Amazon 2002: 3 - Lima, Peru to Leticia, Columbia

It turned out to be my turn to get whatever bug it was that Lee had. Luis, the guide, said he suspected it was a virus that can be picked up in Cusco, and has something to do with altitude. I skipped lunch and took it easy in the room until the last minute for boarding the bus. There John told me he was having the same affliction. At least we are getting it over with early in the game!

A & K were well organized as always, picking up all the luggage at the hotel room, and having comfortable buses to transport us to the airport - with on board toilets, fortunately! We didn't have to do anything for check in - we dozed contentedly on the bus while the tour operators did it all. They returned to the bus in lots of time for us to go to the departure lounge with airport tax and boarding passes in hand.

The flight was fine - an hour and a half - and A & K had arranged exit row seats, so it was comfortable. We arrived in Iquitos about 7:30 PM in the dark, which was unfortunate as the city has an interesting history dating back to the rubber barons. It is now a city of about 400,000 prospering on oil and agriculture. There are no roads to it; everything must come in by air or ship. The closest road connection is a port located six days up river - this is where a lot of vegetables, produce and freight come from, after making the 24 hour trip from Lima to the port by truck.

We did get a night time mini-tour of the city, and then were ushered aboard "Explorer". I chose to head straight for bed, where Marilynn brought me a bowl of soup from the dinner buffet. She, Roger and Sally made a night of it in the lounge. Lee was not well either, so turned in.

Tuesday, April 30, 2002 All of our gang were on deck when the ship sailed from Iquitos at 6:30 AM and headed off downstream. There was some conflict in the numbers we had heard for the altitude of Iquitos, so I confirmed it at 355 feet (108 meters) about sea level with my GPS. We are told it is 2,461 miles (3,960 Km) to the sea, so this means that the river drops an average of only 1.7 inches per mile, or 2.7 cm per kilometre on the average. The Amazon basin is really an enormous, moving lake with thousands of miles of navigable waterways. We are at high water now, at low water the river drops up to 37 feet.

One of the lecturers said that 50% of the water volume of the Amazon is recycled. It evaporates and is carried back upstream to the Andes by the trade winds, where it becomes rain and flows back down again.

Both Lee and I were feeling better, but John and Roger were coming down with what we had. It was nice to welcome a good meal for breakfast!

We had the standard lifeboat drill and safety lecture, which are all done in inimitable Explorer manner with lots of humour thrown in. Then there was another lecture on what we are going to be up to, and how to manage zodiac loading and unloading. I was able to eat a good lunch, and then went to a lecture on getting the most out of my binoculars. We are invited to the captain's table tonight for dinner (our entire group) - something to do with the cruise director being a friend from many former cruises. Marilynn & I were also upgraded to a top deck cabin thanks to the same fellow.

In the afternoon we headed off on our first zodiac tour of the flooded jungle. It was interesting. We found a sloth up a tree on what was an island before the river rose, doing what sloths do best, sleeping. We were told they can swim, which would be interesting in the fast current, but it would be the only way to leave the tree. It was interesting that where there are islands miles long and wide one season, they could be bigger the next season, or not exist and all. Things change that fast on the river.

We headed off through areas of brush and tall grass in the zodiac, which has its propeller protected against the frequent encounters with logs, rocks and brush. There were a lot of birds around, but not a lot of animals. They'd have to be able to swim - there was little unflooded land left in this area.

When we got back to the ship we found that Lee had spent the day in her cabin again with a second bout of whatever it is we have, and my second bout came on shortly after we got back. This time it was just severe stomach cramps, although Lee didn't get off so lightly. I lay down until about 20 minutes after the captain's cocktail party got started, then went down and shunned the champagne that was flowing for a sprite.

Dinner, as I mentioned, was at the captain's table. It was a lavish 7 course affair, each course accompanied by a different fine wine. I had a sip of the first one for a toast, and also a sip of the second, but refused the rest as they were too good to waste, but were not sitting well. I just picked at the delicious food - my stomach was not at all pleased with having it forced down. The others were in much the same boat - literally and figuratively.

It was Roger and Sally's 42nd wedding anniversary, so the crew got out a guitar, presented a cake with candles, and the food services manager had them hold hands across the table. He then tied their hands together with a napkin while everyone sang "Let me call you sweetheart" to them. It was very nice, and likely would have led to quite a party has we been in better shape!

