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This morning it was breakfast at 4:30 a.m. so that we could make the early plane to Iquitos. It is just a 90-minute flight. There are only two ways to get to Iquitos.... by air... or by a 2,300-mile trip down the Amazon from the Atlantic Ocean. Although Iquitos is a bustling city.. well.. "bustling" is a relative word... and is the third largest city in Peru.. there are no roads leading to it.



We are met at the airport by our guide, who thankfully speaks excellent English! After Lima, Gypsy is grateful. We boarded an old wooden school bus that has no windows.. this vehicle must have made the trip down the Amazon a LONG time ago!

We take the Amazon Queen...like the African Queen, only much larger and nicer... to the Explorama Inn where we change to a fast speed-launch. We are on our way to the remote Explorama Lodge and have a miles to cover.



Because it is the end of the dry season and the river level is low.. when we arrive, we must take a short walk to our lodge instead of boating right up to it.. but we have porters to carry everything for us, and we have lots of oxygen in the air... so we make out very well.



Gee, the lodge is nice. It is bungalow buildings with thatched roofs.. open windows.. kerosene lamps.. and mosquito netting on our beds. There are no locks on the doors, just hook latches. For a rustic, remote setting... this is very nice and comfortable. Everyone in our group seems pleased. There is an outhouse building and a separate shower house... with nice cold river water for bathing. This surely isn't the most luxurious place I have even seen, but considering the location... one of the best. It is very charming, really.

When evening falls, a lamp lighter materializes from somewhere and lights all the lamps in the rooms and the shower and toilet houses... and all along the thatch-covered walkways our way is lit with burning lamps. Fortunately, all the lamps are left burning throughout the night. This is a good thing, because it is something of a walk to the "you-know-where"!

There is a large screened dining hall and a lovely "hammock house". We found the food served here to be some of the best we have had in Peru, and after lunch in the heat of the day... we are given a couple free hours to enjoy the hammock house. Life doesn't get much better than this! What a heavenly place.



This afternoon we walk a short way through the jungle to the Yagua camp. Here some of the tribe dress in their traditional costumes and demonstrate some of their music and dance. As the men played a variety of percussion-type instruments.. the women danced by walking in a counter clockwise in a circle...two by two... and then turning and walking clockwise.

After that, we were treated to a blow-gun demonstration. It was fascinating to watch.. and some of our group tried the blow guns.. and did amazingly well. But Gypsy decided to let this opportunity pass.... the blow guns are very long and are very heavy for poor old Gypsy to hold only at the very end.. so no poison darting experience, I'm afraid.



Normally, the Yaguas live in houses like everyone else, but enjoy coming to this camp to demonstrate the old ways of their tribe to the visitors. Unfortunately, the young members of the tribe seem uninterested in preserving this heritage.. so in time it will probably die out. I think the real dance routines have already been forgotten, judging from what we saw.

There were handcrafts for sale.. what a surprise! We found some nice things at very good prices so we came away from our Yagua visit very happy with our outing.



In the late afternoon, we gathered at the hammock house with a bottle of spirits that one of our group had purchased at the airport. Our congenial group was quickly joined by a "guan". This is a bird about the size of a chicken that looks like a cross between a turkey and a crow. Everyone needs a name.. and so our newest member of the group became Juan The Guan.

We think that Juan has partied before... as he hopped up onto the table and zeroed in on our glasses and helped himself to a bit of liquid refreshment... perhaps Juan has a drinking problem. After a few sips, he tried to get to the liquor through the glass... it doesn't take much to put Juan under the table. As evening fell, Juan The Guan roosted on the hammock house railing to sleep it off.



After supper, our guide took us for a walk in the jungle to see night creatures. These turned out to be lizards, assorted insects, and some Red Rumped Tarantulas. These spiders were mostly interested in diving into their burrows.. but we got a great view of those hairy red rumps! It was an amazing walk.. but if you had told me before I left home that I would be walking thorugh the jungle in the dark looking for bugs.. I probably would have cancelled this trip on the spot. Sometimes it is much better to be surprised.

This was our first night under mosquito nets and we loved it.. it is so cozy and comfy. This is certainly a different part of Peru... it is like taking another vacation to a completely different country.

Follow the butterfly along the Amazon....