Jungle Love and Beachcombing

La Luna de miel-- Peru Jungle

       We arrived in Iquitos after a 24hr journey and hopped on a moto taxi to our hostel. Remember when giving directions in Spanish to taxi driver not to mix up malecon (Boardwalk) with mericon (homosexual). Once we arrived at our hostel on the malecon we quickly embraced the busy streets of Iquitos, the gateway to the Amazon. The following day we took off on a speed boat up river following the Amazon North until we branched off onto a small tributary called the Tahuayo River.  The water changes from muddy brown to dark black.  

       We met our jungle guide, Edson at the Tahuayo Lodge.  Edson grew up in the jungle and knew the area like the back of his hand. He could spot things that we would have just walked by without even noticing. We told him we weren't his average tourists, he said "alright no limits!", and that we wanted to have a more adventurous experience. I think he had been waiting a while to get people like us because he took advantage of this and hiked us until we were ready to throw in the towel.  We did many full day excursions some starting before sunrise. Most days we speared and caught our breakfast and lunch. We dined on Piranha, Dragonfish, Amazon pike, Bass. We ate plantains with the occasional coconut grub and water vine to wash it all down. 

      On our excursions we found poison dart frogs, monkeys, turtles, sloths, Pink River Dolphins, Giant River Otters, opossums, and identified over 50 different species of birds which is a small fraction of the 1800 species that exist in the country.  During the night adventures we found giant tarantulas, and even saw a wolf spider eating a frog.  One day we built a raft and paddled it across a lake filled with Black Caiman. Edson was scared,  but we knew no limits. On our last day we spotted a 6ft rat-tailed boa constrictor up in a tree.  We figured we each gave an ounce of blood to the healthy mosquito population by the end of our ten days in the jungle.  We were feeling a wee bit jungled out by the time we said adios to our amigo Edson.

    Once back in Iquitos we took a white knuckle turbulent plane ride to Lima where the concrete jungle was waiting for us. This jungle quickly made us miss the real jungle.  Although, we were happy to meet up with Eugene's friend from California, clean our super dirty jungle clothes, and then book a luxury night bus ride to a surf spot on the Northern Coast of Peru. The surf on arrival was all time. The wave called Chicama is said to be the longest wave on earth. After four days of wind, sun and tasty waves our bodies had had enough. The wave is so long and the current is so strong that the only way to get back is to get out of the water and walk back to the point which is a half mile walk every time. Now we're in Huanchaco catching the tail end of the endless winter swells.