Katie's News: March 2017

Friday - Travel Day

Paula and I have been perusing many of the Peru flooding headlines. We did check with Ann, our travel agent, and G Adventures, our tour company, and both said it was still a "go". We are not sure what this trip will be like, but I betcha it will deviate a bunch from what our itinerary lists. I guess that is why they call it an adventure.

This was our first time using JetBlue (we usually use Delta). So far we are pleasantly surprised - Half the price! Nice size seats with more legroom than Delta - snacks and full size cokes for our first one hour flight. Both of us think we may try them again.

We got to our hotel room by 2:15 am - immigration and customs were quick. We were only slightly panicked when the workers started yelling at me trying to go out the wrong door.

Saturday -Milaflores & Lima

I definitely won't win any fashionista trend with my sandals and ankle brace. It seems sort of deja vu that I broke an ankle 10 years ago in Peru and now I am returning to Peru with another broken ankle (courtesy of Vermont December's icy paths). Don't worry I am still very mobile. Just no jumping around....

Paula signed us up for a Lima free walking tour. After spending 45 minutes walking around Kennedy Park looking for our yellow vested guide - we gave up and joined the blue vested group.

Milaflores - Kennedy Park

Free Wi-Fi spot in the park - Not sure how secure but nice feature for the public.

We were at least 40 years older than our other walkers average age, but we kept up. We took an interesting bus ride with fast dedicated lanes into town. Definitely a good public transportation system.

Pretty good tour that ended at a store that let us sample different types of pisco ( made from grapes with a high alcohol content 40%).

We stopped and had lunch at a restaurant that lacked a menu with an English translation. We figured out the beer really fast but we played Russian roulette with the food. Each of us picked one from the top and one from the bottom of the 12 soles menu ( 4 dollars ). Paula ended up getting the famous slave dish - grilled beef heart on a stick for her appetizer. We actually ate it and it was good - tasted like a cross between a steak and liver.

My surprise appetizer was a corn maze type of tamale. My main dish was green rice and chicken and Paula had fish with yuca root. Full tummy and ready for an afternoon nap. We negotiated with a taxi driver to take us back to the hotel and crashed.

A little late afternoon walk to exchange some cash and then we rewarded our self with cocktails of Pisco sours before our tour meeting. We have lots of Canadians and Europeans in our group of 26.

Sunday - Iquitos/Boat The Amatista - Amazon

Today was basically a another travel day. Lima to Iquitos by plane and Iquitos to the boat by bus. Our room is cozy and functional and our first meal was pretty good.

We got a quick dusk skiff ride into the jungle which also covered as our evacuation drill. (which proved to be VERY useful).

Drinks, dinner and early bed finished off our first day on the Amazon.

Monday- Red Letter Day

I GOT TO ACTUALLY SWIM IN THE AMAZON. That 's about it for the day.

OK, I did get to see some other things but the swim IN THE AMAZON AND WITH THE PINK DOLPHINS was so over the top it is hard to talk about anything else. Dragging the life jacket around was a pain- but there were spots in the river where the current was really strong so I can see why they would require it.

Alright, I will start at the beginning. Monday morning started out with breakfast on the skiff then bird and critter hunting. It was pretty neat to be eating your breakfast in the middle of the Amazon with all the amazing sounds of the birds.

Most of the things we saw today needed binoculars and really good luck and quick reactions. I did get some photos but you would really need one of those really expensive cameras and willing to spend many hours in one spot to catch that National Geographic type of a shot. I was SEEING tons of those NG memories but just could never get them in digital format.

The little star shaped things lined up on the trunk were bats - and yes we saw them fly off so we knew they were real and not just painted on the bark as I had originally thought.

Things are Big here - even the 'sea oats'?

Nun Bird

Soon after this we did the infamous swim with the dolphins. As I type this in my Georgia house - Even with the 'events' of the last night on the boat- I still think the swim was MY highlight of the trip.

After lunch we sat on the sun deck by a spot that had 5 pink dolphins playing and eating along the shore. After a couple of hours of trying to get that perfect shot I gave up and just enjoyed the show. When the sun hits them just right, they are the color of double bubble bubblegum.

Side note on Pink River Dolphins They are shaped different and definitely don't stay on top of the water very long - the link and its video will give you an idea how hard it was to take a photo of them. Here are my few semi-successful attempts.

Honest, they really were swimming in the same area where and when we were swimming but they never got close to us.

Another sunset boat ride. We saw a total of 8 sloths, a wonderful treat for the eyeballs but not for my camera because they were masters of camouflage.

Bottom center and a little left are TWO sloths - one hanging in the middle and a smaller one balled up to the left. Remember we are sitting in a boat a good distance away -- it is amazing that our naturalists can spot them from a moving boat. (BUT in fact - Jen, one of our group, was the first to spot one - THIS time.)

Tuesday Amazon

Morning trip to a local eco-lodge where we separated into two groups - short walk or long walk. I used my ankle as the excuse to do the short walk and of course Paula went with me to "watch over me". We started out with 8 but quickly ended up with just 5. There are hills in he Amazon! It was in the mid 80's, but I really think the humidity was the toughest part of the hike.

