On tour with Estelle and Jean-Marc: Juni 2016

From Leticia (Colombia) we took a merchant ship upstream on the Amazonas towards Peru. As there were no cabins on the cruiser, we had to buy two hammocks to spend the 3 days/2 nights’ journey on deck of the boat. The sound of the motor was so loud, that we didn’t unplug our earplugs during the whole voyage. The only thing we did was lying in our hammocks, reading, enjoying the view and sleeping. The boat stopped at various small villages to collect other people or merchandise. Among the trade items were also some chicken and cocks, who woke us very ‘gently’ with their ‘lovely’ crowing during the middle of the night.

During our trip, we were shocked about the fact that the locals on the boat used the river as their trashcan, from plastic wrapping paper and lighter to bottles and other waste, everything was just thrown overboard.

After 3 days, we arrived in Iquitos, the biggest city of the world that is just accessible by boat or plane. During the rubber-boom period, a lot of big mansions in the colonial style were built and you can still find the remains of them throughout the city.

Iquitos was also the place where the German Werner Herzog directed his famous Amazonas Epos ‘Fitzcarraldo’ with the eccentric Klaus Kinski.

As we were living on budget a few days, we decided to take a very big breakfast in one of the colonial buildings, an ancient mansion from 1910 of the rubber-baron Luis F. Morey, to bring to close our trip through the Amazonas.

Ready for departure from the Island Santa Rosa.

Finally our 'cruise line' arrived.

First in first served. As Iquitos was one of the first stops of the boat, we could reserve the 'best' spots ;)

After a few more hours the two floors were jam-packed.

Reading and relaxing, and at some point going periodically to the toilet.

One of the bigger ports on our journey to Iquitos.

Dowtown Iquitos ;)

Enjoying our healthy breakfast in a delightful special colonial mansion.

'La Casa de Fierro' is completely build out of iron. It is said that it was designed by Gustave Eiffel, fabricated in Belgium and brought piece by piece all the way through the jungle by a rubber baron.

Peruvians are very clear with what they will do to really bad people.

A beauty contest of cocks during the annual Festival of San Juan.

A tour across the biggest market in town.

Every parts of the ducks are used, nothing gets wasted.

The baby wasn't for sale.

Please smile for the camera.

Turtles are a delicacy in Iquitos. (Lionel and Sally please look away.)

Deep in the jungle lays the capital of the Colombian Amazonas, a small village with the name of Leticia. As there is no road leading there, we had to take a flight from Bogota. After settling in our hostel, we strolled around the three border city (Colombia/Brazil/Peru). We found a small shop that offered very cheap calls to Europe. While trying to wish Estelle’s sister for her birthday, we met a very friendly and communicative German woman ‘Elfi’, who lived here since 20 years. She offered to help us find a guide for a 3-days Amazonas tour. We felt that there was something more to this special woman, so we embarked on this adventure. We checked different operators with her and found only one, where the offer and the price were adapted. The only problem was, they worked with indigenous people as guides (which is actually very positive but unfortunately they just speak Spanish). Spontaneously Elfi proposed to function as our personal translator. After long discussions with the tour operator, we could persuade him that the 66-year old Elfi could accompany us for free. So finally we killed two birds with one stone: We booked an affordable tour with an indigenous guide through the Amazonas and could offer Elfi a free 3 days holiday trip.

After settling the agreement, Elfi offered us a guided tour through the city and showed us all her favourite spots. She informed us about in the changes of the city and shared her insights about the indigenous tribes of the Amazonas Basin (where she worked for long years with a Christian mission). She invited us to her house in Tabatinga (on the Brazilian side) where we slept the night before and after the tour. After organizing our backpacks for the tour, she told us parts of her life story.

Grown up in a quite conservative after war Germany, she associated herself soon with the hippy community to burst the chains of the societal responsibilities. She left home at 16 and lived in various communities, trying all possible drugs and hallucinogens. After her journey brought her to Afghanistan (there were big movements of people wandering to the east, direction India, to find the ‘illuminated Gurus’) the drugs had already done their work. She felt she was one step before falling down a very steep cliff and needed to take a decision. She stopped the drugs, found an anchor in the bible, went back on a month long journey to Germany with a new-born baby and joined a Christian mission. She travelled to South America to work first with youngsters (in Guatemala) and then with indigenous people in the Amazonas. Now after 40 years away from home, she wants to sell her house and go back to Germany. She was very happy to accompany us for this tour to bid farewell to her years in the jungle.

