In January 2004 we flew from Lima, the capital of Peru, to Iquitos, the starting point of our Amazon adventure. It is a city of half a million inhabitants, that can only be reached from the outside by air or riverboat. This is in the top right-hand corner of Peru. Iquitos is 4,000 km (2,500 miles) upstream from the mouth of the Amazon and 2,000 km (1,250 miles) further up from Manaus, the well known Brazilian city on this largest river in the world. This means that there are another 1,500 km (940 miles) upstream to the sources of the main river in the Andes mountains. If you look at the map of South America, basically the Amazon catchment area starts from about 150 to 200 kms (95 to 125 miles) in from the left-hand side, along the Pacific Ocean. So it really occupies almost all of the top wider section of the continent. Almost all of the water collects & flows out the right-hand side into the Atlantic near the Equator. It contains something like half of the whole World's fresh water supply at once! The width of the Amazon at that point was probably 1.5 km (1 mile). Then our English speaking guide, Oscar, pointed out that the opposite bank is an island, 40 kms long & that the river is also flowing on the other side of it too. 

Due to the lack of road connections with the outside world you will not find a lot of cars in Iquitos. Instead they have approx. 36,000 motor powered canopied tricycles (called motokars), that zoom criss-cross through the city streets. They can take 2 passengers - 3 with a bit of a squeeze - and when they breakdown the driver just turns them onto their side on the edge of the road for inspection. These are very colourful and noisy vehicles. 

Our destination was a jungle lodge on one of the tributaries of the Amazon and to get there we boarded a motor-ferry. It took us about half an hour to travel up river from Iquitos to reach it. Our boat passed by uprooted plants as well as the odd uprooted big tree. The lodge was great. Accommodation was in wooden cabins that had wooden walls up to waist height and then mesh wire (very fine) up to the ceiling to prevent the bugs from paying us a visit. For privacy from other eyes you had to draw the curtains, but there was no sound proofing, as there were no windows etc. The hut consisted of a bedroom (bed, table, chair, some hooks for clothing) and an en suite shower and toilet. No electricity or aircon. For lighting, there were kerosene lamps. At night you could hear the strange noises of the jungle, provided your partner or the people next door did not snore! Around the lodge you saw huge parrots, that were very much at home, as well as small Marmoset monkeys. The temperature ranged between the mid and high 20's, but the humidity was between 95 and 99 %. We felt like constantly being in or coming out of a shower. We had taken our Malaria tablets and were armed with sufficient repellent, which we called our "Amazon Deodorant". ['Tabard' from South Africa & 'Off' from Argentina] It helped and we both hardly suffered from being bitten or stung by unpleasant creatures. 

We went on walks, canoe trips (at night to listen to the sounds, during the day to see the birds and plants, to visit a medicine man - shaman - and an Amazon tribe. We were shown how to use a blowpipe with darts and how to do the local traditional dance. Thankfully the arrows had no curare (poison from a plant extract) on them, as we were both not to sure about our aim. But all went well, no one was killed, everybody was happy, especially after we had bought numerous trinkets made by the tribe from seeds, pods, etc. which have now been distributed to those who are bold enough to wear these colourful necklaces. The shaman introduced us to a lot of herbal medicines he uses and explained some of the rituals, one of which he performed on the two of us (to give us health, inner peace, etc). As a result of this visit we have now a bottle of some Amazon Herbal Medication in the fridge, that is supposed to be a universal cure for stomach problems and even arthritis, which might be tried out the moment one of us suffers enough to be brave enough to drink it! It has a long shelf life, especially in a fridge. As of this writing, it has still not been used, 18 months later!

On one canoe trip we went into & under the mangrove swamps on the river banks & to fish for piranhas. We both caught a couple by the way. [Factual update: There is no truth to the tale that piranhas eat humans. They have very sharp teeth and sometimes will prey on injured animals, but the Amazonian Indians swim amongst them and all enjoy a healthy life] 

We even saw the pink Dolphins of the Amazon from a distance, they were waiting for us when we came out of the rain forest into a clearing near the river after a walk. Earlier in the day we went out by boat to specifically look for them and they did not show, in spite of the expert calls of our boatmen.

As we had to return to Iquitos Airport, we had the good fortune to be accompanied by Oscar - who lives in Iquitos - who took us to the Belen market. I have seen lots of markets in a lot of places, but this one took the cake. Large, colourful, and bustling with mainly, friendly Indian locals. There was an amazing product range; from stalls with freshly blended fruit juices, to bottles of remedies and elixirs, spices, fish, meat and fresh fruit and vegetables. A wonderful experience that ended with a lunch in one of the local eateries that Oscar knew. He also knew that tourists are shown the expensive menu and only locals know that there is a handwritten menu at the end of the menu booklet that gives you meals that cost plus a 1/4, but certainly less than the price of meals in the Tourist Menu. So it happened that we had a 3 course meal with a drink of the local fruit cocktail for 7 Pesos ($3.20) compared to the same main meal costing 25 Pesos ($11.50) in the Tourist Menu.

When in Peru, wherever you are, even in the Amazon rain forest, you will hear someone playing the guitar, the flute or singing. Oscar could be found early in the morning, before an outing, waiting for us playing the guitar and singing. He would sit in the open dining room (what we would call 'Boma' back home), but in this case a roof made of large leaves (rather than thatch), with wooden supports and floor. No walls - here the sides were covered by wire-netting against mosquitos. Their music really comes from the heart and is touching.

For us, the Amazon Adventure was everything we'd expected in terms of its vastness. This area is rightfully considered to be the lung of Mother Earth.

written by Elke and Jeremy.