Lots of roots to trip you up and lots of slick ground to increase your instability. We saw lots of termite and ant nests, we drank water? from the cats claw vine, we were decorated with the jungle's version of bright orange calamine lotion and we learned how to weave a thatched roof ( which needs to be replaced every 8 months).

Edgar, one of our boat crew, substituted for our naturalist and did a great job as a first timer. Here he is taking a piece of ant nest and smooshing the ants up to create an 'fragrant' insect repellent. (who needs Deet anyway).

Be careful what you grab for support when climbing up the hill.

Paula with her handmade sweat band and her first orange bark "stain".

The beginnings of a woven thatched roof

Colorful Mushrooms

We made it !

Afternoon was for being lazy and cruising to our next stop. There is thunder in the background - so this might be our first real rain in the rainforest.

We didn't need to go to the jungle to find this guy.....

Another late afternoon boat ride looking for wildlife.

Victor always ready with his green laser pointer.

weaver bird's nests

And another beautiful sunset on the Amazon

Side note: the orange bark stuff we VOLUNTARILY put on our face is semi permanent. It is a good thing Paula and I are not overly concerned with appearance because both of us have angry/burn type marks on our face that after 4 days are just NOW starting to fade. It doesn't hurt though. Paula gets the prize because she asked for extra 'decorations' and got them.

Wednesday Day 4 Amazon

We stopped by a small village, where there were children on the bank playing with their pet capybara and monkey. We saw many examples of children left alone in situations what WE would consider dangerous. Reminded me that in this environment the people are still in the survival mode. They don't have the luxury of spending time monitoring their kids - the parents are out gathering and hunting food for the kids.

Side note: -- when the Catholic missionaries were in the Amazon Jungle - they gave the natives permission to substitute capybara for fish on their Friday meal because they swam.

We got to visit the village Shaman this morning. Carola was a tiny woman who had started her 8 yrs of training at the age of 15. The first two years was spent in the jungle learning her craft. Paula volunteered to be the first to be blessed by the shaman. She told her she was healthy and strong (aka pushy).

The shaman ended by blowing smoke, waving a bush she used like a feather duster and chanting blessings for each of us. The instant she closed the group blessing, I thought I saw a large black bird or shape in the distance leave the area.... it gave me goose bumps. Maybe there was something in the smoke she was blowing at each of us during the blessing.

Next on our adventure was visiting a village family. The mama, 44, had 11 children and was still breast feeding the last one. She told us about herself and asked questions about us. We were served a traditional lunch.

I picked the items I recognized and chose wisely. I had delicious catfish, sweet potato, yuca, and rice with a nice spicy hot sauce. Eating the rice and sauce with my fingers was a bit messy but still yummy.

Paula was not as lucky. After eating what she thought was pretty good tasting wild bore ... she discovered she was not eating pork but the second largest rodent in the jungle. Snicker.
The afternoon fishing activities were delayed by a wickedly strong rainstorm. It cleared quickly and we went to a spot where there were known to be piranha. No quiet fishing here, you tap the water and then put in your bait. Most of us caught at least one. Paula didn't....

There was a lot of loud boasting from the other boat – but I think it was just “fake news”. And yes, the caught piranha was kept, cooked and served that night. It was a little too fishy and bony.

Victor, our naturalist, and our skiff driver, hacking the jungle so that our skiff would fit thru.
We had a night skiff ride to look for red eyes. We saw another sloth, big fishing bats, hawks, glow worms, and a baby Amazon type of crocodile called a cayman.

Thursday Day 5 Amazon

We visited the town of Nauta (35000) saw some really big fish, rode around in a tuk-tuk, drank a beer, and sort of shopped. The savvy souvenir ladies had devised the perfect "click bait" gimmick...they had a baby sloth as a pet that they let us hold and pet RIGHT BY their blanket of baskets and trinkets. I bought a basket and held the sloth. Very cuddly but with very course hair.

After a Chifa (Chinese/Peruvian mixed cuisine lunch) and a nice siesta, we tied up by another little village to visit.

The captain got one of the neighbor boys to help tie our boat to a tree.

(I don’t think we ever really “ANCHORED” we would just tie up to a nearby tree or ground the boat in the dense but bobbing hyacinth islands.) A few minutes later, a vulture perched in the tree that overhung our sun deck. It seemed a little foreboding with the majority of the passengers being over 60.

After a too long sweltering intro to the village and butterfly display, we were finally shown the type of rodent that Paula ate for lunch yesterday.

It was interesting to see the village but definitely too drawn out in the heat. (Especially as we were told to dress in our warm jungle gear).

Paula's yesterday's lunch

Agouti - second largest rodent in the Amazon

Village children - Some of the passengers donated some soccer balls and school supplies to their local school.

At the end of the village tour our guides gave us a monkey spotting boat ride that nicely cooled us off. And spotting a rainbow on the way back to the ship made the ride even better.

