The Oasis at Rio Momon

Is a remarkable place owned by a remarkable family whose struggles are not yet over.

We all just love this floating lodge that is situated on a tributary of the Amazon, near Iquitos. It's a charming place in a beautiful setting with lots of interesting things to do: an insectarium, a serpentarium, visits to indigenous tribes and so on. Even the weather is quite good, not too hot, and cool enough at night without aircon.

The place is owned and run by a family of 16 brothers. With no formal training, they do a great job at construction, hotel management, and tour guides. This is all the more amazing because they grew up in an isolated leper colony. Their dad, who is now 90, is one of the last 5 lepers who live in the colony. He had a tiny slither of luck in that he was treated before he had any significant wasting, but the life in the colony was clearly stark. Until treatment was available, babies were taken away at birth, and parents could only see them at a distance of 30m.

The changes in the families' fortunes in one generation is quite remarkable, but there are new struggles, this time with planning permission, which they didn't know they needed. Of course, if they were to "pay", then these issues might magically disappear, but the family that lived for so long only supported by the church is deeply religious and won't play that game. So the struggle goes on.Read more