So, we left Iquitos by car, drove an hour and a half down to a little river-port town, got into a motor boat, and two to three hours later (I had no idea of the exact time during any of our time in the jungle) we were in canoes being paddled by our guides to the campsite. It was a few little houses on the riverside, one for guests with two mosquito-netted beds on the floor of each room, another for the guides who basically live there, and a dining room. 
I never expected to go to the Amazon Rainforest and feel at home. But to my surprise, I got there... and felt totally comfortable, like I'd lived there for years! More 
than comfortable, I felt I belonged there. I guess it was just like going back to my childhood of tramping around the backyard woods in boots... except that this isn't just woods, it's SUPER MEGA AWESOME WOODS!! There were those giant trees you always see pictures of, and monkeys, and tarantulas, and river dolphins jumping, and tons of beautiful brilliant butterflies, and bright-colored birds. No jaguars or anacondas though. Just around eight million very determined mosquitoes. We lived slathered in DEET for two days.
than comfortable, I felt I belonged there. I guess it was just like going back to my childhood of tramping around the backyard woods in boots... except that this isn't just woods, it's SUPER MEGA AWESOME WOODS!! There were those giant trees you always see pictures of, and monkeys, and tarantulas, and river dolphins jumping, and tons of beautiful brilliant butterflies, and bright-colored birds. No jaguars or anacondas though. Just around eight million very determined mosquitoes. We lived slathered in DEET for two days.Our activities included: seeing the river dolphins and swimming near their island (Rebecca tried to start personal-training me on this island, which meant I ran around and did jumping jacks and jump-squats (aka "torture") in my bathing suit on a stretch of sand in the middle of the Yarapa 
River.); going out by canoe at night to see animals and discovering a very very large river rat; walking around behind the guide, Lucho, who cut through the plants with a machete when necessary, to find the monkeys on "monkey island" and play with them (they're so used to tourists they will come down from the trees and climb you or, I got the feeling, fight you if necessary for the bits of banana and oranges you have in your hand); and going actually camping camping the second night.
River.); going out by canoe at night to see animals and discovering a very very large river rat; walking around behind the guide, Lucho, who cut through the plants with a machete when necessary, to find the monkeys on "monkey island" and play with them (they're so used to tourists they will come down from the trees and climb you or, I got the feeling, fight you if necessary for the bits of banana and oranges you have in your hand); and going actually camping camping the second night. YES THAT IS A REAL MONKEY I'M HOLDING! Ok, so he didn't like me, he liked the banana...
That second night was definitely interesting. The guides whacked vines off the trees with their machetes to string up each person's hammock, then strung mosquito netting around the hammocks and put a plastic tarp up over each one. Then it started pouring so hard that each person had to get in their little house, the dinner fire went out, and that was that until morning! Rebecca and I passed the time singing Disney songs from our neighboring mosquito nets until the rain got too loud to hear. And then there was nothing to do but sleep in our little coccoons, and wait for breakfast in the morning. I was a little concerned about being bitten on the butt by mosquitos when I went out to pee in the middle of the night... but luckily I wasn't. And apart from that I knew there was nothing to be afraid of in the woods.
The first night, in a way, was more incredible, because of the stars that seemed to be FIGHTING FOR SPACE in a sky crowded like a football stadium! Huge, brilliant stars that looked like they'd invaded the territory from another sky only that day... because clearly there were never that many of them every other time I've looked!...
I also got to take a shower in the river, on a bright sunny blue-sky day, and feel like a mermaid. :) And talk to the camp shaman, who told us about plant-medicinal cures for everything including cancer, who on the first night could be heard singing a low chant as part of an ayahuasca ceremony for one of the tourists who was feeling brave enough to try it. (Ayahuasca is a plant that makes you see visions... I was put off even considering it by the fact that it also makes you throw up.) And I got to talk to--ahem, I mean, I got to see--trees like this one.
The food was plain but good: rice and fried sliced bananas at almost every meal, plus maybe some chicken, eggs, or else an ENTIRE FISH (gutted, but still, there was the head and tail so it counts as entire!!) battered, fried and put on your plate. Everything was fried and if not for all the walking, I'd have gained weight. As it was the backs of my legs got really sore from all the clambering around in boots, and my arms from rowing in the canoes.
The food was plain but good: rice and fried sliced bananas at almost every meal, plus maybe some chicken, eggs, or else an ENTIRE FISH (gutted, but still, there was the head and tail so it counts as entire!!) battered, fried and put on your plate. Everything was fried and if not for all the walking, I'd have gained weight. As it was the backs of my legs got really sore from all the clambering around in boots, and my arms from rowing in the canoes.
I was sad to leave. But as I couldn't really have afforded another day, it was just as well that our plane back out of Iquitos was on Thursday night...
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