Friday Day 6 Amazon

WE THOUGHT the Highlights of the day would be the bug in my ear and our last chance shopping. Boy, were we wrong.

We had a morning boat ride past a lot of houses on tiny pieces of land or on stilts, that would eventually be on dry land in a few months.

Most were farmers with chickens, banana plants, yuca plants (potato-like tubers) and lots of children. The kids showed us the walking catfish that can live for 10 minutes out of the water. We would later return to this spot to shop when all the neighborhood moms and their children came to sell their crafts.

We went thru some areas that reminded us so much of our Georgia marsh areas and the Okefenokee Swamp - except everything was bigger, thicker and greener. A lot of the same birds too.

Very close to this spot we were able to spot two rare Hoatzin Birds. They were too far away to take a photo but we could see them.

Returning from the ride and village I noticed a moving tickle in my ear. Paula had to be nurse for the hour and pour hydrogen peroxide into my ear. The little critter was eventually bubbled out. When thinking back on all the tickling and bubbling, it still gives me goose bumps.

The all important group photo

Amazon 2017

Sundeck of the Amatista

Our talented crew members had been entertaining us every evening before dinner with music and sometimes dance.

Victor, our naturalist on the right, next was Edgar, a waiter and our first timer short-hike naturalist, Vincent, the bartender and lastly the first floor cabin 'boy'.

On our last day our entertainment was a little different.
First we had a VERY tedious “Where We Have Traveled and What We Have Seen” lecture. Then came the rousing towel folding competition - our cabin boy won hands down. Last was a surprise champagne cruise.... we motored out into the middle of the Amazon met up with the other skiff and toasted our trip with some bubbly. After dinner we finally met all the crew that had taken such good care of us, shook hands and got certificates saying we had survived in the Amazon.......not so quick......

At about 11:15 (too early for April fools) we were awoken by Victor banging on our door and yelling FIRE FIRE get your passports and get off the ship. Paula kept saying grab the ropes - ROPES? Where are there ropes in the room? Why in the hell did she want ROPES?
ROBES is what she really said BECAUSE she on had a tiny nightgown and NO underwear. I of course was completely covered with my granny gown. Not sure why she (or why I) just didn’t turn around and grab our clothes we had on hangers ready for the next day…. So in our PJ’s we got our purses with passports already in them, shoes and ROBES and nothing else. Damn no camera ! We ran down the hall and down the stairs into really acrid smoke coming from the lower (we thought kitchen area) deck. We were the first on the boat – ‘always early Paula’. We actually jumped on before it got to the regular loading area. (Not real good for my unwrapped healing broken ankle - Probably, I should have grabbed my ankle support thingy instead of the robe). And why didn’t we grab the nice fire extinguisher hanging on the wall in our bedroom?
When they finally got the outboard engines started to back up the skiff, we were in view of the flames coming from the kitchen area. I think a few choice words popped out of my mouth. Smoke totally filled the kitchen, dining room and upper deck sitting room.

BEFORE

view of the back of the boat - Kitchen on bottom, then our dinning room and sitting room on top.

AFTER

view from the side - flames are below the kitchen large sliding window

The chef was dumping buckets of water on the flames from in the kitchen. We learned later that he actually fell out into Amazon- and had to call for help. Supposedly, the captain and his son jumped in to save him. We pulled further away from the boat and waited. Thank goodness the bugs were not out. The crew, without protective gear, fought the flames and smoke. After about 20 or 30 minutes (probably seemed longer), the captain gave us 15 minutes to go back on and get our medicines and get some clothes on. I got dressed in my airplane clothes and grabbed all I could stuff in my backpack. Luckily earlier that day, we had been told to have our luggage packed and out the next morning at 6:30 am. Both of us had 98% of our packing done, just toiletries, electronics and our airplane clothes were left to throw in our backpacks.
In hindsight Paula and I probably should have done things a bit differently and hopefully if we ever have to deal with another similar situation we will make better decisions. But kudos to the crew! I am not sure how the crew could have been better. They kept us safe and calm and as comfortable as possible. Granted I am sure it helped that 100% of the passengers were experienced travelers with positive attitudes.

Nighties and purses

We got back into the skiff to evacuate to the Iquitos. On our 10 minute ride into the city it started pouring. Thankfully, they store ponchos in a bucket on the boats, just for any surprise downpour. We had a couple of false landings due to the fact the city was rather large (pop 350,000) and had many docks. Our dock was definitely part of the red light district (I am glad Paula and I were out of our nighties - This mishap will forever change my nightime travel attire).

at Iquitos dock - wet but safe

Somehow the tour company had quickly located a hotel that could put up 28 people at a moments notice as well as a bus to get us there. It was 'economical' hotel across the street from a busy casino with a very strong base system. It was clean and the single night manager was a magician! . He did a surprisingly quick job of getting us all into our rooms (and this is with having to xerox all our passports on a really slow color printer). The beds were comfortable but the sound of the booming base and the raining beating on the tin roof kept me awake for a couple of hours. (Or Maybe it was leftover adrenalin)