April 27 – On the River.

It’s 3pm and we’re near the confluence of the Ucayalli and Maranon Rivers.

I love the word confluence - the coming together of 2 forces to create an even greater one. The Amazon is thousands of smaller rivers and tributaries coming together to create a crescendo that truly epitomizes the meeting of those collective forces.

The boat anchors near the mouth of a small tributary and dolphins are all around us; small grey river dolphins (approx 4 ft long) and the bigger, more exotic, pink dolphins (up to 9 ft).


The greys are more playful and acrobatic than their larger, colourful rivermates. They are putting on a show for us – in pairs, but somehow elusive enough (or fast enough) to avoid getting caught midair on film (oops, not film – digits, maybe? Pixels? Bits/bytes? – what do we use to replace the word “film” now (or “fil-um” for my photography friend Garth))??

Unbeknownst to us, on the other side of the boat, we had guests. A river family had pulled alongside in their dugout canoes to show us their wares for sale – these kids are so wonderful and so proud of their creations. It’s impossible to resist. After buying more bracelets and other beaded work we set off in the skiff to explore the river bank and then up the tributary. I wish I had a photo of Bill’s beaded chicken! :)

Suddenly, we w ere witness to the most powerful force on earth – Mother Nature! Without warning, almost without awareness, we happened upon a wanton force of natur e that shows no mercy, no forgiveness and no recourse.

The Amazon is at near-record high water levels and the force of the flow of that water takes it to grounds that haven’t been exposed to the river before. The scene was peaceful. We were following a hawk along the shore and we stopped where it landed.

Over the side of the boat, a very large spider floated on the froth.

Suddenly a tree fell. A 30 ft tree simply fell over and landed in the river. At first we wondered/assumed that someone on shore had felled the tree but that theory was quickly dismissed as that tree suddenly resurrected itself to full height in the water … and was immediately sucked down into the vortex of the eddy/rip tide current! Not a minute later another tree fell … top first into the river … 2 minutes later it was resurrected and sucked into oblivion as well. We watched as tree after tree was ripped from the shore and devoured by the river.


30 years to grow and 30 seconds to disappear completely. Utterly amazing!

We were transfixed by the force and phenomenon and it took a few minutes for it to sink in that we were close for comfort to the danger that this wonder held. I was so mesmerized that I completely forgot that my camera could take video and I missed capturing the whole episode.

Continuing up the tributary we were again met by friendly waving hands of the village people along the shores and a never-ending array of colorful and rackety birds. Every river journey is packed with incredible river people and a glimpse into their lives that leaves me changed more and more every day. On the river.

On this day we happened upon a family burning a dugout canoe to stretch it. They were happy to talk with us about the process, the time it takes to create one and the actual value of it (should they want to sell it). It takes days of work to prepare the hollowed tree for river-readiness and safety but the market value would be about 80 soles ($25 USD). On the river.

Further up the tributary we encountered another family. A man and his daughter trimming their banana plantation. From a canoe. The once walkable trails are now only navigable by canoe. The man was waist-deep in the river and was trimming banana trees and harvesting the low-hanging bunches and trimming up the water-logged dead leaves. His 4-year old daughter was paddling the canoe and eyeing us with inquisitive wariness.

He lost his wife 4 yrs ago to cholera but he said “don’t worry about me, I have a new one now”. Life goes on. On the river.

Kapoc Jungle Camp - Maranon River (part 2)

I woke up to the sound of screaming monkeys and the smell of coffee! The jungle was still and the sun was rising ... it was heaven on earth. I had all of these wonderful memories of camping as a kid ... but this time our tent didn't float away and there was no "dad" yelling at everyone and no brothers throwing snakes in my tent! ... ahh the good ole' days! ;)


It was sad to leave the lodge because I felt so at peace and so very happy there.

After leaving the tent lodge, we traversed a series of 8 canopy walkways to get a "monkey-eye view" of the jungle ... far above the dark, wet jungle floor.

I have no fear of heights and I usually forget that others do ... oops! (sorry to those behind me for trotting merrily over the rope bridges ... feeling on top of the world!)

From the canopy walkways we had monkey's leaping over our heads but it gave us a true sense of how thick and forbidding the jungle can be.

We stopped along the way to plant, symbolic ceremonial trees in the rainforest.

We must do all we can to preserve the rainforest and protect it from the instant gratification of purely capitalistic corporations whose only goal is to exploit it for today's oil and lumber.

