Thinking about how this day started and how it’s not entirely over, I am kind of taken aback with the whole thing. We had a pretty standard hotel breakfast complete with the chafing dish of kind-of slimy scrambled eggs we’ve all come to expect from hotel buffet breakfasts. It was a loud, crowded dining experience in a hotel next to an airport, so not exactly worth repeating. But the breakfast was necessary, and it launched our day. We got ready, packed up and met the other eight people we’re traveling with for the next few days in the hotel lobby at 10. From there, we walked across the street to the airport, through security with all of our large liquids (wearing our shoes!) and right to the gate. The flight from Lima to Iquitos was just over an hour, but we had to tack on an extra 20 minutes to get to the spot on the runway we needed for the flight to begin. Win some, lose some, right?
When we landed in Iquitos, we walked into their open airport- no screens or actual doors- and collected our bags from the carousel. This is where we learned a little about the risk tolerance of other people. Specifically, one woman I saw sprayed bug spray right at her face. Her eyes were closed, but dang. I get wanting protection, but you want to kind of avoid the eyes, nose and mouth with chemicals as a general rule, am I right? Cas and I had some 12-hour protection insect repellent lotion, and we hit the exposed, non-face areas. Maybe the tops of the ears and the neck but not the eyelids. You get the idea.
All sprays, lotion and ointments aside, we made our way to a bus that took us and our luggage to the river. Once there, we had a speed boat ride that took just under an hour to Ceiba Tops, our accommodation for the next few evenings. We have our own little lodge with its own little air conditioner, and if you’ve never trudged through a jungle in 100 % humidity , you can’t possibly appreciate a little window unit air conditioner like we just did. Our evening began after a quick cool down in the room. We met with our Amazon guide Roberto for a walk. His walks are a little different than I am used to. We walked through mud and uneven turf to get to a very special tree. Here’s Cas, checking it out:
On the way, there were beautiful flowers, very cool monkeys and lots of fun facts about medicinal uses for things that were growing all around us. It was very cool, and I felt like the hiking boots were a good thing to pack, even though they took up way too much room in the bag.
We’re back at the main lodge right now, as that is where I can use WiFi around here. Hey, I am just glad it exists in the jungle. There are no real guarantees this far out. Our crew assembles in a few minutes for dinner and a discussion about what we’re doing tomorrow. I’m excited. This is the most exotic, beautiful and strange place I think I have ever been, and we just got here.
Good news, though, our Photo Album has some really great stuff, now! Check it out.
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