in the wilds of the Amazon
The Amazon is a river in South America, the largest in the world in terms of basin size, full flow and length. It is formed by the confluence of the Muranion and Ucayali rivers in Peru. The length from the main source of Maranyon is 6992 km, and from the source of Ucayali over 7000 km. The basin area is 7180 thousand km² . In 2011, according to the results of the world competition, the Amazon was recognized as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Most of the Amazon basin belongs to Brazil, the southwestern and western regions belong to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. The Amazon flows mostly through the Amazonian lowland near the equator and flows into the Atlantic Ocean, forming the world's largest delta with an area of over 100 thousand km² and including the world's largest river island Marajo. The Amazon is fed by numerous tributaries; about 20 of them are over 1500 km long.
Together with its tributaries, the Amazon forms a system of inland waterways with a total length of more than 25.000 km. The main channel of the Amazon is navigable for 4300 km up to the foothills of the Andes. Ocean vessels rise to the city of Manaus, located in Brazil, 1690 km from the mouth. The main ports of the Amazon, starting from the mouth: Belen, Sintaren, Obidos, Manaus (Brazil) and Iquitos (Peru). The width of the Amazon in the Iquitos region is about 2 km, in the Manaus region - 20 km, and at the mouth - about 200 km.
The Amazon surprises with the richness of flora and fauna. Over a million different species of plants and animals live here in a vast area. Without exaggeration, this area can be called the world genetic fund. Scientists claim that there are 1.500 species of flowers, 750 species of trees, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, and countless insects and invertebrates per 10 km² of rainforest. Many of their species are not even described or identified.
There is no road or rail network in the Amazon Basin. The main transport arteries here are water. The Amazon is probably the only river in the world that has no bridges. It can only be reached by plane or by ship across the Atlantic Ocean.
In the upper part of the Amazon, it is inhabited mainly by local tribes who did not experience the influence of the culture of the Incas and Spaniards and retained the way of life and customs of their ancestors.
Having a desire to visit the upper reaches of the Amazon, we arrived from Machu Picchu to Lima and immediately took a taxi from the bus station for 60 soles to the airport. Found the ticket office. There were 6 of them - according to the number of air carriers operating flights to Peru. The time was around 3 am. Only 2 cashiers were open. In one of them, we were asked for $ 290 for a round-trip flight from 1 person. It was KM, the famous Chilean carrier that dominates all of South America. In the second box office - $ 260 for the same services. We knew that the prices were obviously too high and decided to wait until other cash desks open. At about 6 am at the 3rd ticket office, we were already offered tickets for $150, but they demanded payment in soles. This is already a Peruvian carrier and a normal price. At the exchange office here at the airport, we change money and purchase tickets for 7-40 this morning with a return in the evening after 3 nights.
I really wanted to see the Andes from the plane. However, the sky was overcast and we only saw some snow covered peaks jutting out from behind the clouds.
At about 9-30 we landed in Iquitos, got our luggage and already in the airport building we saw 6-8 offices of travel companies offering tours of the Amazon. We spoke with 3 of them, looked at their colorful booklets and photos illustrating the conditions of the stay and what we should see. Prices fluctuated for a standard tour of 3 days, 2 nights ranging from $250 to $350 and depended on the living conditions, the excursion programs were identical. The prices seemed too high to us.
We left the airport building and found ourselves in a crowd of taxi drivers and smaller travel agents, who also vied with each other to show colorful photos and offer more loyal prices. With the guy with whom we negotiated, we agreed on the main parameters of the tour - 4 days 3 nights and the cost of a full board, including transfers, accommodation, meals and an excursion program for 100 soles per person for 1 day. In his car, he took us to the office of the company "Maniti", www. mannitiexpedition. com, tel. +5.965933342, located next to the central square of Iquitos. Here we were met by his father, the owner of the company, and we worked with him to clarify the parameters of the tour. He showed us his license and a book with reviews of tourists from various countries, gave us a business card, from which it followed that his company had offices not only in Iquitos, but also in Lima and the USA.
We were offered 2 options: Transfer by bus about 300 km up the Amazon, then along the tributaries by boat 50 km to the base, or dodge, located in the jungle on the tributary of the Amazon - Ucayali. We were told that there are more comfortable conditions and more diverse nature and wildlife. The second option was to descend down the Amazon for 17 km with a stop in the dodge directly on the Amazon. The second option suited us better: the Amazon has many tributaries and branches, and there is only one Amazon river in the world!
Calculations showed that for the entire 4-day tour for 4 people we owe 601$ or 150$ per person. I offered half now, the rest at the end. The owners did not agree. Then I offered $600 now and $1 at the end as a compromise. They laughed together and shook hands.
While the organizers were preparing our departure, we made a short walking tour of Iquitos. We examine the central square with the cathedral, the iron house designed by Eiffel - the author of the famous tower in Paris, the city administration building, the Iquitos embankment, on the banks of one of the many arms of the Amazon. There are monuments to prominent mayors of the region. On the streets of Iquitos, numerous Tuk-tuks scurry around like cockroaches - motorcycles with sidecars for transporting passengers. During the tour we are accompanied by our future guide named Homer.
Finally, we take our things to the port of Iquitos and board a boat with an outboard motor that works like a river tram, and together with the locals we go down the river. We sail past the port of Iquitos with numerous barges selling oil products.
Then we pass to the right lower bank of the Amazon and move along it. In about an hour we land on the island along with supplies of drinking water and food. Further on, we canoe along the clearing in the forest deep into the coast to our dodge.
