Jungle Fever

A three-day, two-night trip to the AMAZON is the perfect way to spend a final weekend in tropical Peru, right? That’s exactly what we thought and so booked an all-inclusive package to the Amazonas Sinchicuy Lodges outside of the northern town of Iquitos. A short flight, short ride through the city of Iquitos, and long boat ride through the Amazon River landed us in these simplistic but enchanting lodges in the heart of the jungle. Completely made of wood, with mosquito nets covering all rooms beneath secure, leaf-thatched roofs, the lodges captured perfectly what it was to be encased in “la selva”. Little rooms with hammocks and hang-out chairs lined the river for a wonderful view, and parrots greeted us as we entered the common room to enjoy our welcome drink of some kind of juice (can’t remember the name, but every meal we had a different fruit juice from one of the hundreds of unique fruits found in the Amazon). The actual rooms were plain in a cute way, with no electricity or hot water, and definitely not much privacy because the walls were basically mosquito netting!

Sinchicuy Jungle Lodge

Our first day was the most action-packed, and we set out for one of the oldest still-existing Amazon villages in Peru. The inhabitants were dressed in traditional outfits, skirts made of durable bamboo, and showed us their hunting weapons and body paintings. We even got to take a “shot” at a hunting target, and if we hit the target we got a picture with the hunters (I was a good shooter, FYI). Then we browsed in their hand-made market full of purses, jewelry, and carvings, and made some purchases to support the village and satisfy our souvenir-hungry families back home J That afternoon we headed to another village to learn about the medicinal uses of different plants, flowers, and trees in the Amazon, and tried some of the many remedies sworn to help arthritis, gastritis, migraines, etc. Pedro was sold and bought some of the concoctions, but I’ll just stick to my extra-strength Tylenol, thank you! The night itinerary included dinner followed by a canoe ride through the complete darkness of the Amazon – at one point we were all silent for about 20 minutes just listening to the millions of sounds coming from the jungle: birds, insects, monkeys – it gets SO loud at night and even makes it a little difficult to sleep. Because we had no electricity, only lanterns, every night was an early one as there is literally nothing to do in the pitch black dark in the middle of nowhere.

Opposite ends of the culture pole

The next day consisted of an intense hike through a thicker part of the jungle, admiring HUGE trees and being eaten alive by mosquitoes. No one told me that black attracts them even more, and guess what color tank top I was wearing? Mmmm-hmmm I am still looking like a 6-year-old chicken-pox super star. On our boat ride on the way back, we had a “pink dolphin” watch and were able to see around 10 of them! The Amazon River is full of these freshwater dolphins, which turn pink as they mature. That afternoon was the Peru-Colombia futbol game for the Copa America semi-finals, and we hiked over to the nearest village to try and find a TV. One of my most unforgettable experiences abroad was that game. Almost every futbol fan in the village was packed in a small shack watching the game on a fuzzy screen of a TV the size of my head. We all huddled cross-legged on the shaky, elevated floor, cheering for Peru (Pedro for Colombia) and regardless of the stares received from all the young kids, I felt so welcome and comfortable in one of the most destitute areas I have ever been. I don’t know why, but I just felt content sitting there among the Peruvians, the only American for miles, sweaty and itchy, not able to even see the players of the screen. Peru won, which made it that much better, and we celebrated with some beers back at the lodge.

The final day in the Amazon was my favorite because we got to see up-close the animals of the habitat. We ventured to a wildlife reserve full of different species of monkeys, sloths, snakes, turtles, and birds. We were greeted by a large black monkey who climbed all over us, grabbing our necklaces and even taking money from the pockets of someone in the group. All the monkeys loved this game and you never knew when the next one would come climbing up the back of your leg. My favorite though were the sloths; they grip onto you like you are their long-lost mother, literally hugging you and they don’t let go. I also held a beautiful toucan, and gawked as our guide pulled out an anaconda and a huge turtle from a nearby pond! Sad to say bye to all the cuties (minus the snakes) we hopped back on our boat and headed for our good-bye lunch at the lodge. All of the meals were wonderful, consisting of traditional food from the Amazon: rice, fish, banana, mango, different juices, etc.

Touuuuuucan Sam

Venturing back to civilization was bittersweet: it was sad to leave the natural beauty of the Amazon, but also great to get back to some electricity. I now feel extremely energized to finish up my final week in Peru and undertake the next adventure…