Tuesday, May 25
We started off with a very early flight from Lima to Iquitos on Peruvian Airlines. Once we arrived in Iquitos, Ivy was waiting for us at the airport (Ivy is the wife of Anthony, they are the owners of Otorongo Jungle Expeditions.)
Iquitos, Peru
Ivy took us on a walking tour of Iquitos, and showed us all the elegant buildings erected during the rubber boom in the early 1900's. A bunch of the buildings had hand-painted ceramic tile for siding! Like we see oh-too-frequently in the rust-belt those days are no longer, and Iquitos is no longer the wealthy boom-town it once was.
Our first stop on our way to the jungle lodge was the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm. They are also an accredited Peruvian Center of Custody for wild animals. While there, we got to see many animals you wouldn't normally see in the wild, and got to learn about the life-cycle of butterflies.
Fabian
Red Bald-headed Uakari Monkey
Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm, Iquitos, Peru
Rare Amazon Butterfly
Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm, Iquitos, Peru
Emily & Tony
White Capuchin Monkeys
Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm, Iquitos, Peru
Pedro Bello the Jaguar
Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm, Iquitos, Peru
From the butterfly farm, we began our journey down the Amazon by speed-boat. It began raining shortly thereafter, and we dropped the plastic tarp sides on the boat to stay dry, or at least that was the concept. Thankfully for two people that tend to get seasick, the rain didn't last long. We stopped at a local rum factory and sampled four different kinds of rum, and molasses.
Jen & Ivy Squeezing Sugar Cane
Don Guerra Rum Factory
Caserio Yanamono, Peru
After the rum factory, we continued down the amazon, and traded Ivy for Anthony, her husband. Ivy was going back to Iquitos to play secretary and tour guide for outgoing guests. We made it to Otorongo after the 3 hour journey, and settled in. Edison, our tour guide, took us on a walking tour of the property and bordering rainforest. He introduced us to many different plants and fruits that we would be coming in contact with throughout our stay. We had a great dinner of peanut crusted chicken, rice, fresh salad of cucumbers/carrots/cabbage/onions, and a local juice. Each meal would feature a different local fruit juice that had been freshly prepared for our enjoyment.
After dinner, we were taken on a nocturnal trek in search of tree frogs, and other wildlife. Needless to say, we were successful.
Giant Monkey Frog
Oran, Peru
Poisonous Dart Frog (New Species)
Oran, Peru