Last day in Iquitos.

Tomorrow morning we board the buses for camp again so my next Internet will be Sept 10th and home on the 11th.




Today, being Sunday, was a quiet day in Iquitos. I slept late and went out about 9:30 to wander around. The Cathedral on the square was open so I joined them for Catholic mass. The music was phenomenal and when they pass the peace they ran around hugging and kissing everyone including me.
The inside of the church looked a lot like the church in Kill Bill where Bill shot Beatrix. Inside the church was very warm and I thought it might get a bit longish but the service was only 45 minuets.


I had a nap this afternoon then went to an Internet coffee place called Karma with some of the Blue Morpho gang. There has become very little that anyone wants to do other than move from one chair to another in various food places.


It's just another balcony.

Tonight I am going out for supper and then pack for tomorrow.

Just another day in Iquitos

Yesterday I went out shopping for a pareing knife. I walked along exploring the shops and went into a number of shops which looked like they might have had one.

In a furniture store this red and gold chesterfield set caught my eye. It is very well made, firmly padded and comfortable. If I was going to live here I would have bought it. $650 US for the three pieces.

I was in many different kinds of shops and in each they told me to go two or three more blocks to find a knife. After about six repetitions of that I found myself at Belen Market.

I wasn't planning to go there but thought since I was there I would take a look. It was very crowded and I found it tiring pushing through all those crowds in the heat. I stayed on the upper level of the market where it is safer. At the back of the market where it slopes down the hill it begins to get a bit dodgy and farther down on the river bed where the poor live it is quite unsafe to go alone. Another time I was here I was down there with two other women, a moto-taxi driver and a security guard hired by the taxi driver. Belen Market is huge. Besides meat, fish, fruit and vegetables you can get almost anything you need. There are food stalls, vendors of locally prepared medicines, hand crafts and clothing. I found a suitable knife and also a pair of men's grey socks to wear back at camp in the evening when the mosquitoes are out.

Later I met Emily and we went to Al Frio y Al Fuego, a gourmet restaurant on the river, for lunch and a swim.

This is the restaurant's boat which brings people out to the restaurant. You can see Iquitos in the background.

The dinning room is on the upper floor and the main floor is a bar.

The color of the water is due to vegetation and silt and a good bit of sewage too I would think.

The pool area is on a separate platform joined to the main building by small bridges.

As you can see, the pool is clean and it hangs down into the river water.

The bar....

The pool. We swam first and then had lunch at one of the poolside tables.





Looking from poolside toward the restaurant.

The docking area for the boats and the foyer of the resturant.

This boat is pure luxurey compared to a typical water taxi.

A shot of the balsam logs which the restaurant sits on.

Today I got up at my usual (for here) 6AM and had the hotel complimentary breakfast before heading out to meet the gang at Dawn on the Amazon for coffee/breakfast where the chairs are good and the living is easy. We chatted and drank cold drinks there until noon.

Then we decided to go for lunch at a pizza place called Antica a few blocks away and sat and chatted there until two when I left to go back to my room to rest and blog.

It's like that here, you never feel hurried to leave any restaurant.

We saw this nice bit of wall art while walking around.

I feel like my cold is turning around and I am glad of that as we go back to camp Monday morning.

Tomorrow will be another quiet day of repacking bags and getting ready to go.

Tumbling tumbleweed.

There is not much chance of finding a tumbleweed here in the desert except for me of course. It is hard to remember to watch where you are putting your feet every moment and the pavement is so uneven. This morning found me lying in the middle of the road because I was watching the traffic and not the uneven road and I tripped. Must learn how to walk before I break something. It does seem that vehicles have the right of way here because they look like they are trying to run you over, however, when you are laying down I do think they would at least avoid hitting you. This is my perception for the moment anyway.

I am fascinated by windows. They all seem to tell a story. These are across from my hotel and I believe they are residential, each belonging to a different family.

I think this is/was a combination church and seminary. There was music coming from inside this afternoon so it is probably still in use.



Sign on the church.

You know I love windows......

...........and doors also.

This view is riverside on the Amazon. In their summer time the rains will fill the rivers, all the green in this picture will be covered in water and the house you see will be floating.

All these are built on balsam wood and all will be floating, accessible only by boat when the rains come.

The one on the right in the centre is a bar. You can walk the plank to reach it right now though I have no idea what happens when the river is up. Seems kind of a long walk without handrails, especially if you are a bit tipsy.

This one is abandoned but would have been fantastic in its day. Imagine being on the third floor when it is floating.

The square nearest the river is called Plaza De Armas. It is quite pretty and is often full of people socializing and making music in the evening.

This beautiful church is on the square. I crashed a wedding ceremony there last time I was here.

This building is always full of children so I am assuming it is a school. The children are very protected behind high walls and locked iron gates.

When it rains the moto-taxi drivers put these tarp like screens out in front and they reach about nose level about 6 inches from their faces. Must be cheaper than a real windshield that you could see through. I must remember that when it is raining would be a bad time to lie down in the street.

It's all good!

I am so loving Iquitos now. It was just a matter of slowing down enough to see it.

