Just Call Me Tarzan

Sunday, May 10, 2009 11:56 PM
My house in Lima

Our last two days in the Amazon/Iquitos...

Saturday

We took our boat to another alberque (lodge), and on the way we looked for pink dolphins (no luck, but we saw some gray ones) again. Our tour guide also stopped the boat and told us we could swim. None of us were wearing swimsuits, but most of us jumped in the river anyways, jeans and all. I don’t know who started it, but since you couldn’t see anything underwater from all the silt deposits, we all ended up taking our soaked clothes off and twirling them in the air (maybe TMI, but hey, skinny dipping in the Amazon is a great story). We then ate lunch and hung out at the alberque before we went fishing for piranhas! They were tricky little devils, they would nibble at the chicken on our wooden fishing poles, but never enough to get caught on the hook. I think Hannah was the only one to actually catch one.

We then traveled by boat (we normally would have hiked down a path, but the river is 12 ft higher than normal so everything is flooded) to a giant kapok tree. En route we passed large termite nests building like beehives on trees and large floating plants. I picked one up at the guides request but there was a huge spider on it so I quickly dropped it back where it belonged.

Speaking of our guide and dangerous animals…he would use his machete at times to cut branches out of our path but at one point he suddenly started hacking like crazy at the large tree next to our boat. We were so confused but it turns out that there was a snake that was about to get on our boat. And not just any snake – the flur de lance, the most poisonous reptile in the Americas, whose bite kills within three hours. I thought we had our fill of hazardous animals for the day but on the boat back to our lodge, someone was playing with my hair when people started exclaiming and screaming. I was freaked out because I had no idea what was on my head – it ended up being the biggest spider we had seen that day, at least 4 inches wide. After all the nature excitement, a relaxing night of dinner, indigenous drum show, talking, and listening to the sounds of the jungle were in order.

Sunday

We rode around bird watching for a bit before heading to a natural animal zoo, I guess you could call it. It was just a bunch of wild animals in the open vicinity of a local hut. There were different types of monkeys jumping from tree to tree, and one came down and jumped right on my back, before several of its curious friends hopped down to us too. They gave a whole new meaning to “monkeying around;” they were rather devilish, one jumped on me, grabbing me by the shirt and almost pulling it off. There were also coati (the same animals from Iguazú) and I was so jealous that Henry (plus two native guys) got to carry a huge anaconda (the rest of us had just put on insect repellant so we weren’t allowed to do anything more than pet it).

One of the funniest animals I have ever seen in my life was the sloth (oso perezoso, or “lazy bear” in Spanish). It had its limbs stuck out of its body like a turtle, moved like a robot, and a drugged up expression (I don’t know how else to describe it, it has huge dilated pupils and a lazy little grin on its face). I got to hold it by its dirty matted fur and it made this screeching sound while digging its claws into my neck and arms. Those things were sharp! Although it was only for a couple seconds, he left an impression in my skin for the rest of the day.

Our last stop of the tour was an indigenous Jagua village, where we got to shoot off a 4 foot long blow dart gun (I got it right in the heart!) and participate in traditional dances with the locals. After that, we made our way back to Iquitos, where we had several hours to wander, shop, and eat before flying back to Lima!

Wuaaaaaa ahhhhhh ahhhh! (That means “I love the Amazon” in Tarzan speak), Nicole