Eco-tourism is a great way to experience all the world has to offer - without damaging it - and you get the chance to give a little bit back. (more about that soon!)



On the way out we experienced some pretty cool flora and fauna - poison dart frogs, walking palm trees ... and the jungle was so thick that I found myself wondering where Tarzan was when you really needed him! :)












If you ever see me with a long dart in my hand you'll have to stop and wonder if anyone in the jungle taught me what to do with this very cute, little poison frog. ;)













What awaited us on the other side of the jungle trail was wondrous and seemed like a mirage!

Kapoc Jungle Camp - Maranon River (part 1)

It is steamy in the jungle at the best of times - and in the rainy season, it's really steamy! I did a very poor job of keeping my camera from getting moist and fogged up - consequently many of photos are dark and a bit fuzzy.


We landed along the shores of Maranon River at the Amazon Natural Park near Monte Alegra. It was a great surprise as we trekked up the stairs and walkways to discover the Jungle Adventures lodge at the top. It was like a piece of heaven on earth with the wonderful sounds of birds and monkeys all around us ... and scarlet macaws and blue & gold macaws showing off for us.





We hopped in dugout canoes, bound together to create a catamaran of sorts, and paddled across a lake to the trail head. Around the lake we encountered a number of different species of monkeys (spider monkeys, squirrel monkey, wooly monkeys, dusty titi monkeys, saddleback and one other that escapes memory) some of whom followed us and played in the tree tops above our heads.

We stumbled upon a family of capibarra's - the world's largest rodents (they are about the size of a domestic pig and weigh up to 140 lbs) and sat and watched them for awhile. These guys look like a cross between a rabbit and a pig!

We traveled on and Robinson gave us a great history and status of the rain forest and all of the things that create it, destroy it and exploit it. Robinson is a wealth of knowledge and he readily shares it. He is a master of spotting animals and birds along the shores and he can identify birds like no other. Thus far, we have seen over 60 species of birds and at least 10 of monkeys. Danielle is anxious to see an Anaconda but thus far they have been elusive. Me, I've seen at least 50 3-toed sloths ... but alas, 48 of them turned out to be termite nests cleverly disguised as sloths.



We arrived at the Kapoc camp just before dark and in time to see how beautiful this tent lodge really is. This is no ordinary camp -- we were greeted by Raoul, Oscar and David - our wonderful boat chef and service team! Raoul went out of his way to cart up my favorite wine and a cooler full of beer for the others. (apparently there is a back way, short-cut trail but these guys still had to haul a lot of food and supplies into the jungle for us ... and we really appreciated it!)


Dinner was incredible. David cooked inside the dining tent and we were treated to traditional Peruvian chicken and rice cooked inside banana leaves. After dinner, Robinson had arranged for a shaman to visit us and participate in a healing ritual.

The even more incredible part was that mosquitos were at a minimum and we hardly even needed bug spray. :) We all headed to our tents and after a quick scan of my tent with my wind-up flashlight ... it was an incredible night of heavy rain and magnificent night sounds of monkeys and birds making haunting and fascinating calls all night long. I didn't get much sleep but it was a night to remember. The fresh-brewed coffee was very welcomed in the morning. Muchas gracias, mi amigo Raoul. :)

The people are what really matters

The food has been wonderful and the people have been even better!

Meet the Band. The Turmalina Fab 4!

Oscar, Amalier, Becket and Robinson.

• Becket - guitar and vocals
• Oscar - charango
• Amalier - pan flute & bongo
  
• Robinson - box drum

Beckett, named for Irish poet/playwright Samuel Beckett. The children of the Amazon have wonderfully eclectic and varied names - a combination of traditional tribal names, Spanish and English historical references and pop culture influences. Deep in the jungle west of Iquitos in a tiny village we met a girl named Dora. They lived miles from electricity and even further from television but she could sing the song from which she was named! "Dora the Explorer" had apparently explored the Amazon, too. :)

Back to Becket. Becket is a jewel in the Triple Crown of the Turmalina - he has a fast smile, a coy grin, a gleam in his eye and a great voice. He is the lead singer and guitar player in the boat band but he also plays the pan flute and a few other instruments as well. Beckett has been on the boat for 9 yrs now -- flashing his smile and charm and being a great ambassador of the Amazon.

