We flew from Lima to Iquitos arriving just before sunset which was a spectacular red colour. It was very hot and humid after Lima. The transport into the city was an old style American School bus from the 1960 with natural airconditioning (ie.no windows). This is a city of around 1/2 million people accessable only by air or river. The place is full of mototaxi´s which are 3 wheeled motor bikes with a bench seat for passengers. Our guide told us there were up to 15,000 of these vehicles in Iquitos and it seemed like we shared the road with everyone of them on our way to our hotel. The next day we headed off by speed boat down the Amazon river some 50 miles to our destination the Explorama Lodge. After settling in and lunch we visited the Yagua Village which is a short walk from the lodge. These people still live a traditional lifestyle and we were invited to watch their dancing and singing. Afterwards them men of the tribe demonstrated how to use a blow gun after which we were offered a try as well. Richard hit the target but didn´t managed to get the dart to stick. When you look down the barrel of one of these blow guns it is as straight as a gun barrel, and apparently they take around 30 days to make. Sonia and Madeline got to nurse a baby sloth which was a pet of one of the village children.
After dinner we went on a jungle walk in the arear surrounding the lodge. We managed to see a few spiders, scorpions and other insects as well as a huge whooping frog, the largest frog species living in the jungle. To be continued.
