps nearby, and we found ourselves caught. We went on 3 separate day trips in the area.

The first day we went to Kuelap, which is a site of Chachapoyas (a tribe of "cloud people") ruins. The ruins are often said to be the second best in Peru, after the Incan Machu Picchu, of course. After visiting the ruins our guide told us that we could walk down the hill to a town called Tingo, where he would meet us for the ride back to Chachapoyas. We thought that sounded nice. 3 hours, 10 kilometers, and several thousand feet (down) later, we made it to Tingo. He didn't really mention that the hike was so involved, and my knees were killing afterward. Ah well.



This-a-way!



A bunch of llamas live outside Kuelap.



The Kuelap ruins are remarkable because the Chachapoyas people built and lived in circular homes.



The cool diamond shaped decorations are also a popular feature of Kuelap.



Some archaeologist decided to "reconstruct" one of the structures in Kuelap. Apparently, this was controversial and the Peruvian government plans to tear it down sometime in the future. Ironically, posters of the reconstruction are what convince most tourists to visit.



Everyone likes monkeys, even though I highly doubt any monkeys ever lived in this region of the country.



We passed some small houses on the way down to Tingo.



We passed a wee piggy, too.



On the way from Kuelap to Tingo...

After barely recovering from our Kuelap trip, Mike and I woke up at 5am again the next day to head towards more archaeological sites. First we visited the Pueblo de los Muertos, which was a ceremonial site perched precariously on the side of a cliff.



We encountered an obstacle on the way to our tourist sites for the day: a bridge had collapsed a few days earlier, killing a few unfortunate souls.



Eeek!



At Pueblo de los Muertos several small statues sit tucked away in the cliffs. The locals call them sarcofagi.



As I said, the structures were very precariously perched on the cliff.



Mike poses on the edge of oblivion.



My turn.



In the afternoon we visited another site called Ayachaki. There were a few more sarcofagi and some crazy trails to hike.



This head was just sticking out of the cliff.



There were a few precarious buildings at Ayachaki as well.

Our third side trip from Chachapoyas brought us to La Catarata Gocta, which was billed as the third tallest waterfall in the world. We had our doubts about the veracity of that statement, but we thought the hike and the waterfall would be nice anyway. It turns out that we were right to doubt it, because various sources make other claims (such as 5th or 14th). At any rate, Gocta is 771 meters tall, which is still pretty big. The hike there turned out to be 6 kilometers one-way, which was another unexpected surprise. The tour agencies really don't reveal much info, and some of the people in our group really weren't in the kind of shape to be hiking for 12k up and down muddy embankments. Ah well, we enjoyed the hike nevertheless.



One of the women, at least, had a ride for the rough terrain.



Check out this awesome rock!



Here's a pic of the 2-level waterfall from a distance.



And here is the bottom part of the falls with me pictured in the red circle (squint real hard or click on the picture to enlarge it a bit). Mike had to stitch together several pics to get the whole thing.

Amazon Expedition

Note: Mike has requested that I include a Haiku to spice things up. I've decided to include many; in fact, all of my picture captions will be Haikus in this post. (I am not a poet.)

Since Iquitos is really a large city in the middle of the Amazon, we weren't convinced that we were getting the true jungle experience by taking mere daytrips from our hotel; therefore, we signed up for a 3-day expedition.

Day 1

5:00 -- We wake up and pack our gear in a haze of sleepiness.

5:45-7:30 -- We attempt to sleep in a crowded car on the way to Nauta, which is a town on the way to our lodge.

7:30-10:00 -- We eat a miserable breakfast and hop on a boat for a few hours. The boat is powered by what looks like a converted lawnmower motor; as such, the boat vibrates enough to loosen one's fillings.

10:00-12:00 -- After parking our gear in our "lodge" (no electricity, no running water -- a true rustic Amazon lodge) we familiarize ourselves with the grounds. One of the permanent residents (a family takes care of the lodge and cooks for tourists) had caught an emerald boa the previous day, so he showcases it for us. Then we take a walk through the jungle with our guide, Adriano, and the one other tourist, Peter. We see some big trees, but no animals other than 5,000,062 mosquitos. We have to "watch out" for several different kinds of plants that host fire ants, cause skin rashes, and contain poisonous substances. It has recently finished raining, which means that we are wading through a foot of muddy water in rubber boots. Rubber boots are mandatory footwear in the jungle. I begin to wonder what I've gotten myself into as I search for any interesting animal through the haze of mosquitos in front of my eyes.

12:00-1:00 -- Lunchtime. Rice and fried platanos are a staple, but the meat changes from chicken to fish and back throughout our trip.

1:00-4:00 -- We take a canoe trip down the river and into the jungle. I like this a lot better than our earlier walk. There aren't any mosquitos, and it's pretty cool paddling amongst the huge trees. We see some pink dolphins swimming in the river and lots of birds. Some areas look like flooded jungle, others like tranquil ponds (complete with lily pads and marshy plants).

4:00-7:00 -- We rest for a while before dinner. Adriano tells us a long, drawn-out story in pretty awful English. I'll summarize it, since I couldn't possibly capture the nuances of his speech:

About 5 years ago an 18 year-old boy decided to go hunting in the jungle for something other than fish to eat. He took with him a machete for clearing paths and for protection. Not that it did him any good in that regard. When he hadn't returned after hours, his family began to worry. They waited, but it was getting dark and too late to search for him. The next day, the village formed a search party, and the group followed his tracks into the jungle. After some time, they found his machete lying useless on the ground next to a wide path winding further into the jungle. They followed the path a short distance and found an enormous anaconda with an even larger, human-sized lump in its belly. The men immediately shot the anaconda, killing it. They then carried it whole back to the village. Fearing the worst, they slit open the snake's belly to reveal the boy, swallowed whole -- head first. The bones in his body were crushed to a pulp, since anacondas squeeze their victims to death before dining on them. The boy's face was rendered unrecognizable since it had been swallowed first and the snake's stomach acid had already begun digesting it.