It seemed the affair would never end, but finally the captain suggested we adjourn to the bar, so I fled to my bed. I think John, Roger and Lee were equally relieved to leave the table. It's really a shame! Here we are on a ship where all the food and booze you can eat or drink is included and none of us can even think of having as much as a beer!

Wednesday, May 1, 2002 Roger and John were the determined ones this morning, heading off on the 6 AM walks in the jungle. I stayed in bed until it was time to board the zodiacs for the excursions in the afternoon at 2 PM. Lee was down for the count all day again, but the rest of us all went.

The ship's doctor, Cathy, popped into the cabin when I was there in the morning. She is quite a character - she and her husband were on the Spitsbergen cruise Marilynn and I took last year I hadn't bothered to contact her as I was sure there was nothing that could really be done for my problem, but she has given me a prescription with instructions as to what to do with it. There were also dietary does and don'ts. She dashed off to get me a cold ginger ale and left me to get at recovering.

Shortly afterwards Marilynn showed up with the medicine, which was delivered to her by the doctor's husband, Fred. Very efficient here! Marilynn also brought me buns and bananas as Doxycycline has to be taken with food. It is interesting that she has prescribed Doxycycline. This is what M & I took for four months in South East Asia, and it made us virtually bullet proof - we ate and drank everything without a sick moment. When I stopped taking them, I sure got sick though. I guess after four months the immune system was dependant upon the antibiotic content.

The afternoon expedition was by zodiac to a couple of Indian villages up the Ampiyacu River. In the first one the Bora people put on a show for us of dancing and drumming which was quite interesting. They got some of the passengers involved, and both John and Sally participated - John with the band, and Sally dancing. The dress of the women was particularly interesting - a short grass type skirt, nothing else. After the dancing there were crafts for sale.

It was a short walk to the next village of the Huitoto Indians, where more crafts were available. Both villages looked fairly prosperous, and share elementary and secondary schools plus a health clinic. Some buildings were substantial, but most were the grass type huts one would expect in the area. It is interesting that the government moved the two tribes here from the rubber plantation areas even though they were traditional enemies. They seem to get along fine now, but in spite of the short walk between villages and shared amenities, each tribe has kept it's very distinctive traditions and cultures.

After boarding the zodiacs again we headed up narrow waterways where it was necessary to duck into the bottom of the boats to get through foliage. Eventually we came to a lake with a profusion of the famous Amazon giant water lilies. The largest one the staff measured was six and a half feet across. Some of the lilies were in bloom - huge, beautiful flowers in pink or white.

We got caught in our first rain squall heading back to the ship, where I skipped the recap and headed back to bed. Our room steward, Mart, brought me up a sandwich and some fruit for dinner. Oh well, I'm getting some reading done for the first time on the trip!

Thursday, May 2, 2002 I'm back to feeling good again, but Lee is still really bad. John seems OK; Roger & Sally are mobile but not great. John, Roger, Marilynn & I made the 6:30 AM excursion into the Columbian Amazon forest, where we visited the village of San Martin located on the Rio Amacaiyaco. It was about a 20 minute zodiac ride from the ship.

Upon arrival some of the villagers were ready with dugout canoes to take us through the rainforest. It was a great trip, very silent with the only power source being the paddler. Depending on size, the canoes held from one to three people. Our Spanish was very useful in getting information from the paddler, but as of tomorrow we will be in Portuguese speaking territory once we cross into Brazil.

A tour of the village was laid on upon our return, including the school which was in session. The kids were great! Of course, the tour ended at the inevitable local arts and crafts fair set up along one of the village pathways. Explorer is very welcome in these villages, not only for bringing in buyers for the arts and crafts, but because they contribute useful items each trip such as school and medical supplies and equipment, machetes, and so on.

I had a talk with the pilots on the bridge after we returned to the ship. The river apparently has serious depth changes four times per year, and if a pilot misses a year, he is completely out of date, as with each rise and fall the channel and location of islands change. Very interesting guys to talk to!

I'm going to take this into Leticia, Columbia on disc and try to send it from an Internet café, which should be cheaper and easier than by sending it on board. We have around four hours this afternoon to explore the town. I'm also planning my first beer in several days, and very much looking forward to it!