The Jungle City

Friday, May 27, 2011
Iquitos, Loreto, Peru
"Hot in the City". "Welcome to the Jungle". Just two of the songs that could have been playing as I disembarked from my Peruvian Airlines flight from Lima to Iquitos and the jungle heat and humidity slapped me in the face. Sitting in the middle of the rainforest on the banks of the River Amazon, Iquitos is often described as "the Gateway to the Amazon". With a population of ~400,000, it is the biggest city in the world not accessible by road - the only way to get here is by boat or air. The nearest city is ~1,000km away. I had an airport transfer booked to my hotel and was very surprised to find a tuk-tuk (rickshaw) waiting for me, like the ones they have in India! Due to Iquitos' remote location, almost everything has to be imported and larger items such as cars and trucks are almost non-existent - traffic comprises mainly of scooters and hundreds of tuk-tuks (rickshaws) which serve as mototaxis. A half-hour ride in the open-air mototaxi in a tropical thunderstorm took me to the Hotel La Casona, S/65 (~US$24) a night for an en-suite single with a/c, TV, hot water, free WiFi and paper-thin walls.

Iquitos was founded in the 1750s by the Jesuits who desperately wanted to save the indigenous natives from their heathen ways. The rubber boom caused an explosion in population and prosperity from 1880. During the next 30 years, the city was a dichotomy of fabulous wealth and abject poverty, the rubber barons exploiting the native labourers. By WWI, the boom was over. Rubber tree seeds were smuggled to Malaysia where costs were quite a bit lower, probably largely due to the fact the rubber did not have to be transported 5,000km down the Amazon River.

I had a wander round the main Plaza on Thursday morning. One of the "landmarks" mentioned in my Lonely Planet was the Casa de Fierro (Iron House), built by Gustav Eiffel for the Paris Exhibition in 1889 (along with another monument for which he is more famous). One of the wealthy rubber barons bought it, then had it dismantled and brought to Iquitos (carried through the jungle by hundreds of natives) where it was re-assembled. It is said to be the first prefab house in the world. It was not very pretty, basically a load of metal sheets bolted together. I had a full English breakfast at The Yellow Rose of Texas, an American-themed bar. It went down a treat - eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, toast, coffee and orange juice.


I then paid a visit to Pilpintuwasi, a butterfly farm and animal orphanage in the village of Padre Cocha. This involved a mototaxi ride to the port of Bellavista-Nanay (S/3) where I hired a boat (S/30) for a return trip to Padre Cocha (including waiting for me while I visited the farm). The farm contained an enclosure with a number of colourful Amazonian butterflies and I also got the see the breeding room. However, the main attraction for me was the animal orphanage, where there were a variety of animals including a jaguar, a cute baby ocelot (would have loved to have taken him home!), anteaters, monkeys, and some I did not see such as a tapir, manatee, and snakes. Many of the animals such as the anteaters and monkeys wandered about freely, although obviously, some didn't, eg. the jaguar! Seeing the jaguar up close with a thin wire fence dividing me from it was amazing. I was immediately struck by the immense size of the beast. The orphanage runs on donations and fund-raising only and has a hefty annual food bill.

Back at the port of Bellavista-Nanay, I took a mototaxi for a long trip to the other side of town and down to km4.5 (S/10) to visit the Manatee Research Centre. This was free to visit, although donations were gratefully received! Manatees (also called sea-cows or dugongs) look like dolphins and I had thought they were related but it turned out they are in fact distant relatives of the elephant family! Manatees are listed as "vulnerable to extinction". They are friendly and intelligent like dolphins. It was a magical experience being able to feed them. A quick splash of the water and they popped their heads out of the water, then I fed them fruit and milk from a bottle (a special formula imported from the USA). A must-visit place. My mototaxi driver had unexpectedly waited for me during my visit (obviously he was charging me gringo rates, but the cost was still ridiculously cheap) so I took a ride back with him to town (S/7).

In the evening, I had Beef Cordon Bleu at La Noche bar/restaurant. I was the only one in the bar and sat on the balcony, watching the sunset over the Amazon River. The scene was spoilt somewhat when Brad and Shannon from the USA came and sat on the table next to me. They were in town to try ayahuasca, a real jungle "trip". Brad was being a jerk and Shannon started crying because she wanted Brad to show her some affection. Shannon: "Can't you just hold my hand or give me a kiss on the cheek?". "Ugg, ugg", replied Brad. "Why are you being so horrible to me Brad?". "Ugg, ugg, ugg" replied Brad, three grunts this time. Maybe his trailer had been repossessed and he was having a bad day. Thankfully, they only finished half their meal and left.

Iquitos is also apparently the "flesh capital" of Peru and due to the heat and humidity, scantily-dressed girls are the order of the day, very similar to the scene on a typical Saturday night out in town back in the UK. Many young girls are dating much older men here, some date foreign men so the men can "help support" their poor families. Child prostitution is rampant despite the governments attempts to put the brakes on it and families are looking for ways for their daughters to make them money. There are large signs around stating "No to child sex tourism". There is also a large "ex-pat" community here, mainly American, I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

The rainforest is by far the most important reason why tourists come to Iquitos. The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, named after the two rivers that form its natural borders, is the main attraction. I had a five day tour booked at Muyuna Lodge starting the next morning, which unlike the other lodges in the area, was situated upstream from Iquitos in the National Reserve in an area of primary rainforest, potentially offering a much better wildlife viewing experience.

I loved Iquitos. It had an energetic vibe, and I could have quite happily spent a few nights trawling the local bars. Unfortunately, I already had my flight back to Lima after my jungle trip booked and the hotel in Lima was booked too. After experiencing Iquitos first-hand, this just made it doubly depressing that I wasn't spending more time here, I should have tried changing my plans. Maybe next time!

Links:
http://www.hotellacasonaiquitos.com/go/
http://www.amazonanimalorphanage.org/
http://www.ikitos.com/acobia-dwazoo/acobiaEN06.htm
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