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The night sky lit by the full moon before me; I gazed out my bus window at the outline of the Andes mountains. Soon that picture-like view turned to jungle as far as the eye could see. This is the part of travel that I truly love; getting back into raw nature. Witnessing the beauty of God’s creation; untouched and thriving on its own. We made our way ten hours down a road that changed from mountain to jungle, pavement to dirt, winter temperatures to summer. Rest stops were made few and far between; wherein the men lined one side of the bus and the women the other. Unable to sleep, I simply stared out my window, listened to my favorite tunes, and thought about the unknown which lied ahead.

Into the Unknown

Jeremy Curl
2006-08-28 12:28:09

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to get you to Pantoja (border). Then from Pantoja to Iquitos (4-5 days), you have to catch a cargo boat that only leaves once a week; usually on Wednesday. I had to factor all of this into my planning, which meant everything had to run smoothly or I was stuck in the middle of the jungle for a week. Lucky for me, I did make my deadline of Wednesday; but of course no schedules are ever set in stone around here. The cargo boat was late, which meant I had to spend two days in Pantoja; but that is better than a week. The riverside village had an air about it that made you feel welcome. Thatched roofed huts were dispersed throughout the jungle, hand carved canoes lined the banks, and every local hospitably greeted their only white stranger with a smile. I stayed at the only hospedaje in town and ate dinner at the local comedor (a lady's house). The food was good and dirt cheap; only one dollar for chicken, rice, platanos, bread, and tea. I sat and talked to all the locals who had questions coming at me left and right. I even went over to one mans place and played with his daughter's baby leopard (no joke; a leopard!). They had found it alone in the jungle and were now raising it. Now, I really really want one (hint-30th B-Day). The cargo boat (The Victor) finally arrived, and I found myself a nice little spot for my hammock and bags. The boat took 4 days (5 nights) to get to Iquitos and stopped off at almost every village along the way (longest stop-8 hours). At each stop, the crew would load cargo (bundles of platanos, pigs, chickens, cows, etc.) onto the boat bound for Iquitos; and bring on additional passengers including their livestock. Soon there were people hanging from the rafters (literally) and chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc. all around. It was like Noah's Ark; and we even saw a rainbow appear daily (pretty freaky man!) It sure wasn't the most sanitary of places; but it gave me a real taste of what life is like on the Amazon. I was the only ...