It's a good job to have but these guys work many hours for very little by our standards. 6.5 days per week (only Saturday afternoons off) and then one week off in late May. Becket has a dream to one day have his own band and not work on the boat. We have so much and need so little -- they have so little and ask for nothing. The imbalance in this equation bothers me.

I discovered that my camera could take full length videos (the perils of buying new equipment 2 days before leaving on vacation!) so we set up a recording session onboard for the last evening of our Amazon portion of the trip. I borrowed a tripod from Bill, we moved the water cooler, obscured the firehose and attempted to move the beer fridge (to no avail!). We built the playlist and we were ready to go ...

We recorded 11 of their songs with various mishaps and hiccups along the way ... Raoul, our fabulous bartender and Maitre'd was obvious in the background as he tended to our libacious needs; the playlist was caught in a sudden wind gust and blew onto the stage, a boat went by and caused a rolling cross wake, and Oscar had to leave midway through to get dinner ready as he doubled as our head waiter. Robinson materialized in the middle of song #3 but somehow we managed to produce an 11 song collection for them.

We decided to record only Peruvian songs and local classics for them but they also played a amazing assortment of classics and pop songs ... John Lennon and Paul would be happy to have heard the Turmalina versions of "Imagine" and 'Let it Be" ... played wonderfully on the pan flute by Amalier.

We wanted to cut the CD that night for them but with limited equipment, no editing software and only my netbook (with no CD drive!), I was stuck. Mirko offered up his laptop but me fumbling around in Vista ... in Spanish (!) was simply more than frustrating than productive.

Watch for the website and CD soon! :) It was a lot of fun to do this for them - it's just too bad the sound quality was poor on my dSLR camera.

This song is link to youtube - "Amazonia" - a tribute to the Amazonian Rainforest and our need to preserve it for the world ... and all of it's citizens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voX-IJWzwdA

The follow up to unanswered questions.

Mirko. Thank you.

Because of Mirko I will never know how to finish the story about Phyllis in fact. Mirko worked to make sure I had my own room on board the boat and that Phyllis could continue to be an enigma to us all. Danielle made a good point today when she said that Phyllis served to unify us all as a group -- a thread of commonality (so-to-speak) -- as we all bore the same question about Phyllis and who she really is.


Phyllis was the character I expected her to be ... and more!! Phyllis left last night for Atlanta and I'm quite sure none of us will forget her! Ever.


This is Phyllis as I found her riding in the tethered skiff alongside the boat one morning ... she had somehow managed to crawl out there while we were traveling along at about 8 knots. YIKES!!






And this is how Mirko did his onboard exercise program!

Iquitos, Peru. April 25 - 26

The sweetest, happiest kids you'll ever meet!

Iquitos Sunday morning Military parade

Robinson, our local guide

Saturday night comes alive in Iquitos!

Belen floating village

Motocarra's - the only way to get around!

Belen Market in Iquitos

natural medicines from rain forest plants

Some people have all the luck ... we didn't see a single snake! ... except in a jar in the Belen market in Iquitos!

The Turmalina - Our Amazon home for the next 7 days!

The Amazon was incredible!

I'm just back in Lima for a day or so after more than a week in the Amazon and I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll post a few things over the next few days ... but I really just truly disconnected from the world for a while and wrote a few notes that still have to be woven into stories to post.

You'll be surprised to learn that one of the jungle camps we stayed in had Internet access but I wasn't even interested in investigating the thought. I think I'm already on Step 11 of my 12 Step "Crackberry Anonymous" program. You'll also be pleased to know that my hiking shoes have not yet become stuck to my underwear and the maple syrup is still in tact. :) Life is good.


Here we go ... (back to April 24th briefly)

Phyllis. How do I write about Phyllis? I’ve put off writing about Phyllis for a few days now but she certainly deserves an early chapter and I’m quite sure some later ones, as well.

I came down for breakfast on my first morning in Lima and all of the tables were taken. I grabbed a cup of fabulous Peruvian coffee (gads! I love the coffee here), glanced around and saw a poor, lonely soul sitting by themselves and almost pleading with their eyes for someone to chat to. I pulled up a chair and sat down for a good ole’ traveling tourist chat.

Phyllis is older. 79 by her own account. Deaf. Loud. Very loud. And she walks with a hand-carved cane of mountain laurel. Phyllis is a character. A true character. The type of character that books are written about and folklore is created around.

