But please with Jungle

Traveling to the jungle is something very special and actually quite extraordinary for us Europeans. Yes, it is possible in Peru or South America. Even in kindergarten, I admired this jungle with its diversity of plant and animal species. And now suddenly right in the middle of it. Somehow a nice feeling. However, the jungle is not always a total idyll, because there is a lot of traffic in cities like Tarapoto or Iquitos. Although you hardly see any cars, there are a lot of motorcycles. But now let's talk about our trip:

On June 9th, it was finally time, my brother, his girlfriend, and I left Lima heading north. My brother took time off work specifically to travel around the jungle area with me for two weeks. His girlfriend accompanied us for only one week. Our plane took off from Lima's airport in the afternoon, more or less on time. The flight from Lima to Tarapoto lasted about an hour. So you can fly to the jungle that quickly. Amazing!.....

We landed here at sunset 😉

We got off the plane and were impressed by the warmth and high humidity. So hot, unlike Lima.....

First, we took a mototaxi to the accommodation. Exciting, especially if you have never ridden in such a vehicle before. There are a lot of these things in Tarapoto and Co. There are no long waiting times if you need a mototaxi to get from A to B.

Once we had settled into the accommodation, we went to drink coconut 🥥. Never really done that before. My brother and his girlfriend are true coconut fans and can't get enough of it. In the end, the coconuts 🌴 are also cut open and the flesh is naturally eaten as well. In the north of Peru, where the jungle reigns, there is a stand selling these nuts on almost every street corner. In this case, we were in a coconut bar. Yes, such a thing exists, I didn't expect that.

In Tarapoto, we stayed only two nights before moving on to Lamas and Moyobamba. We visited a small mini zoo located in a small jungle area and ate traditional food from this region on the street in the evening. Eating is typically done on the roadside here. In a certain place in a city/village, there are stands set up where the locals prepare food in a very simple way. There is usually meat and/or rice and of course plantains. For example, Tacachos is very typical of the Amazon region. They look like dumplings made from plantains and usually bacon. Also very typical of the jungle is "Juane" - rice, usually wrapped in a large leaf with a little chicken. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but you can surely find some on Google.de.

Most stands have a grill where meat, plantains, and other things are grilled. Fascinating, and a bit strange, I found out that the chicken's feet are also eaten. Well, bon appétit...... at least everything from the animal is eaten!

After a week of traveling, it was time for my brother's girlfriend to fly back to Lima as she had to continue her work. We said goodbye to her and our journey continued. We took the bus to Yurimaguas, which took about 3 hours. Due to a construction site, the bus journey was delayed by an hour. In Yurimaguas, we stayed two nights in a hostel located directly on a tributary of the Amazon. We spent two days in the small city. One day we went fishing with the hostel owner and the other day we visited the market in the city and watched a World Cup match in a cafe.

Then we were off to Lagunas, a village that can only be reached by boat. Our plan was to take a cargo ship from Lagunas to Iquitos. The whole trip was supposed to take 2-3 days and it promised to be a cheap and great experience. On the cargo ship, various things are transported and delivered to the respective villages along the way, and of course, people can also travel on this boat. You buy or bring a hammock with you, which you sleep on. Food is also provided by the crew if you bring a plastic container.

The "speedboat" in Yurimaguas left at 7 am, and we had to be there at around 6 am to secure our tickets. When we arrived at the port, many people were already on their feet loading the boat with various products. Passengers like us also boarded the boat and took their seats.

At 7:20, the boat finally set off for Lagunas. Time passed relatively quickly. After 4 hours, we arrived in Lagunas. We were surprised because the hostel owner in Yurimaguas had told us that the boat trip would take about 8 hours. At the port of Lagunas, we took a mototaxi to the main square. Yes, these things exist here too, even though this village can only be reached by boat. When we arrived at the Plaza de Armas, we looked for accommodation. Surprisingly, there were many of them for a small village. Later I realized why. Lagunas is very close to a national park, and tours with a guide into this jungle area take place almost daily. Of course, we also did this, but more about that in another blog article 😉. That's why we saw many tourists in the village who didn't want to miss this opportunity.

In Lagunas, we inquired about the next cargo ship departure. However, we found out that there was no possibility to travel on such a boat at that time. So we decided that after the jungle adventure (3 days), we would take another "speedboat" to Nauta and from there continue to Iquitos by microbus.

In the night, a mototaxi reserved by our jungle guide picked us up and drove us to the port. We knew that a 10-hour boat ride would not be pleasant, but still.... 🤔. We arrived at the port about half an hour before the supposed arrival of the boat (2 am). "Now we have to wait and hopefully the boat will arrive reasonably on time," we thought. We hadn't slept much, maybe 3 hours... After waiting for a certain amount of time, we looked at the clock, it was 2:20 am, and there was no sign of our boat. Not even at 3 o'clock..... We were not alone, some other locals were also waiting. In Germany, after half an hour, some people would probably have been annoyed and possibly expressed their displeasure because the train or bus was late again. Here in Peru...no one was annoyed. I guess this must be normal here.

Suddenly, at half past 3, we finally heard the engine of the boat. The boat briefly docked, we got on board, and the 10-hour journey could finally begin.

10 hours later:

After 10 hours, we finally arrived in Nauta, and we just wanted to get off the boat. Totally exhausted, but still happy to have arrived. We continued with the minibus to Iquitos. After about 2 hours, we finally arrived there too. Looked for a hostel and went to bed! It's crazy how doing nothing can make you so tired.

Iquitos:

We were there, finally 😊. Iquitos, a crazy city in the middle of the jungle. Mototaxis and motorcycles of all kinds rolled over the asphalt of the road. I had never seen so many motorcycles in one place. The biggest and most chaotic city in the jungle.......