Lunch and adios

Enjoyed our last half an hour in the Hammock room, snoozing in the relatively cool shade and taking in the beauty of the place. I haven't really described this room yet (pretty self explanatory) but it is a lovely round room, with see-through mesh for windows and built traditionally like the rest of the lodge, with wooden logs, sticks and banana leaves for a roof. There are hammocks facing out in all directions from a central beam, so you can choose to gaze at the river or spy birds in the forest behind, all to the sound track of the jungle. And with that soundtrack we started to hear thunder rolling in from the distance and I think we were all hoping it would hurry up and rain to help clear out the heat of the day.

We soon heard the call to dinner and made our way across the wooden beam bridge that connected us to the main lodge for food.

Today's main dish, Catfish...with a side of Andy's freshly caught Peacock Bass from our fishing trip. So delicious! Rich and Rob also tried the strange and not so nice looking giant star fruit. Richard's face said it all and he described it as having the texture of paper mache. Definitely not something we will have again. Catfish on the other hand...yum!

Time then to gather our things and say goodbye to the team and our guides. We were also made to slightly regret our lack of foresight to check our boots before packing them, as Anthony informed us he had gone to put his boots on and in an attempt to shake out a rock, shook out a wolf spider ok instead. Not dangerous but a painful bite, fingers crossed we don't bring one to Lima!

We said our goodbyes and got in the boat for the three hour ride to Iquitos. We felt really sad to say goodbye to the place. Despite the permanent state of sweat and the mosquito bites (of which I have had more in Europe to be fair), it really is the most overwhelmingly beautiful place I have been. The sheer scale of the jungle around us is impossible to put into words and the constant buzzing and sightings of the stunning wildlife is something we will miss. It is another world and one I am so glad we can say we have experienced.

The boat ride was a huge relief from the heat, with the wind and rain cooling us down. And for the final time we enjoyed the wildlife along the banks of the river.
A huge flock of Tropical Cormorants, fish hanging from their mouths, took flight as we sailed past what must have been a popular feeding spot. They flew alongside and ahead of us and it felt a little like you were flying with them. We also saw a vulture drag a huge piranha from the water and into the bushes which was cool.
We once again got to take in the scale of the Amazon River as we left the Tahuayo River and joined the Amazon. IT IS HUGE!! There was a lot of debris from fallen trees from the river banks and we narrowly missed a massive log that was pretty well hidden on the water. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any river dolphins, but never mind, it gives us a reason to come back and enjoy the high water season one day.

After pulling up at the very busy and hectic port of Iquitos, we were greeted with ice cream after clambering up the stairs that would normally be hidden in high water. The air felt much drier and we all felt a little better, and then immediately lazy as we saw the small porters carrying our luggage (three back packs stacked) up the stairs that had had us sweating just moments earlier.

That is one other thing we have to say about Amazonia Expeditions, they have looked after us so well the entire time, it has honestly felt five star and it has just added to the whole experience and it made it all the more easy to enjoy.

We were back at the Iquitos office pretty early due to a bus strike, which they thought would slow our airport run, but apparently, it didn't and we were soon on a bus to the airport, back through the bustling, colourful high Street of Iquitos. We arrived majorly early, had to pay a tip to the porters who carried our bags on a trolley for just 10 metres (easy work compared to the last guys) and then faced a nice hour long wait before check-in, which apparently they don't take too seriously when it comes to luggage as people are literally taking suitcases and even guitars on the plane! Grrrrr.

Anyway, now we are on the plane heading back to Lima, the guitar is stowed safely on a person's lap (yay health and safety!) and we all feel stinky and itchy and tired, but it was worth it!

Time to land!Read more