I returned last night from my 4 day foray into the wilds of the Amazon Jungle. At last count, I had 57 mosquito bites, but I keep discovering new ones... I like to think of them as temporary souvenirs, ones which really constantly remind me of my adventures because they are SO ITCHY. Aghhhh.
However, other than that, the experience was fantastic. I stayed at Myuna Lodge, which is about a 3 hr speedboat trip down the river from the city of Iquitos. It's in the primary Amazon jungle, which means that there are no other lodges or people around, except for a small community called San Juan of about 25 inhabitants. The lodge itself was pretty luxorious (by my standards!)-- I got my own room (which was really a little hut on stilts, made of a wood frame, thatched roof, and screens on all sides) with a porch and a hammock, as well as a private bathroom! There was a large communal eating area where we all met for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and everything was set on the banks of a tributary of the Amazon, backed by jungle as far as the eye could see.
The lodge was peaceful in the loudest way; no human noise, but an orchestra of animals, insects, birds, frogs, and other things of nature, especially at night. I lay there in the dark and it sounded like an orchestra, with just a small screen separating me from the musicians. I never knew wildlife could even make so many sounds...
In terms of jungle animals, we got to see quite a few. We went on hikes or boat trips every morning and afternoon (and a couple of evenings) and the last night I went camping with our guide, which was terrible (so hot, so many mosquitos) but definitely an unforgettable experience!
Here's a list:
- Pink and grey dolphins! We also got to swim in the river with them, but none of them came close enough to touch.
- Pirahnas. Not only did I see them, I fished for them, caught them, and ate them. They didn't eat me, thank goodness!
- Millions of tree frogs, from the size of my fingernail to the size of my hand.
- Monkeys! A pygmy marmoset family, that climbed down the tree to have their photo taken from about a foot away, as well as spider monkeys and howler monkeys, which are the largest monkeys in the Americas and make the most bizarre sound.
- A sloth, which was very very far away in the top of a tree, but still awesome.
- Birds, birds, birds... parrots, macaws, cranes, and a million other kinds that I forget the names of. Birds were everywhere, all the time.
- Bugs! Fireflys, gigantic spiders (including tarantulas), fire ants, leaf cutter ants, and butterflies of every color and size, huge blue ones, little red and yellow ones, green ones, white ones. They were so beautiful.
- An emerald tree boa, which apparently is extremely rare and was GORGEOUS.
- Aaaaaaaaand, to add to my list of interesting culinary forays on this trip, I ATE AN ENTIRE LIVE BEETLE LARVAE. Ew. Ewwww. I don't know why I agree to these things, but I simply can't resist a challenge or a dare. Plus, our guide ate two, first. It was about an inch long and white, and slightly pulsating in a very larvae like way. Hahahahha.... So disgusting. But it actually tasted kind of like coconut, and had the texture of a gummy worm. So overall, not a terrible experience. Plus, how often can you say you've eaten a live worm in the Amazon Jungle?
Here's the weirdest part: I'm back in Iquitos (home of a million motorbikes, as there's no way to get here except for by boat and air. Sidenote: one of the other guys at the lodge said he had described it to someone as 10,000 neigbors mowing their lawns all at once from 7am to 2am every day. Pretty accurate.) today and tomorrow, I fly to Lima tomorrow night, and then I have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Lima, before I catch a flight home on Wednesday night. I honestly can't really put anything into words about that... maybe in the next few days I'll have some time for relfection and can come up with something pithy and all encompassing about this trip, but who knows... This is my last 'event filled' entry, though, so if/when I write again it will have to be something thought provoking and intellectual ;) For now, though, see you all in about six days!
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