Iquitos is wild!! I got such a buzz from the city, with it's moto-taxis racing around the streets, and Amazonian jungle lying on the outskirts of the concrete city.
The boat trip here took 3 days, and was filled with locals swinging on their hammocks. I met a Medical student from England named Mari who I hung out with for most of the boat trip. I also her friend Caris, and a guy named Pier who is from France. The other French couple we had been travelling with for about a week, got off at one of the little towns on the way.
I spent alot of my time sleeping and waiting in line for food, but I also managed to see some dolphins. I also met with two guys from Lima who Mari and I hung out with for a chunk of time, and I also spoke with an Environmental Engineer for a while.
After getting off the boat, we tried to find accommodation. We ended up finding a couchsurfer who said we could go and stay at her fathers house. The house has no water whatsoever, but we were happy to have a roof over our heads. The was extremely religious and laughed and teased me a bit when I said I believed in energy but wasn´t religious. Jerome was left to talk to him for the rest of the night after that.
We ended up then staying with a girl named Ligia, her boyfriend Christian, her parents, and some other couchsurfers. They were all so welcoming, and we went on a few adventures around the town, including to a butterfly farm, a discothèque, and a birthday party where there was no possible way of getting out of dancing!
We also went to three different organisations: Zoo Peru, People of Peru, and Canatura. In between work, we also managed to find ourselves having fun on mud slides, playing soccer kids, and listening to legends from a local.
The local man named Rafael is an amazing person who teaches children throughout his area, in his home, about animals and the environment a few times a week. Due to his lack of money he can only give each child one piece of paper to work on in each class. His methods are very creative, and he only wishes he had a camera to be able to teach the way he wants. We also went on a canoe ride on the river with another local who took us to his community and to his house.
Jerome and I went one day out of Iquitos a bit to the Institution of Investigation of the Amazon, Peru. Here they study endangered species of fish and teach schools and communities how to protect them. We were able to play with a baby dolphin in one of the pools that was only a couple of months old... soooooooo cute!!
It was finally the end of our stay in Iquitos and it was time for Jerome and I to part ways. He went off by boat to Pullcalpa (south), and my journey continued north to Ecuador. I have had an amazing time with Jerome and will miss him dearly... what an insane time we have had together!!
Now it’s time for my Spanish language skills to pick up again as I continue on solo!! I’m really excited!!!