Phyllis is from North Carolina. She has that southern forthrightness that indicates generational money and land entitlement – and the southern drawl to go with it. Standing, stooping, well over 6 ft tall, she’s an engineer – a pipeline engineer by her recount. She drives a bobcat, flies a plane, has a farm and by her account, has done almost everything and anything. She’s traveled the world. She was thrilled to learn that I currently live in Calgary – “oh!” She says, “Cavalry! I know it well”. Yes Phyllis, but it’s CAL-Gary. “Yes, Cavalry. Wonderful place” she says.

Phyllis is in Peru to catch a trip through the Amazon. On a boat. Leaving on Saturday from Iquitos. “Oh Dear GOD! I think she’s on my GAP trip”. Well, she will certainly add flavor to the trip.

I run off to meet up with Donna for our trip to Lima city centre and tell Phyllis we will catch up again later.

8pm. Lobby of the wonderful Miraflores Colon Hotel. Mirko, our Amazon trek leader has assembled us together for a quick info session and meet and greet. In the group there are Gerry and Shirley, a lovely couple from Winnipeg – on almost 7 week trip around South America; Sarah, a woman from England; Scott and Danielle, an adorable young couple from Oz and a few other couples. There are a number of people absent as their flights are arriving later, etc and 3 other people scheduled to meet up with us in Iquitos in the jungle. And Phyllis.

Mirko grew up on a coffee plantation in the jungle and now he lives in Lima - "his city", he calls it. He started as a local GAP guide a few years ago; now he is a group leader and this is his first time to take this Amazon river cruise. He’s a fun, affable guy with a humble but quick smile, a shaved head and a shaggy beard. Mirko runs through the details and some schedule info and then, for those traveling on our own, he announces who is teamed up as roommates. Phyllis is my roommate. She beams and says to me “I snore really loudly – but just whack me and I’ll stop for a few mins”. Oh lucky me.

Oh ... I forgot to mention. Everyone in our group (including the crew on the boat) is fairly certain that Phyllis came into this world as “Phillip” … or may well still be. YIKES!

Yes. It's Peru.

We left Lima for Iquitos today. Iquitos means “surrounded by water” in local language. It is an isolated city in the Amazon Basin of approximately 500,000 people. I say isolated because the only way to reach it is by water or by air. I say approximately 500,000 people because many people are poor and illiterate and many births are never recorded.

By Peruvian standards, Iquitos is rather new. It was a poor, humble fishing village until the 1880’s when the rubber industry caused it to boom. Then came synthetic rubber … the city is still large but gone are the glory days of money from Europe and rubber barons.

Iquitos of today is reminiscent of Thailand. People everywhere. Happy. Friendly. Outside. Working hard to make a living. Motocarra’s (3 wheeled motorcycles) and scooters are everywhere. Slums, feral dogs, begging children and child prostitution abound. It’s sad. It’s hot and it’s humid.

Iquitos has over 250 days of rain per year and a reported average rainfall of 25 inches per month … every month! How lucky are we that we don’t live here?

Today I met someone who did. Louisa grew up here. 39 years ago she met Bob on the Amazon River. Bob was in the Peace Corp. They now live in Rochester, NY. Today they were in Iquitos to open a new school built in the childhood home of Louisa. Bob and Louisa have spent much of the past almost 40 yrs bringing education to Peruvian children – those children who reach out for hope. Those kids who just need a “leg up” in life to really shine. A student in their school in the high jungle just finished high school as the Valedictorian and is now in university on a full scholarship. Caring matters … and it works! As Louisa said “you can’t save them all but you can save the ones who really want to be rescued”.

They have invited me to the opening of their new school. I wish I could go. :(

Robert and Louisa Owens, The Peruvian Project Inc.

We left Lima for Iquitos today. On the way to the airport someone asked if we could take our water through security. Mirko, our tour leader, said ‘Yes. It’s Peru!”

I cleared security, boarded the plane (water bottle in hand) and sat down next to the people who would become known to me as Bob and Louisa. Yes, it’s Peru. And it’s wonderful.

Lima and Miraflores photos

A small collection of some photos from April 23 - 24 ...


Words to live by ... "Don't piss on the flowers!" :)

Sunset in Larcomar, Miraflores

a door to nowhere ...

Larcomar shopping area

Dancers in Plaza des Mayors in front of Cathedral de Lima

Police dogs (a rottie and dobie) in Plaza San Martin

School kids in Lima ... we shared email addresses. :)