Adriano swears that this is a true story and that he saw images from the incident on TV. Gross. We ate dinner a short while later.

7:00-9:00 -- We all hop into the canoe again after dark, this time with headlamps. We paddle into the jungle in search of caiman, which are like small alligators. We only find one very small specimen (about 6 inches long), but he's a noisy little bugger. Caiman make squeaky noises, kind of like a rusty hinge. Adriano plucked it right out of the water and passed it along the canoe for each of us to hold. I declined. As we paddle back to camp we hear water falling in a stream into the river. We look up to catch a sloth taking a piss.

9:00 -- We go to bed in our individual, mosquito-blocking tents.


Amazon boat ride
Run by lawnmower motor
Unsafe gas transfer


Amazon landscape
The river looks abandoned
Apocalyptic


Emerald boa
Fell out of a nearby tree
Local trapped the snake


Slithering freely
Snake with beautiful color
Tries for his escape


The snake is pissed off
His fangs are bared in fury
Don't get too close by


Amazon hiking
Mosquitos swarm our faces
Rubber boots suck ass


Beautiful spider
Spins a doiley web of silk
And waits patiently


A tarantula
Lingers on a nearby tree
Hairy and ugly


River canoeing
Floating past small villages
On Amazon banks


A watery scene
Greets us as we paddle through
The tall jungle trees


Elegant heron
Poses on the river bank
In all his splendor

Day 2

8:00-9:00 -- We wake up, eat breakfast, and observe the local wildlife. We watch the pygmy marmosets in a nearby tree. Most are not much bigger than my hand, and they are hard to spot because they're fast. The pygmies are the smallest kind of monkey. We are amused by one monkey that tries desperately to escape the wrath of a hummingbird. The hummingbird chases it for a good 3 minutes as it scrambles higher and higher into the tree.

9:00-12:00 -- We jump in the canoes again; this time we go in search of monkeys. Adriano knows just where to look, but we come across only one wooly monkey in the usual spot. He's friendly though, and he hops into our canoe for some bananas and biscuits. When he's full we set off toward a spot popular with the pink river dolphins. Peter takes a swim, but since the dolphins aren't keen on getting too close, Mike and I decide not to get wet. Once Peter's back in the boat we go look for more monkeys and find a whole bunch of them. They're wooly monkeys too, and they're more than happy to feast on bananas and bread. Their fur is really soft and their eyes are quite expressive.

12:00-1:00 -- Lunchtime. We eat the usual.

1:00-4:00 -- We go out in the canoes again, but this time we are going fishing. This is only the second time in my life I've been fishing. It's a bit different than the other time, since this time I use a wood stick instead of a fancy fishing pole with a reel and everything. Mike and I aren't terribly successful at first, but we each catch a fish in the end. Mine's the biggest one: a catfish. Mike also catches a catfish. In fact, most of the fish are catfish, but Adriano catches 2 pirahnas too.

4:00-7:00 -- We take it easy in the camp and then eat a typical dinner.

7:00-9:00 -- A shaman visits the camp so that Peter has an excuse to try some trippy tribal ritual. It's called an Ayahuasca ceremony, and it involves drinking a halucinogenic potion created from jungle plants. Supposedly you see visions which the shaman interprets to predict your future. It sounded a bit too spooky to me, so Mike and I just watch. The ceremony is really boring since it entails sitting still in the dark for a long period of time. The shaman chants, Peter throws up, we drowse. The end.

9:00 -- We go to sleep.


Monkey approaches
Looking for banana treat
Mouth wide with hunger


Bananas taste good
So says the wooly monkey
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm


Mike has made a friend
He bribed the monkey with food
Bread is tasty too


One last monkey pic
So you can sense our delight
Monkeys are so cute


Red flower petals
Brighten our canoe journey
With their prettiness


Pretty purple plant
Attracts hovering insects
Looking for good food


A local spots Mike
With his camera aimed ashore
And laughs his ass off


A tiny paddle
Suits the little local child
Learning to canoe


Woman in canoe
Catches with a fishing net
Her tasty dinner


Jackie's catfish catch
Is the biggest of the bunch
But still pathetic


Adriano shows us
The pirahna's teeth at work
On another fish


I hold our catches
So Mike can take a photo
Of all our hard work


Destined for the grill
Our fish become a dinner
Despite their small size


A shaman visits
Performs a ceremony
Chants into the night


Peter starts tripping
Sees visions of his future
Barfs in a bucket

Day 3

8:00-9:00 -- We wake up and eat breakfast.

9:00-11:00 -- While Peter recovers from his trip, Mike, Adriano, and I take out the canoe for one last spin. We go deep into the watery jungle, sighting a large sloth, some toucans, and tree iguanas.

11:00-12:00 -- We eat one last jungle meal, and then Mike and I watch a sugar cane juicing in progress.

12:00 -- We begin the return journey to Iquitos, exhausted from our busy expedition.


A green iguana
Lazes on a high tree branch
Catching some sun rays


A vigilant bird
Watches from a perch above
As we float below


A sloth in a tree
Spotted by our guide's sharp eyes
Moves at its leisure


Sugar cane jugo
Is sweet when fresh from the press
A local boy waits


Wandering rooster
Does not fit the jungle theme
But makes a nice pic

In case you didn't catch it, I snuck in the answer to the last poll. The events we did witness are in bold. We never saw an anaconda in the jungle, much less one eating his lunch. I was a little disappointed, but after Adriano's story I was a bit relieved as well.

Sorry for my terrible Haikus.