The journey started with 60 hours in total without leaving airport complexes so it was quite a culture shock to first see South American civilisation at Iquitos. The only way to get here is by plane or boat and it acts as the gateway to the Amazon.
As for the journey it was always going to be eventful - it is me we're talking about after all. Alli had to do at Glasgow Airport was check my bags through to Santiago and collect all my boarding cards. Not so easy - first stumbling block despite asking the very question a month ago - things have changed when you transit through America so you have to go through immigration and customs and I didn't have a visa. Having logged onto the website to get one electronically added instantly it turned out the entire visa system was going through routine maintenance (a reasonable thing at 3am on a Sunday US time). Anyway eventually it was sorted.
Heathrow to Dallas - I am not being disrespectful here but I was seated next to a lady who needed a seat and a half and who was very loud - picture gogglebox and the two friends who always have the pot noodles in front of them!!
So after a crushed ten hours it was US immigration - why was I taking so long to get passed? Why did the guy keep going on about my famous name and asking so many questions about my family etc after I had told him that Lord Snowdon was with an O and not an E? Ah that would be because he didn't recognise the name for that reason but because the surname is the same as the US whistleblower currently exiled in Russia - not so funny.
Other than that it was only the incident of a gate change to another terminal on the Dallas Santiago leg that had me almost missing the flight - in the last handful to board. And by handful I do mean 5!!
And so it was Claire and I met up and started our joint adventure together - not renowned for being any less full of calamity!!
So we jumped on a plane the next morning to Lima then onto Iquitos where we met our guide. After initial Buenos Dias welcomes his first question was whether we knew where we were staying as the company owns three lodges and the one we were in was not to be confused with the one that had air conditioned rooms and a swimming pool. Ours, he was very clear, was the place another 40km upstream with ltd electricity, no air con only cold water, and certainly no pool. Yes we were aware we answered confidently but felt somewhat disconcerted when the guides spoke to each other in their native tongue and were laughing when the blue rather than green tags went on our luggage. That feeling was underpinned when the other 6 American tourists waved us off as they stepped off to their luxury accomodation wishing us luck with a look of pity on their faces.
40km later we switched to a tiny wee boat to take us up stream to where we were staying and it is fab and authentic if somewhat primitive (that said we went to the third venue and ended up v grateful for our upgraded private bathroom with proper toilet!!). It is called Explorama Lodge and covers quite a space housing anything up to 100 guests (there were four of us on the first night and three of us for the next two nights). There is a fully stocked bar, a dining room where we eat with the staff and local workers, basic rooms and hammock house.
The first afternoon was all about settling in then after dinner our guide Roberto took us out on a canoe down stream to where our stream joins the Amazon to enjoy the sounds and limited sights of the jungle by night. Bed was 8:30 and to be fair we were ready for it and slept well under the safety and security of our little tented villages called bed surrounded by mosquito nets (just as well given what was on the top of them the next am).
So day one proper on the Amazon and we headed out on a speed powered canoe upriver for the morning. We were very lucky on the dolphin spotting front - pink ones which are unique to the Amazon and grey ones as well as vultures, stunning butterflies, and an array of other local wildlife. We the. Went further up river for a spot of piranha fishing using rods made of sticks and very bloody meat for bait. Great fun though perhaps not the most fruitful fishing expedition ever - I caught one but yanked it out the river so quickly it went flying through the air on my hook and then freed itself on the other side of the boat. Claire equally had a few near things. Thankfully Roberto caught four which were promptly cooked and served to us for lunch - quite tasty with lime juice but I wouldn't want to be reliant on it to fill me up.
Whilst lunch was being prepared we sat at hammock house and watched two different types of monkeys coming out of the trees and climbing around us to get to the huge bunches of bananas which are left hanging for them - so cute.
That afternoon was a visit to the local Indian community through the jungle. We spotted a number of fungi and small frogs along the way but there are not that many animals about - apparently the humans wearing mosquito repellant puts them off coming by. At the Indian village we were invited into the meeting hall and were presented with the whole community dancing for us then asking us to join in - we had no choice but basically it just meant slow jogging in a circle for 3 mins - not even as challenging as the Gay Gordon's!! As the pictures show these are small people (honest) and I have to say Clsire and I did feel a bit like Charles and Camilla!! After the dancing it was poison dart blowing competition time which again we had to take part in - actually easier than you'd think to blow that hard!! Having made an obligatory purchase from the market they had quickly assembled (complete with free poly bags) we took the short cut back - turns out they live five mins from our place and it wouldn't surprise me if they'd returned to normal clothes and a McDonalds when we left! They didn't but there is a bit of a sense of this being a touristy place where they try and find any reason to get money from you. The guide looking after the lovely lady Jack from NZ who we met here on day 2 is eyeing up her white plimsoles to be left - so much so he's asked her where the laces are and took her on a walk yesterday that would avoid the shoes getting muddy whilst the rest of us were almost ankle deep.
