We got up and were taken to the boat to the Heleconia Lodge- a 1.5 hour trip in a high speed boat. Iquitos itself is on the Itaya River, which feeds into the Nanay, which in turn, feeds into the Amazon. We stopped to visit the Boras, a native tribe….they danced, we danced and had to buy stuff from them. Marcio again felt like it was very exploitative and I agreed, but I tried to explain that they make their living selling stuff to tourists. It was uncomfortable and I really don’t think anyone liked it very much. As you head out to the Amazon, the color of the water changes to a sort of cafe latte color. Because the Amazon is so fast moving, sediment never settles; it just gets swirled around. It’s a huge river, very wide and there is no way to get to all of these villages and outposts except by water. The river traffic is varied, small paddled canoes, little outboard motor boats(not western type), and bigger tourist boats.
We arrived at the Heleconia Lodge and checked in and ate lunch. The food is Amazonian: fish, either Dorado or Paiche, pork, chicken, beans, rice. For me, it's very heavy and I was having stomach trouble anyway, so I didn't eat much. There is tons of fresh fruit, incredible mango and papaya, very different varieties. Our afternoon hike was interesting, but not much wildlife: a couple of monkeys from a great distance and tons of insects. No great flowers, which was disappointing. There are those incredible ants that walk long distances with big pieces of leaf: it takes 2 ants, one to carry the leaf and one to stand on top and guard.
Back from the sweaty hike for a swim in the pool and dinner. I spent the rest of the night sick in the bathroom, who knows why. Luckily we had pills and I only missed the morning trip. Kids went fishing or piranhas and only Mariana caught one. She did throw it back though.
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