Peru officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is an extremely biodiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains vertically extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon Basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon river.
This was my first real adventure trip. Growing up I had been able to go on vacation with family and friends to the typical places: Canada; U.S.A.; England; and for most of those trips I was too young to really understand the significance of travel and how lucky I was to see these places. Now was my chance to go explore the world and see what this planet had to offer. I had taken one trip down to a Mexican resort and that was fun and eye opening but I still wanted to see something a little less “Common”, something to get me out of my comfort zone.
I had been looking at the basic travel information I could find and nothing really jumped out at me. However, I had been donating to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) for years and remember looking at their “Travel with WWF” ads with a thought on how wild that must be. I started looking at their trips and their trip to the origins of the Amazon River sounded like something I could do (and afford). We would all meet at the Miami airport and travel as a group the entire way. I remember being so nervous about this trip. I never needed vaccinations for a trip before, I didn’t understand their language and what types of food do they eat? It’s not like there were many Peruvian restaurants around were I had lived. Many unknowns and I am going by myself, I didn’t know anybody else on the trip. I took the plunge and signed up for the trip about 6 weeks before it started.
Lima Peru
From Miami we flew to Lima and checked in our hotel for the night. I remember finding the casino in the hotel and I am so glad I only had a small amount of money in my pocket. I lost the equivalent of $20-$40 that night but what I really remember were the legs of the dealer. Even the other dealers were commenting on her great legs, maybe that is how they distract players. 🙂
The next day we started early with a walking tour of the city. I remember it being a pretty quiet city until we ran into the area where all the other tourists were.
Iquitos & the Amazon River
Late afternoon we took a flight to Iquitos in northern Peru. I remember it being very hot and humid as we got off the plane and into the small little airport terminal. No air conditioning and very basic, then being whisked off in a small minibus to get us to the port to board our boat. It was getting dark and the port was very busy, people running around and yelling. What had I gotten myself into, was this really what I had been expecting? I could see our boat anchored away from the shore and we were soon pushed into groups of 3-4 to be ferried out to our boat. Was my luggage going to make it? I hadn’t seen my luggage since leaving the Lima hotel in the morning. All this chaos, do they even know if I am supposed to be on that boat? Do they even know which boat I am supposed to be on? It’s too dark to see others in the group and I didn’t really know or recognize any of them yet. Well, despite what looked like chaos was actually a well oiled process. Once I stepped on the boat I was directed to the top deck for an orientation and room assignment. It was a little cooler on the water but I still remember feeling hot and sweaty. Being the last person to sign up for the trip I was given a cabin all to myself, I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing at the time but when I saw the size of the cabin I am glad I had it all to myself as it was pretty small. Someplace to sleep and take a shower, that was about it.
The M/V Turmalina was a great boat, with two levels for cabins and an observation deck on top with a huge cooler full of drinks. It even had an air conditioned dining room at the back with a chandelier. Hot water for showers and clean bathrooms in every cabin. I think there were only about 12 guests on board and about 16 crew members that all did double duty. You might be working in the engine room most of the day, but come meal time you had to clean up, put on the black pants and white shirt to work a shift in the dinning room. It was a little over pampering for my tastes but it did make my first adventure trip go a little easier.
Most days we would have two excursions out on long boats to explore the smaller rivers feeding the Amazon. We would go looking for wildlife or perhaps visit a small village that only saw visitors a few times a year. (It was suggested, in advance, that we could bring things for the local children, like books, crayons, pencils, etc.) Our guides were great and very eager to share their knowledge with us. I remember saying to myself that they are actually enjoying sharing this knowledge with us and helping us learn and understand, it’s not just a paycheck to them. I was starting to see the world through a different pair of eyes, the wonder of nature and sharing knowledge.
We would be back on the boat for lunch then another expedition in the afternoon and every night after dinner our WWF representative would recap everything we have seen and explain some of the science behind it all. How did the Amazon River form and why it is was so important? It was interesting to see how the crew were also very interested in hearing all of this, even the cook would come up to listen. From them it was a treat to have WWF on board, people that were interested in protecting the region, not just for the benefit of the locals but for the planet. In return they got to learn how important their region was to the rest of the planet and the impact what they do has on others.
This was a great trip that I still recall many fond stories of and it gave me the confidence to explore the world and see what else is out there. Ohh so many good stories to tell from this trip. Fishing for piranha; seeing a heron rookery; visiting a remote village; planting a tree in the rain forest; watching huge insects; all the birds; looking for sloths; searching for caiman at night from a small boat; meeting new friends; even having beer put before medical treatment (that’s a good story).
Logistics
This trip was organized by the travel department of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and is no longer offered but there are a number of other travel organizations that have a very similar itinerary. This trip started and ended at the Miami airport, which I really appreciated as this was my first adventure trip. The main advantage to doing this trip through WWF is that I would be travelling with people that all cared about nature and WWF sent someone from their office along to share knowledge of what they are doing in the area.
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