I went for a haircut today, partially for the fun of it, and partially because when you diet Ayahuasca you can't use any shampoo or soap so the less hair you have the better. It was a pretty nice salon but no one spoke English. It isn't hard to communicate that you want a hair cut though once you are in the shop. What else would you be there for? Lucho put me right in the chair and I showed him how much to take off and he got started. It was a good scissor cut I guess but not much shaping and the whole effect is kind of bowl shaped. I see a lot of these haircuts around here, although mostly on men. I was trying to show him that I wanted to raise the top up with a gel or something and he grabbed the scissors again and went at the top again with great gusto. Eventually he stopped and I got the gel idea across. It stands up now all right. You can hardly bend it.

These are the shaman I am working with, Alberto Torres Davila and Hamilton Souther. They are posing for us at the end of camp.

This is the foyer of our bungalow. It is a great place to hang out and read or meditate. There are also six bedrooms each with a single bed which is completely surrounded with a mosquito screen with a zipper. It is totally bug-proof no matter what.

The street outside my hotel is a one-way street and here you see the moto-taxies lined up, six abreast, waiting for the light. Two years ago these were almost the only means of transportation and there were a very few old clunkers of trucks that were used for hauling. Now, quite a few brand new cars have arrived on the scene and car dealerships have sprung up all over. They usually only have 2 or 3 cars for sale because Iquitos is a long way into the jungle and the only shipping is by boat.

I love this sculpture. It shows two huge snakes going up the tree. It has been so difficult to get a picture of it but I caught the right light conditions this time.

This sign is on many posts down by the river, on a street known as the Boulevard. They are trying to warn tourists not to buy river tours from individuals who are flogging them at the river. If you don't get your tour from a legitimate company you could end up robbed or worse.

Georgeous tree in my view having lunch yesterday at Dawn of the Amazon which is also on the Boulevard.

This building is being re-thatched. The leaves are tied onto wooden poles which look to be something like 6 to 8 feet long and those are then put on like shingles.

Well, it is 1:30 now, the hottest part of the day, but I think I will venture out and get a smoothie made with bananas and peanut butter for lunch.

Tomorrow, I am looking forward to going to a floating resturant on the river and treating myself to a gourmet lunch. It has a pool with clear filtered water and a very nice ambiance I hear.

Back from the jungle the first time........

We left camp yesterday morning on the typical, red window-pane-free busses.

Two of the many bungalows in the Blue Morpho camp. Thatched roof and screen siding protected us from the rain and the bugs.




Back in Iquitos it appears that you are out of the jungle but the city is actually deep in the jungle. The climate is in the 30's most of the time.

This building looks like it was built in the rubber boom too.

We arrived back in Iquitos near lunch time and I joined some others of the group for a final lunch together at Aris Burguer. I ordered this light salad which was delicious but huge. Light does not mean small. The "noodles" on top are actually heart of palm in long slivers. Delicious.

I was tired last night so turned in very early. Even though I did little more than rest at camp the Ayahuasca ceremonies were work of another type.


This morning I packed up some clothes and went in search of a laundry. A half a grocery bag full cost me 3.5 soles which would be about a dollar. If they come back nice there will be no more washing things in the hotel room.

Most windows have bars even if they are on the second floor. If you own things you must take measures to protect them yourself.


I am glad to be able to stay in Iquitos a bit longer this trip so I can get familiar with the place. I get so lost because I can't seem to recognize anything. The only way I get around is with a map and street signs and I'm talking only a few blocks from the hotel.

Chances are good that this laundry is safe from theft.

I think the problem is that I can't tell what anything is. Every business that is not open has no apparent store front because they pull down a huge metal door over everything. At first I didn't realize that these were places which would open at some point and then they look completely different and welcoming.

This morning I was really beginning to see what was there and I don't feel so handicapped anymore - good practice for backpacking in Asia I think.

Today will be more of the same until the heat gets to me and then it will be nap time. I try to stay inside during the hottest hours.

Because I was on the dieta I am not eating sugar yet or even sweet fruit so I got a couple of jungle lemons to squeeze into water. They are huge. The ones I got are medium size and once I cut it I found it was nice to just eat some rather than put it into water.

Lemon is beside my mouse to gauge it's size.

First stop Iquitos, Peru.

I will spare you the details of my long and arduous flights from Saskatoon through Toronto and Lima except to say I have better luck sleeping in airports than I do on planes.
Arrived here yesterday Aug 14th and have been going for walks and catching up on sleep.

A view looking out over the Itaya river.
My hotel is the Acosta pictured below. It is an adequate three star hotel with air conditioning and wireless in the rooms.

The hotel is near the Plaza De Armas, one of the squares in the city.
Buildings such as this are a reminder of the wealth and charm of the rubber era here.

I will be up early and ready to leave for the Blue Morpho camp by 10 AM tomorrow. I am never sure what to expect as the experience is different for each person each time. I will be away from Internet access for the next 9 days.

I have been reading a recently published book called Fishers Of Men by Adam Elenbaas which is an account of one young man's life experience. It describes the Ayahuasca healing experience from a Christian perspective but does give some detailed accounts of his experience in ceremony. Fishers of Men: The Gospel of an Ayahuasca Vision Quest is available from Amazon.com.