The tour itself started on a narrow but long wooden motorboat to the Peruvian side of the Amazonas on the large Amazonas River, through the dense mangroves until we reached our lodge deep in the Jungle. We fished Piranhas with long wooden fishing rods, watched the birds and monkeys in the trees and on the water. With help of our guide Anibal, we imitated the sound of some animals (birds, monkeys, wildcats, crocodiles...) and even got responses from them.

Arrived in the lodge in the late afternoon, we got ready for our night tour. A walk in the dark through the dangerous jungle. While walking through the night, our guide Anibal showed and explained us the different animals that come out only during the night. To sum it up, every living thing in the jungle during night is poisonous and deadly! We had to watch every step (because of the snakes on the ground), couldn’t pass near the trees (which was quite impossible) because the black scorpions jump more than 1 meter to bite their presumed aggressors and had to watch out for the feline predator (as the Black Panther f.ex.) that strolled around this region the day before. We crossed a green venomous snake that killed 4 days before a young girl who cut wood in the jungle. As it wouldn’t let us continue our way alive, our guide had to kill it with a long wooden stick.

To make our night walk experience even more special, we had to fight against the mosquitos, the big moths and the small bats that flew above our heads and tried to sting us constantly. We were glad when the boat finally came along to pick us up and bring us back to the lodge.

The next day we looked for the up to 5 meters long crocodiles but they were hiding among the water plants and lilies that covered up most parts of the river. During the evening, our guide showed us some Caymans and picked up small and quite aggressive baby crocodiles. As it was full moon and the light too bright, the big crocodiles were hiding 1 or 2 meters below the water surface, so we couldn’t see them. We could just hear their deep and powerful growl under water, which was quite impressive.

The last day, we visited an Island with some free-range animals (sloths, capybaras, apes, etc.) before heading back to the mainland.

We will see you in Peru.

With Elfi and Anibal on the market in Benjamin Constant (Brazil).

Like an old couple: Those two parrots where nagging the whole time.

Two boats on the shore of the Island Santa Rosa in Peru.

A building in the village Islandia. The small island-village is flooded throughout most parts of the year, therefore all the buildings stand on wooden pillars.

The main ‘road’ in Islandia.

The lovely Camilla sent us her warmest smile through the window.

Amazing workers, the jungle ants. Some ants in the Amazonas are even more dangerous than Tarantulas.

Modern Tarzan on a liana.

Boys in the jungle learn very early to be independant.

Fishing requires a lot of patience, even with very basic material.

Like on the Titanic, just without the sinking.

Jean-Marc caught (among a lot of other fishes) a red piranha.

The razor sharp teeth of the piranha.

Cruising through the small canals in the Sacambu River.

The first Tarantula we saw sleeping during the day.

Our lovely lodge in Camboa. Simple but with all you need.

Ready for the night walk, with boots and good humour.

The dead poisonous snake hanging on the wooden stick.

The second Tarantula we saw was quite active during the night.

A wild black crocodile baby during our night trip on the boat. Very scary and strong, even if it looks cute.

The branch of the Capinuri. In the Amazonian tribe of the ‘Ticunas’, the girl (after having her first menstruation) is isolated in a room for a few days so that the men can’t see her. There is a big party in the village with drums and dancing. In the hut, the girl gets a liquid that makes her slightly drunk. Then each hair is plucked out individually. It is said that if she can bear this, she can stand the pain of childbirth. After this procedure, the girl gets out and men disguised with animal masks and with a branch of the Capinuri (representative of the penis) run behind her to chase the bad spirits away that came with the menstruation.

The red fruits of the Kapok tree (‘Ceiba pentandra’) is filled with cotton like fuzz. Indians use it to wrap it around their poisoned blowgun darts in order to create a seal that allows the pressure to force the dart through the tube.

Rubber (‘Kautschuk’) was exported in tons during the 19th and 20th century from the Amazonas Basin. Often the Indios were exploited and the nature abused. Rubber is gained from the rubber tree and it comes out as liquid before it stiffened. Each tree can produce 80 liters of this white gold and then it needs to recover during 2 years.

Cruising through the field of water plants.

This colourful grasshopper jumped in our boat while we crossed the big fields of water plants.

Anibal caught this fish with his traditional trident. We ate the fish for dinner the same night.

This specimen of the catfish has the ability to snap its fins like a crab.

The white lines on the trees mark the level of the water in high season.

Nearly escaped death during the fishing.This electric eel (belonging to the knifefish family despite the name) produces up to 860 volt of electricity. The small exemplares are a lot more dangerous than the big ones.