Dodge - a series of huts standing on stilts in the middle of the forest and swamps, connected by bridges. Everything is made of wood - the most common building material in the Amazon jungle. Each hut is approximately 4x4 meters in size, with mosquito nets around the perimeter windows, palm fronds and a tin ridge. Each hut has attached amenities in the form of a toilet, sink and shower. Water, naturally from the Amazon and drained into it.
The dodge's life support system consists of a tower with a tank of Amazonian water and a diesel generator that gives light and pumping water in the evening hours, as well as a power line on poles sticking out of the water.
The team serving us consisted of 4 young guys, including Homer - our permanent guide and head of the others, the minder who drove the boat with an outboard motor, the cook and the boy in the wings. Homer spoke English and assured that he knew 3 more languages. We taught him Russian in 4 days. He learned about and memorized about 150 words from us. Homer also knows his great namesake from ancient Greece and that he wrote the poems Iliad and Odysseus. Homer also plays the guitar and sings very nice Peruvian songs, including the most famous Simon and Garfunkel song in the world since the 60s.
As soon as we stepped onto the platforms of the dodge, we heard the salutatory cries of a parrot. It turns out that a whole menagerie lived here, including a cat, a chicken, ducks, swans, parrots, monkeys and a sloth. And all ladad among themselves.
Naturally, every visitor to the Amazon jungle demands to be provided with at least parrots, monkeys, crocodiles and an anaconda. Than looking for them in the forest, it is much more practical to feed them and keep them directly in the dodge.
We were fed here with fish and chicken, garnished with potatoes, rice and vegetables, and of course tea. coffee, fruits. The excursion program included fishing, visits to two villages and two towns, walks to the Black River, to pink dolphins and to the local open-air zoo.
Twice we tried to catch piranha. But, either the tackle is not suitable, or the fishermen of us are not good - we didn’t catch anything except for a weak bite.
Twice we went to see pink freshwater dolphins. We saw how the water swirled around the boat and their backs, heard how they breathe or talk. But spectacular jumps did not wait. Although, when we were just sailing to the dodge from Iquitos, we saw the skeletons of frolicking pink dolphins on the arrow. However, our photos at that moment were covered and nothing was taken.
An interesting trip to the local zoo, where monkeys, anteaters, small crocodiles, a sloth and an anaconda are actually kept in the wild. Naturally, they are baited and are not going to the forest.
It is naive to think that there is a lot of free land in the Amazon jungle. In fact, everything has long been divided and seized. The right bank of the Amazon is higher. Here, along the coast, there are small settlements and hotels. There are local concrete roads on which motorcycles with sidecars drive. Communication between them along the river is carried out on speed boats. There are schools, hospitals, shops, markets and even sports palaces where some events take place.
The left bank is gently sloping and is constantly flooded during spills. However, here, too, there are villages everywhere, or just huts on stilts, banana or coconut palms, lemons and other fruits grow from which someone harvests. The excursion to the black river is indicative - it actually resembles a clearing in a flooded forest. At the same time, the coast is guessed, along which there are huts and houses on stilts, there are also people going about their business.
The villages usually have a concrete walkway above the flood level, made according to the governor's program, as Homer said. There is also a spacious square, as in large cities, along the perimeter of which there is a school, a kindergarten, a hospital, a church, a water tower. Drinking water is obtained from a well.
Along the path there are several dozen huts, actually representing sheds on stilts, near which hens and chickens walk, there are cats and dogs of small breeds. There is no central electricity supply, although solar panels are visible near some of the huts, apparently for a TV. Those who are richer have a diesel generator and personal electricity in their hut. The river comes directly to the buildings. There are motor boats and canoes on the shore - the main means of transportation between the villages during the flood, because. you can't walk on dry land.
We saw how local women collectively wash in the river, going into it up to their waists. They are dressed in tights, in front of them is a plastic basin, apparently with soapy water, to wash their hair. Everything is simple, natural and close.
The central square of the village is used as a sports ground. In the evening, local guys aged 14-17 play football here. And the younger guys - 10-12 years old, walk with slingshots and shoot coconuts on the tops of palm trees. The girls, holding a sloth in their arms, offer to take a picture for 1 salt or candy. Or buy a coconut from a nearby palm tree. In general, there are a lot of children here. And this is a guarantee that life in the Amazon jungle will continue for a long time.
Small towns on the left, higher bank of the Amazon have stone houses, parks with intricately trimmed trees, local motorcycle roads leading to piers and, of course, markets where you can buy fish, fruit, root crops, and clothing. , and souvenirs.
We were interested in crocodile meat, and we bought a piece of 1.5 kg for 8 soles. We gave it to Homer, and our cook made something in dough out of it. A perfectly edible dish with a very delicate taste, reminiscent of a duck or a cross between a bird and a fish.
And, of course, we could not help but swim in the Amazon. To do this, Homer chose places in bays with a solid coast, otherwise the current could carry the swimmer into the thickets, from where it would be difficult to get out.
The water in the Amazon is cloudy and warm. Crocodiles and piranhas didn't bother us. And we splashed and swam with pleasure in the waters of this greatest river on Earth.
4 days in the Amazon jungle flew by quickly. We are very glad that we did not live in a decent hotel on the left bank, but in huts on stilts. We got as close as possible to the conditions of life of local tribes and talked with parrots, monkeys and local residents. We felt that the monkeys are much closer to us in spirit than the usual pets - cats and dogs. We felt that nature here is more comfortable and more loyal to a person than in other places.
After a very informative tour through the wilds of the Amazon, we return by boat to Iquitos and fly to Lima, where we will still have an excursion to the presidential palace, a beach holiday and a flight home to Russia for working days.
