Amazonas 🐍🌴🎣

Iquitos is located in the northern Peruvian rainforest, surrounded by the Amazon and isolated from the outside world. 🌴🌊 You can only reach there by plane or by a days-long journey on a cargo ship. ⛴✈️🤔 We decided to take the plane. 🛬

From Iquitos, we were taken to our jungle lodge by boat taxi on the Amazon. 🚤

Our guide Leo showed us around the whole area and the accommodation. 🌿 Yes, we were a great meal for the mosquitoes. Within 10 minutes, we were covered in mosquito bites. 🙈😳 The next day, we were barely recognizable. 👏🏻😊 Equipped with mosquito spray, rubber boots, and rain jackets, Leo took us on a small tour through the jungle. 👣😉 Equipped with a machete, Leo showed us many interesting things about the animals and plants we encountered. 🗡🤔🦎🕷🦗🐜🌿🌴 He knows a lot and I asked him what the most dangerous animal here is. He said it's the snakes, but they are active at night... 🐍😳 So that's why he took the 🗡 with him...🤔😅 The one in front is Leo 🗡, then Pädu and me 🌿😜 It was slowly getting dark and the mosquitoes started bothering us. 😳 Step by step, I followed Pädu's rubber boots. Suddenly, I saw the tip of Pädu's boot right next to a boa's head. 😱🐍 It scared me a lot. The boa didn't move and Pädu didn't notice. In that moment, I silently ran next to them. 🤭🤫 After 3 meters, I could finally tell Pädu what I had seen. 😅 At first, Leo didn't believe me and went to have a look himself...oh, he suddenly had big eyes when he saw it! 😳 A boa constrictor about 3 meters long 😅 I will never forget the sight of Pädu's boot right next to its head... 🐍😱🙈 Leo said I have good eyes because he had looked closely and didn't see it! Hehe, I see every little spider at home. 🕷😅 We were glad to come back safely and have something to drink...🍺🍹😜

On our next tour, we went to an animal rescue center by boat. There we saw sloths, scarlet macaws, boa constrictors 😜, and a baby crocodile. 🐢🐍🐊

Then we went to the indigenous community deep in the rainforest by boat. There, we were able to join in their traditional dance performance and they showed us their handicrafts that they make themselves. 👏🏻😃 Yes, we saw and experienced a lot in those 3 days. We even went piranha fishing. 🎣 Unfortunately, none of them were interested in the bait, and in the end, I caught another fish, but I released it immediately. 🐟🤗

On the last day, the boat taxi brought us to the dock at 3 in the afternoon, so that we could comfortably catch our flight at 9:10 PM. 🚤🛫 The boat arrived only at 5 PM. While it was cruising on the Amazon, suddenly it stopped. 🚤💥😳 The driver tried to manually restart the engine, but it didn't work anymore. Our boat was drifting down the Amazon for some time...until he realized it and paddled back with the only paddle he had. 🛶🙈😅 He tried for 1.5 hours to start the engine, until he finally called another boat to come and pick us up... It took about 1 hour for it to arrive. 🙄 Luckily, they towed us back to the lodge and we waited there for the next boat. 😏 It finally arrived at 7 PM! 🚤👏🏻 Meanwhile, it got dark... 😳 The guy from the broken boat, a driver, someone who lit their cigarette with a lighter and said where to go, another tour guide, and the two of us tourists, we departed in the pitch dark. It wasn't comfortable at all during the ride. 😳 After an hour, we finally arrived at the port of Iquitos. 🙈🙃🙄 We then had to transfer our luggage onto a "TukTuk" (a cart with a bench) and drive through the chaotic street traffic to the airport! 🙈😅 Our tour guide followed us in another TukTuk. 😯

We finally arrived at the airport at 8:55 PM! 😅 Unfortunately, the check-in counter was already closed, so we couldn't take the flight anymore... 😒😔 So, we had to spend another night in Iquitos until the next morning when we had a new flight to Ecuador. 🙄🛫😊