Since last week or so our pack has gained a new member. New in the crew is Pawlie the penguin, or Pauli for those who don't yet know his secret identity. Due to this we decided to extend our trip enough to sip in a bit more sun and adventure. Traveling in a group of three will hopefully cut our expenses food- and taxiwise or else our extension might turn us into street vendors.
The first week of our threesome started of in Lima. Pauli flew in the same day we flew out of Iquitos and after some jet lagged days we finally started doing something with our time: movies, ping-pong and beer with the occasional trip to the nearest mercado for mangos. After six days of hard relaxing we got going and now we are on our way to Ecuador.
Traveling in threes has its disadvantages too, apart from playing defensive (even towards the only other finnish person in our hostel), it's difficult to decide who sits where on the bus when nobody wants to be the third wheel. Pauli didn't appreciate the lonely panorama seat of the bus and rather wanted to sit next to one of us. Niklas didn't want to sit alone either, and since it was my name on the outsider seat I couldn't argue with them. As soon as I settled down a beautiful Peruvian girl took the seat next to me carrying a few week old puppy. At this point Niklas started second guessing his choice to sit next to the pink and peeling Pauli, not that the sunburnman was any happier with his choice: stuck next to Niklas and with only a partial view. My seat was pretty great though. I had the view, the puppy and a place to rest my feet. I even had somebody I know (Niklas) behind me so I could fully recline my chair just to make a point.
Oh what a good time we've had for the few past weeks. The first time we were in Lima was before Iquitos when Niklas' dad was here to work as our mule. Good old days at the Sheraton: five stars, shiny floors, entrance hall bigger than any hostel we've ever stayed at and free pisco! But mingling with the better folk (and handsome Brasilian stewards) could only last so long, it was time for some adventourism so to jungle we flew.
When you get out of the airplane in Iquitos the first thing that hits you is humidity and heat. When you get out from the airport the first thing that gets you is the motokarmen. When you first get out of town you realise why there are so many motokars. In a place with hardly any paved roads and heavy showers it's not hard to imagine why people rather invest in cheap, plus light, motokars instead of some expensive monster that would sink in the mud for eternity.
It can get incredibly hot in Iquitos, so hot in fact that it is better not to dry yourself after having a wash and only wear what is necessary to cover your non-public areas. In the evening this might be a problem with the mosquitos and what not, but jolly well I'll worry about that later. Besides, the good stuff about Iquitos out rules the bad. You can get cuma-cuma juice (über healthy and quite delicious too), travel anywhere on a motokar, bird watch or just listen to the sound orchestra of frogs (birds and little creepers play every night).
Pauli was arriving on the 23rd (jan) so we only had time for a three days, two nights, jungle tour. It started with a hectic hustle to the center of Iquitos: Police were checking licenses and surprisingly it was quite difficult to get a motokar past the check points. Late, we boarded the boat that would take us deeper into the Amazon.
The boat ride was a but softening three hours. There was no place to lay down and the wooden bench was thrillingly painful for my tailbone, but those are the sacrifices you make in order to enjoy some of the slightly outer reaches of this planet. For Niklas it was truly a ride to remember... I won't be forgetting it too soon either. Niklas also got nibbled from his private parts by a fish while having a wash in the river. It was funny.
Our amazon adventure included hiking in the forrest, learning about medicinal plants, camping in the jungle for a night and also a lot of embarrassing moments for human kind. Our guide, although very helpful and professional, had a thing about not leaving anything in peace. We saw an iguana, so he shook the tree until it came falling down like a block of wood. While me and Niklas facepalmed the french-canadian women laughed and looked forward to more nature disturbing. It got worse after that. We saw a sloth in a tree above the river, so the guide made his apprentice climb up the tree and get it. Unfortunately for him, the sloth managed to climb out of reach, so another boy came, climbed another tree and, while jumping from that tree, took hold of the sloth and fell in the water with it. Our protests went unheard and the french-canadians couldn't stop flashing their cameras and touching the scared little thing. From this day on we hoped not to bump into more animals, or middle-aged french-canadians seeking thrills in places they should stay away from.
Yeah, so basically blaablaablaa, getting stuck in floating salad full of spiders, blaablablablaa, camping in hammocks was fun except for the mosquitos, blaablaa.
Anyway, Iquitos and the jungle were great, but now we're in Ecuador. Only have a little time left so from now on no Blogging unless I truly really feel like it. It's not like anyones reading this anyway. Les blaa, better quality, more vacation. The internet is everywhere, so you'll hear from me anyway.
Can't bother correcting this now. Sleep is what I aim for.
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