Travel to Iquitos, Peru.

Country/Town Visited: Iquitos, Peru
Date of stay: October 3 - 6 2011
Where you stayed: The Amazon/Jungle
Tour or pre planned: Tour 

A visit to the Amazon is not complete without going into the jungle, of course. This feisty adventure I shared with a brother and sister, 2 knockout young peruvians from South Carolina.

Day 1: Arrival
Jolly good boat ride into the abyss of river and trees, we had no idea what we were in for. Arrived at camp and set out immediately, to the beach. But this beach was unlike anything you would ever think of when you hear the word. A chunk of dirt the size of a football field in the middle of the river. I had only one thing on my mind: mud. It was just then that I discovered my deep affection for it. We covered ourselves, completely and happily. The God and Goddesses of Sludge.

And then. Rain. One minute we were laughing, covering ourselves head to toe in the hot sun, and the next it was being washed away like a fire hose. Rain in the Amazon is unlike anything I've ever experienced. So sudden, so intense. Clouds cover the blue sky ridiculously fast, like some freak science fiction movie, lightning constantly flashing all around you. It engulfs you whole until you can't see, you can't breathe. You are under attack by all the water in the world. Mud melted off us as if we shed an entire layer of skin, it left us ridiculously refreshed. It was ridiculously ridiculous. We were The Emperor and Empresses of the Waterworld.

Back to camp, time for some drying off. We are now on our night walk. We followed our peruvian guide through jungle mayhem with a machete. It was quite the informative hike actually. Our guide was a plethora of information when it came to all insects, reptiles and medicinal purposes of plants. We went to bed with fascinated minds.

Day 2: Expedition

Up bright and early for more meanderings, including a sloth expedition. I now understand why it's generally an insult when someone compares you to a sloth. Lovable, adorable, but stupid as hell. It was like watching a hairy oversized retarded child, and I know that's awfully rude of me so please forgive my expression. We shook this helpless being out of the tree and eased it down to the ground for a picture. It should have been ecstatic at the thought of a photoshoot with rich North Americans. But it was too stoned. There was a permanent moronic grin pasted on its sort of vacant happy go lucky face. And then, it defecated all over Ellen. (Sorry Ellen, but I do hope you will agree that it was quite funny) I must admit I have not the faintest idea how these things are still in existence. We set it down and it took the poor thing almost an entire minute to climb 7 feet of tree.

After lunch we walked deeper into the jungle and randomly set up camp, once again the brown man leading, his machete in front.

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