May 17-21, I went to the northeastern jungle of Peru-- Iquitos, Loreto.
The jungle was amazing!! I was a little worried that I wouldn't like the jungle given my past experiences... Back in November we went to the jungle in the south-- Madre de Dios. In Madre de Dios the bugs were horrible and the heat was unbearable. I was stung by a wasp (or bee or hornet, who knows??? It's the jungle) and had to take an antibiotic for 10 days because I had celulitis (serious skin infection that leads to blood poisoning) from the sting. Plus, several exchange students got sick from eating mangos. A couple of the students were even hospitalized. However, Iquitos was an entirely different experience!! I loved the jungle this time!
Our first day, we visited a small town called San Juan Baptista. Here, we went to the zoo and a rescue center for manatees. We even got to pet and feed the manatees! They were so cute! They reminded me of puppies. I was also given the opportunity to hold a boa constrictor. On our way back from the zoo, we stopped at a roadside food vender and tried some of the common food of Iquitos-- suri!! Suri is spanish for larva. Yes, that's right, I ate beetle larva.
On our second day, we took a boat on the Naynay River (tributary of the Amazon river) to reach the Heliconia Lodge where we would spend the rest of our trip. On our way to the lodge we stopped to visit the Bora tribe! We learned about their small community and even did some of their tribal dances! The lodge was beautiful! We were right next to the Amazon river, too, so we had a nice breeze. There were plenty of hammocks for lounging, too! I loved the lodge's natural and relaxing atmosphere. The food was great here, too! It was mainly a fish diet, which I really enjoyed. We were served plenty of fruit and vegetables, too (this isn't common in Lima). Between my incessant sweating and healthy eating, I lost some weight on the trip haha! The jungle's humidity also made my skin and hair so smooth and soft! Our first day at the lodge, we were told there were three tour guides. Our group of nearly 40 would be divided into three smaller groups so that each group would have a tour guide. We chose our groups depending on which activity we wanted to do first-- hike through the jungle, fishing, or visit a tribe. My closest friends and I chose to do hiking first. Our tour guide was Llyacko. Llyacko is originally from a Peruvian jungle tribe, but left when he was a young adult to study botany at university. He learned several languages such as Spanish, English, and Japanese. During our hike we trekked through mud, huge puddles of water, and shrubbery. Llyacko had to use his machete to cut down several branches in our path. The hike was beautiful! We saw so many plants and animals! Llyacko gave us leaves we could eat that tasted very similar to green apples and showed us plants that could cure infections. He also could pinpoint poisonous frogs the size of a fingernail in passing. It was a great hike and lesson! Later that night, we took a boat ride on the Amazon looking for crocodile, but mostly enjoying the starry sky. I haven't seen starts for a very long time. Because of the smog in Lima, the stars aren't visible. I loved rowing down the Amazon river just gazing up at the stars. What made it all even better was that I was able to do it with the people I love. Sharing this moment with my best friends made me realize I'm not ready to say bye to them or Peru.
On the third day, we fished on the Amazon river! Some of us even caught piranhas! Later that afternoon, we visited a local tribe and learned some of their customs! That night, we took a hike through the jungle, again. But now that it was night time, many more animals come out such as tarantulas and snakes! Scary!
On our fourth day we rowed down the Amazon looking at some of the water plants such as giant lily pads and la victoria regia (famous flower of the lily pad)! We went swimming in the Amazon river, too! We went to the spa for free... MUD BATHS on the banks of the river!
On our fifth and final day, we visited a local after-school program for Amazonian tribal kids. We played with the kids for a couple hours. Doing this made me realize that I missed the kids I used to tutor back in the U.S. This Amazonian after-school center has a volunteer program! We were told that if we know well and have a passion for a certain subject, that we could volunteer and teach that subject here! It would be amazing to come back to Iquitos and teach the basics of chemistry to the kids! After our visit to the kids, we went to a sugar cane liquor factory. We learned how the sugar cane liquor is extracted and fermented. We also learned some of the liquors' natural curing powers haha!
Soon after our tour of the sugar cane liquor factory, we had to pack up and head back to the airport. I was sad we had to leave. I knew I would miss Llyacko. He is the first tour guide that has ever really interested me in what we were doing and learning. I learned so much from him! He also did extra activities with us that the other tour guides didn't do with their groups. This included making temporary tattoos using the juice of a fruit from the wito wito tree and making us all paintings of our favorite Amazonian animal. Llyacko, along the Amazon's beauty, was the reason why I enjoyed this trip so much. The Amazon was another thing I knew I would miss. I miss its beauty, its nature, and its simplicity. This trip was my favorite trip we went on all year! It was too bad that the trip was so short, but as LLyacko told us as we boarded our boat for the airport: The best things in life, are the shortest ones. I would do anything to be back in Iquitos right now!! Te extraño y te quiero, Iquitos! Pero no te preocupes, nos veremos otra vez!
Llyacko!
Shorty after our trip to Iquitos, we went to Lunahuana, Ica, and Nasca May 24-28. I had fun on this trip, too; but, it's hard to pretty hard to follow up the experience I had in Iquitos haha.
Our first stop was Lunahuana. Here, we had our Rotary district conference. Lunahuana was beautiful with it's mountain and river scenery. The conference was alright. It started at 6pm and ended at 1am. The exchange students and I were give a 45-minute slot to talk about our year in Peru. We prepared a 15-minute video, a dance, a song, and short individual speeches. We were not given our 45-minute slot. The Rotarians showed no interest in wanting to hear what we had to present. Consequently, we only did the dance and the song. Most of the hard work we had done went to waste. It was a shame. But fortunately, we will be doing our entire presentation next week at our farewell dinner! While in Lunahuana we also when white water rafting. That was fun!
Next, we spent a couple days in Ica. While in Ica we visited vineyards and learned the process of making wine and pisco. We also went sandboarding and boogying! Lastly, we visited Paracas's islands of birds, penguins, sea lions, and seals.
After Ica, we continued south to Nasca. We only spent a few hours here, but that's all you need when you're seeing the NASCA LINES!!! We took a 20-minute flight in a small airplane to see the lines! The airplane ride was like being on a slow roller coaster. My stomach was all over the place. Thankfully, I didn't vomit haha! It was awesome seeing the lines. The lines are geometrical lines and ancient geoglyphs that represent animals. the animal geoglyphs were beautiful, but what was more impressive where the geometrically-straight lines!! It's as if the Nascans used graphing paper and a ruler. All of these lines are miles and miles of labyrinths. No one knows why the lines are there. It was pretty cool seeing an ancient mystery!
My favorite Nasca geoglyph-- the hummingbird!
I really enjoyed these last trips. I was able to share some of the last moments I will have with the exchange students. Now, I'm back in Lima winding down the time I have left until I return home. I love Peru and all its beauty!