That night was another hike into the bush in search of blooming tarantulas which thankfully after finding one Roberto was happy to come back to base as were we - way too many creepy crawlies in the dark for my liking.
Day three and we were all up and out at 6am for a 1.5 hour boat trip up the Amazon and round to another of the Explorama locations to do the canopy walk along the top of the tree line (Jack worked out it was the equivalent of 10 storeys high and certainly one of those occasions when you don't look down too often!
After lunch we then went to the botanical gardens and had a consult with the local shamin for all our ailments. Once again all his lotions and potions were for sale and the poly bags were on hand. I'm actually not that cynical about it - he performed a ritual on Claire, myself and another of the group to increase our energy levels and I can confidently say that after it I did not sleep a wink passed 2:30am today - nothing to do with the massive rainstorm all night.
The last stop of the afternoon was at the giant water lily pads and local sugar cane rum factory which is basically a wee hut on the side of someone's house. That said the rum was very clean, smooth and fresh to drink and of course there was a certain sense that purchase was obligatory.
The thing about out here is that it is roasting and humid. You have no choice but to sweat freely which makes the cold shower joyous even if you only feel clean for 2 mins before you apply the deet again. When you go into the jungle at night you come back all hot and sweaty again and none of us felt like doing that on our third night so we convinced our guides that an evening in the bar after dinner was far more agreeable. And so it was that Jack, Claire and I had a wee night off.
And so to today - we've been to the local clinic which includes examination rooms, a laboratory, a dispensary and a dentist. This is funded by various agencies but not the government who only set things up in towns which leaves the rural communities of the Amazon pretty much abandoned. the one here was set up by an American doctor who spends six months of the year here and trained some of the locals to be able to man it in the other months. Needless to say Nurse Hitchcock was fascinated.
Next Roberto tried to fulfil my one ask - to see a sloth - and we managed it thanks to our captain of the canoe for spotting one hiding in the trees. Amazing.
Our last stop was a local village of 250 residents which was a real eye opener to how these communities work - they have shops to trade with each other, a governor and three policemen etc. I found it strange cos you would think that in a community of that size you would all commune together and trade as one with the outside world instead of which its all very much individual families making their own ends meet. Today there was no school as it was a day where all the kids and non working residents clean the village - something that happens twice a month. It is a very friendly and innocent community which is bucking the trend in at it is growing and not suffering from everyone being attracted to the bright lights of the city.
And so that is us. We have now to ourselves then lunch (it was Jack's turn to go fishing today and thankfully she was more successful than us so catfish is on the menu). After that we take the boat ride back to Iquitos where we have a night in a four star hotel to get clean, reorganise our bags and grab some dinner before the early morning flight back to Lima to join our 21 day trip through Peru (which we've only just discovered is mainly by public bus.....read the small print!!). Jack is doing her trip slightly differently but on studying her itinerary I am somewhat disappointed to discover that Machu Piccu is the proud owner of a five star hotel!!!! Can you believe it - we're going to spend four days trekking to get to somewhere that has a five star hotel - I ask you. Anyway that's a while away yet.
Whilst writing War and Peace (sorry) we have...
...HUNG OUT AT...the Amazon (still can't believe it)...
...WINED ON...no wine yet but have discovered Pisco Sours. Pisco is named after the place it is made and is effectively a distiller wine almost like a clear brandy. A Pisco Sour as we made Julio the barman show us last night is 1 part fresh lime juice, 1 part sugar syrup, 1.5 parts Pisco, third of an egg white (to be fair it would be easier just making three at the outset as it would be rude to have the chicken go through all it has to produce an egg where only a third of the White is used - oh and they taste amazing), two cubes of ice, blend then pour the frothy mixture into a glass and serve with one drop of angostura bitters and some decorative lime. Stunning and clearly only drunk as it was so refreshing...
...DINED ON...beans in many varieties, bananas in many varieties, wild cucumber, fresh and del monte pineapple, star fruit juice, chicken, beef in coca cola, catfish, oh and yes piranha.
So we're off on the boat back to some mild form of civilisation in a place that's been described as a hot and steamy jungle city for the night. The next week is all about journeys into the Peruvian heartland which I'll share in due course (and maybe more concisely). Until then have a good week or so.
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