Well, here we are back in Lima! We survived our jungle adventure, which of course ended up being pretty freaking epic. Once we made it through one last night of incredibly sketchy Peruvian Andes busing (por fin!), we were able to relax a bit and let ourselves be dragged along by the slow-moving jungle culture. Not that you have a much of a choice but to go along with it; things out there happen when they happen, without any way to predict it, or hurry it along. Which as you can guess, doesn't bug us one bit. But it is like a whole nother world. A world filled with dusty huts covered in palm leaves, barefooted people, animal noises, crazy heat, and green as far as you can see. AKA about as opposite of North Dakota as you can get.
We arrived in Yurimaguas, a small village right on the river, expecting to hop right on a boat to Iquitos, but were soon informed the boat had yet to arrive, and no one in town knew when it might. A day? 2 days? A week? No one seemed to agree on an answer, so we gave up on asking, found a hostel right by the river to post up in for an indefinite amount of time, and set out to explore the town. Yurimaguas doesn't have much of a reputation as a tourist town, but true to form we enjoyed it just the same, if not more. There aren't any sights to see, fancy shops, or many gringos coming through, but we felt like we got a taste of how the people really live their lives. We pushed our way through the big, bustling market, wandered the dusty streets, ate in whatever scrappy restaurants we could find (only 1 dead fly in the coffee), and even got to talk and have a snack at a family's house on the outskirts of town. Of course we had to make our way down to the port every couple of hours to check the status of the boat since the answer changed every single time we asked by at least 12 hours, but like I said you just gotta go with it.
FINALLY the men had the boat loaded and ready to leave, so we made our way to the top deck to string up our hammocks. The boat had 3 levels: the 1st full of cargo, the 2nd full of Peruvian families making the trek back home or to visit family, and the 3rd made up mostly of travelers, some gringo backpackers and some South American crafts-makers. The next 3 days were about the most peaceful ones I've ever had. Some people may call it boring, I'd just say tranquila. The days' activities included card playing, bracelet making, reading, watching the jungle go by, listening to the Brazilians next to me play the guitar and harmonica, and best of all: hammock naps. The sunrises and sunsets were among the most gorgeous I have EVER seen, and we even spotted some pink river dolphins following along. It was damn close to magical, and I don't think I've ever been more content doing absolutely nothing.
The city of Iquitos, however, has a bit of a different feel. It is the largest city in the world not accessible by roads, and after passing nothing but jungle and tiny riverside villages for 3 days, it took a little getting used to. It is big, loud, dirty, and busy. The roads are crammed with motorcycles and moto-taxis, and there are people everywhere, most of them shouting in your face about jungle tours. “100% of people who come here do them....” but unfortunately for us we were out of money, so a trek into the wilderness was out of the question. We still hung out for a few days before heading back to Lima, however, spending time with our new friends from the boat and doing our best to acclimate ourselves to the strange, sometimes dark-magic-feeling town. One day we got a boat tour through the floating shanty town Belen, sometimes called the “Venice of South America”. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was definitely entirely different from anything I have ever seen before. The shacks are small and dirty, some balanced precariously on stilts above the water, others just floating in it. There is a school and church but no stores or anything else, and nothing to connect them all together. No sewage system whatsoever, but tons of kids swimming in the river nonetheless. It was definitely a sight to see, but paying to get brought through to marvel at these people's normal lives made me feel a bit uncomfortable for the first time in a while. I can't imagine living my whole life out there on the water, and sometimes still can't believe the inequality in the world.
The Belen market was also something to see. SO packed I could hardly believe it, both with people and with just about anything in the world you could think of to buy. Medicines and spices from the jungle, river fish as big as a person, reeking animal parts, snake skins, tons of fruits I've never even heard of before, even necklaces made from monkey teeth. We also went to the manatee refuge where we got to help feed orphaned baby manatees (SO cute), saw the zoo, and got to try lots of jungle cuisine, excluding big fat shishkabobbed grubs....
THANK YOU, THANK YOU for being a part of it all,
Jenna Flynn
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