Boat Trip out of Iquitos

It was time for us to leave Iquitos and for that we had to take a boat again. After reserving 2 places for our hammocks on a cargo boat a day before, we went to the port, set out hammocks on the upper deck of the boat and said goodbye to Bernardo and Carmen. We made ourselves comfy in our hammocks and waited for the boat to start. After a couple of hours waiting, we asked a guy when we were going to leave. He answered, not today, because there were not enough passengers on board yet. So we had the option to stay one night on the boat with all the noises from the port and all the mosquitoes, but without a mosquito net or going back to Bernardo's place. Fast we decided to go back and returned the next day. All the locals were sleeping under deck and we chose to go on the upper deck where three other travelers from Togo, France and England had their hammocks as well.
Finally the boat started its 3 days ride and we left Iquitos with a beautiful sunset. Soon we heard the bell ringing which meant food time for us! So we stood in line with our plastic pots to receive some soup. While eating we got in contact with the others and it ended up in a bottle of pisco. I couldn't drink though, because I was still affected by a food poisoning reaction on my skin and the pills I took. Although, I took at least a sip, which I regretted during the night because my hands started itching terribly.

The first night was quite relaxing, but the next evening the weather started to change. Suddenly it started to rain heavily with a lot of wind. Our hammocks were under a roof, but because there were no walls, the wind scoured the rain in our little camp. Things flew around, catching them got difficult, because the floor became slippery and the hammocks spun around in the storm. Immediately we packed our stuff and tried to untie our hammocks as fast as we could, but that took some time, so our hammocks and Lea's sleeping bag became kind of wet. After we succeeded in untying everything we moved under deck. There, it was very crowded, hammocks were tightly packed and it was hard to find some free space for ours. After this mess it became kind of uncomfortable because everything was wet and we spent the second night freezing.

The boat ride in general was amazing. You just relax in your hammock, see the Amazonian jungle passing by, enjoying the views, the nature and the sunsets. On the way we saw some pink Amazon Dolphins, stopped at little villages and were amazed by the endless jungle passing by.

After three days we arrived in Yurimaguas, the first access to a road, where we took a 24-hour bus to the Peruvian coast city Trujillo.

On the way at a stop, we experienced something that you probably will only see in South America or Africa. A woman was about to move to another city and she did that with our bus. So she packed her whole home in and on top of the bus. That included all the furniture, a fridge, a stove, and a goddamn motorcycle! Last but not least, there was a dog on top of the bus for almost the whole ride, in a cage, safety first...!

In the end, we were very happy that we did this boat ride. It's an amazing experience and a great way to travel. I just recommend everybody who wants to visit Iquitos, not going by plane, but by boat.