AMAZON JUNGLE (Iquitos, Tres Frontera, & Manaus). Crossing from the Pacific to Atlantic Coast. 49 870 Km
We departed from Montañita on the Ecuadorian Pacific coast on a Saturday morning. After 3 buses and a short obligatory flight, we arrived in Iquitos, almost 10 years to the day since the first time I visited this wild city in northern Peru. Iquitos has a population of around half a million in the city and another half that feed into from the surrounding communities in Amazon jungle. It still has no road to the city and so you can either fly or take a boat. With more time we may have taken the 2 day boat but this time we flew.
We weren't there for long as we were keen to get deeper into the jungle and so the following morning we started our jungle tour. After being picked up at the hostel and finalizing some paperwork, we got on our boat for the 2 hour journey down river to the lodge. Of course we had to stop along the way to visit a local sugar cane rum distiller.
On arrival we were greeted by the staff and local animals that hang around. The parrots and Macaws were particularly good value.
After lunch we set out on our first walk for the day. We had delayed going for a little bit because of massive rain storm that came through. We weren't too concerned though because we were told it wouldn't last long - they never do apparently. Unfortunately the rain continued during our hike, which was pretty but the rain had sent a lot of the animals into their shelters.
Returning a little wetter, we chilled out for a little bit before dinner and then went exploring again for night things and found these little fellas.
And so, for the following 4 days this was routine. We would wake, eat, go out into the thickness of the jungle or on the boat, eat again, afternoon activity, eat again, and then sometimes some night walks as well.
The guides and drivers all worked very hard to show us their jungle and along the way we got to see some very special parts as well as animals big and small.
Hawk
Millipede
Tree frog
Three toed sloth
Poison Dart frog
Hoatizer bird
Amazon Sunset
Pink river Dolphin
At the end of our 5 days in the lodge we had to return to Iquitos again overnight before getting up early to take our boat to the border. This was 500km down the Amazon river where Peru (one one side of the river) meets with the border towns of Leticia (Colombia) and Tabatinga (Brasil). We arrived in Santa Rosa on the Peru side late in the afternoon and exited from Peru immigration. By the time we left the boat dock, went to immigration, and got a small ferry boat over to the Colombia side, the other immigration had closed. So we stayed overnight in Colombia, without officially being in a country, prior to heading into Brasil for our flight the next day.
Tres Frontera
Santa Rosa, looking toward the border towns Leticia/Tabatinga
From Tabatinga we were forced to get a flight down river to Manaus. We were hoping to be able to take a boat but unfortunately it was going to take 5 days to get there on the slow boat and we had to make a flight from Manaus to Rio in time for the Olympics.
Arriving in Manaus it felt just as hot and humid as Iquitos but the city was about 3 times the size and it was very obviously bigger. Manaus is a typical jump off point for people to explore the Brasilian Amazon and also where you can continue taking a slow boat down the Amazon river for another 4-5 days until it reaches the Atlantic ocean.
We spent the first of our days wandering around to see what was in town but by the afternoon the heat had got the best of us and we spent the rest of the day relaxing in the cool. The following day we went to the Parque da Ciencia which is essentially a animal conservation centre. Whilst many of the animals are in enclosures whilst they are rehabilitated, they also have large areas of free animal habitat. Thankfully, we finally got a close up view of a 3 toed sloth and a Capibarra.
Manatee
Three toed sloth
Capibara
On our final night in town there was a free show being played at the theatre. We had heard it was a magnificent building to visit and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Though we thought we were seeing a Jazz band, we actually found ourselves watching a modern dance production. It was different and entertaining. After more than 6 months of traveling in Spanish speaking countries, our lack of Portuguese was obvious and difficult at times but we had fun.
We had just one more leg to go. Manaus to Rio de Janiero. We rose early (3am) to head out to the airport for a flight to Rio where we needed to arrive in time to collect tickets and head out tot he Rugby 7s finals.
49 870 Km (21084Km Flights, 9126Km Sailing, 19767Km Bus, 195km Hiking, 36Km Horse riding, 150Km Train, 12Km Bike)
