Jungle lodge

After Delfin II, we overnighted in Iquitos. Because Iquitos is not accessible by road, everything that has to be imported is extremely valuable, and used and re-used many times over. The primary means of terrestial motorized transportation are motocarros, 3-wheeled vehicles made by Honda. Extremely maneuverable and efficient, but probably would not meet USDOT regulations for passenger safety. Here is the view out the open front window of our transfer bus (of unknown make or vintage but so old it had a wooden body).

We then moved to Ceiba Tops, a jungle lodge about 40 km downstream. Explorama has 7 camps in the area, each with it's own specialty. The Lonely Planet guidebook describes Ceiba Tops: "This lodge is a recommended option for people who really don't want to rough it." We visited some of the others briefly, but this was nice. Here's Phil roughing it while working on the program:

Similar schedule as aboard Delfin II, with a morning and afternoon excursion. Our first such trip was across the river to catch dinner.













The river rises and falls about 16 meters from the dry to wet seasons. It's in between right now, but the flooding currently happening in the south, around Cuzco, is headed this way. This island will be flooded during the peak wet season, and the houses are on stilts approximately 8' high to keep them above the water. Usually.

Water that flows from the mountains is silty, light brown in color. Water that originates in the swamps and lakes is black from the dissolved vegetable matter, with very little oxygen or silt content. At every little tributary the difference is real noticeable, as the twain really don't like to meet.

This little sweetie is a pet of a villager we met - a baby female three toed sloth. They m o o v e - r e e e a l y - s l o o o o o o o w !




Now, to more important matters. Phil and the guides used little bits of raw beef, but Margie had her own technique. Here's the 3 foot long baby Pirhana she caught. Phil caught a couple of 4 foot long babies of about the same size, while Abelardo hooked a couple of adults.



























And now we see who's teeth are sharper! Yum!!

By the way, remember that lake we swam in a few days ago? It also contained the usual assortment of Pirhana, giant catfish, pink dolphins, and other exciting creatures, all of which were scared off by our cavorting :)