Thursday, November 3, 2011

Viaje #4- Iquitos y Las Amazonas

Welcome to the Amazon!

We spent this last weekend in the Amazon Rainforest and it was a great trip! We flew into the city of Iquitos (the largest city only accessible by boat or plane, as no raods lead in or out of the city). From there we took a bus to the Amazon river and then got on boats to travel to our destination within the jungle. Here, you must access everything by boat. We stayed in a jungle lodge located right on the river and tucked into the edge of the Amazon tropical jungle.  The climate is HOT, and has 100% humidity. Once at the lodge, our first activity was hiking through the jungle, where we saw numerous animals (monkeys, frogs, snakes, sloths, turtles, etc.) and learned a lot about the Amazon. We had to wear long pants and long sleeves as to protect against the mosquitos in the jungle.

We also got the chance to spend a whole day on the Amazon river. Fresh water grey and pink dolphins are common on the Amazon and we spotted a ton of these. Also, we were able to see manitees. The second day of the trip, we spent our day fishing for piranhas and swimming in the Amazon! Once nighttime fell, we rode down the river searching for cayman alligators to catch!

One of the best parts about jungle life was surprisingly the food! We were served jungle meals all week and I was able to eat Piranha (the ones we caught earlier that day!) and lots of new fruits. There were bananas at nearly every meal. My favorite meal was Jaune, which was chicken, hard boiled egg and olives wrapped in flavored rice and served on a palm leaf. We put a citrus sauce on top of the meal which made the dish absolutely delicious!

Our final day in the jungle was spent at a native village in the Amazon where we were able to meet many of the people, buy some of their homemade crafts, and play with all the kids. We played lots of volleyball and soccer.

At the Lodge, looking out into the Amazon Jungle

Caught One!

Piranha Teeth!

Hanging Out on the Amazon After Swimming!

Catching Cayman!

One of the Sloths!
Enjoying our Jungle Lunch!

1 comment:

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