Peru: Day One (continued) & Day Two

Here is continued from when I posted briefly from Iquitos on tue 21st September (day one). That night we went to the rafters welcome party at a little bar called La Noche, where we got to meet the other competitors, listen to some announcements and letters of encouragement from previous rafters were read out amid the music and drinking, and exciting evening as everyone was buzzing with the anticipation of the huge task we were about to undertake. This is where I met Jordan, another rafter with whome I became familliar. After the party we stayed out late talking on the street eating mangoes given to us by his hostel landlady and drinking some awesome mead made from honey from bees that live in the jungle, and watching enormous bats swoop down to catch insects attracted to the light from the street lamps- the first of many highlights that would follow.

22nd Sept- Day Two

A free day. We took a couple of moto cabs (afore mentioned trike rickshaws) and then a wooden motorboat with drivers Raoul and Manuel to the village of Belen on the riverside, where the race would be finishing. All the houses were on stilts as during high water season the river rises so high people are dependant on canoes to get around. Some houses were built on big log rafts instead of stilts so as the water rises the houses simply float up with it! The streets were dirt and the buildings painted colourfully. We visited one house which was more like an open fronted shack with a few chest freezers inside, a collection of locals on rocking chairs and hammocks, a mangy dog, beautiful kids scattered around and someone preparing fish from a big tub in the corner- this was a local pub, and chairs were soon pulled around for us for each of us to have a cold beer, which was most enjoyable, despite the early start!! The childeren were fascinated by Fyf and my hair, both of us having a lot of it and with Fyfs bright silky blonde and mine woven into braids and dreadlocks with orange and pink wool- while drinking I would feel the occasional gentle tugging and fiddling of my locks, not at all unpleasant!

While on the river we saw pink river dolphins (an unexpected delight since we are so often hearing of how close to extinction they are)- we were told it was unusual to have sightings at that time of day and we took this to be a good omen. We travelled up the river and the boat struggled against the current, which was somewhat sobering as we would soon be crossing this very stretch of water on our rafts, reliant on our muscle and will power in place of an outboard motor!

We arrived at a floating cafe where we feasted on a huge platter of various local meats (battered caiman, smoked capybara and some kind of fish) with two different styles of fried plantain (delicious!), "jungle spaghetti", a type of vine shredded up that looks like tagliatele and salads with pineapple and chilli salsa and omelette. We tried a delicious strong drink of lime juice and local gin (I forget the name) and more local beer (very nice) and relaxed on (and in) the warm water before heading up to a small wildlife park where we met and handled some sloths, caiman, anaconda and a monkey. The sloths are amazing! They have a beautifully calm and contented aura about them and seem to smile as they gaze around in wonderment at their surroundings. They are anatomically bizarre and fascinating too, and it was a rare treat to be able to handle and inspect one so closely.

After a full and brilliant day I enjoyed some time with my new friend in the evening though was unfortunately mugged on our way back to my hostel by 3 men on a moto cab whizzing by and grabbing my bag off my waist from behind almost taking me with them, and so I lost my money, credit card and camera. Still I was in good company and having an otherwise incredible time so I didn't let it get me down too much after the initial anger and upset subsided. Afterall, tomorrow the real adventure would begin, tomorrow we would build our vessel that would carry us some 112 miles down the mighty River Amazon...