Day 353: The Amazon – Iquitos Day 2
Plan officially back-fired today: instead of making us want to go home, the northern Amazon just shot Peru into our Top 5 list of countries. Today was AMAZING. Started out pleasant and peaceful – even though the electricity was shut off around midnight (so we didn’t have our ceiling fan all night long), at least we were able to fall asleep in comfort. The evening breezes high up in the treetops kept us cool at night and the fan turned on again around 6AM. We were woken up naturally by the incoming sunlight (no loud neighbors, no alarm clocks) and took our time coming down for breakfast. It was a LONG walk from our room to the lodge, so each time we left, we had to make sure we didn’t forget anything!
Morning trek from our secluded treehouse, across the suspension bridge, down the stairs, over the boardwalk, to the thatched-roofed lodge for breakfast
So, we had already seen dolphins, piranha and a caiman the day before. “Anything else you guys want to see?” our guide, Martín, asked us. “Sloths and monkeys!” we replied. So after breakfast, we hopped into a longboat and cruised down the river and into the floodplains, on the lookout for primates.
Martín was a GOOD guide. Literally the first animal he found within 15min of our tour was a small, female Three Toed Sloth, climbing in a tree. Another tour boat (full to the brim with tourists! Probably a cruise-ship excursion) was right behind us and took the prime location in front of the branch to take pictures. We ended up underneath branch, with a shitty backlit view of the sloth, so we waited patiently for them to leave so we could get a better shot.
The moment the other tour boat took off down the river and was out of sight, Martín turned to us and asked, “Do you want to hold it?” “YES,” Lindsay replied without missing a beat. Then, our boat driver Fernando climbed barefoot into the tree and chased down the sloth (obviously the poor thing couldn’t get away fast enough!), grabbed her by the nape like a kitten and plucked her out of the tree. While sloths are not aggressive, they do have very long, sharp and power claws, so we had to hold her from the back.
Guys, she was SO SWEET! Martín told us the sloth was female (males have distinctive markings on their back) and pretty young (independent from her mother, but not sexually mature yet). Probably freaking out, but so adorable – slowly reaching out towards us and our camera with her long arms. She had this serene, goofy smile on her face and would play with her feet. It was surreal and magical. After cooing over her for about 5min, we handed her back to Fernando who put her back in the tree. She immediately climbed away as fast as she could (so like, 5MPH instead of 2MPH) – run away, run away little sloth!
Our guide finds a Three Toed Sloth in a tree near the river – while we are taking pictures, another tour group stops nearby
Our driver climbs into the tree and plucks the baby sloth from the branch!
Baby sloth coming in for a close-up!
OMG, look at that face! Igor is so excited to be holding a wild, baby sloth!
Watch out for those claws – she may be slow, but she’s also very strong!
We spend this rest of the morning looking for more animals – we found a troop of Titi Monkeys and some water fowl, but nothing could top holding a sloth. We returned to the lodge for another tasty lunch and headed back on the river in the late afternoon. This time we headed towards the fast-moving water of the main river. Martín and Fernando took us to a cove off the channel where we found dozens of Giant Waterlilies, then back to the fast-moving “brown water” so that we could jump in and swim with the dolphins (don’t worry guys – caiman and piranha only like current-less, “black water”).
Kicking back for a leisure boat ride through the jungle
Our guide finds a small troop of Titi Monkeys
A Jacana (Jesus-bird) seems to walk on water – actually walking on the thick vegetation floating on the water
Pretty jungle flowers
Vast, open wetlands in the Amazon – a Giant White Heron in the distance
We enter a peaceful cove in search of Giant Waterlilies
Victoria Amazonica – Giant Waterlilies of the Amazon
These plants can grow to 3M in diameter! We test their strength – big enough to hold two full water bottles!
Lindsay swimming with dolphins in the Marañón River in the Amazon Jungle
Igor jumps into the water and chases the Pink Dolphins – our guide has to paddle after him!
Golden Hour on the Marañón River in the Amazon Jungle
Dusk, twilight, and evening in the Amazon
That night we had yet another fabulous dinner (which Lindsay could actually eat – yay!), enjoyed in the bug-free lodge. Martín offered to take us out on another night-time boat ride, but there was nothing left on our bucket-list of things to see and the sky was too cloudy to go star-gazing, so we spent the extra hour paying cards and enjoying the ceiling fans.
Lindsay is finally well enough to fully indulge in the lodge’s decadent cooking – stuffed avocado, chicken & yucca fries, and cherry-vanilla ice cream shake!