Source: East Dubuque Register
The last leg of our South American vacation in July, 2009 was a trip to the Amazon Rainforest in Peru. Zachary, Katie, Will and I had already visited the country of Paraguay and many sites in Peru including Cusco, The Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu. Seventy percent of Peru is covered with rainforest and we were only hours away so we couldn't possibly leave without experiencing it.From Cusco, Peru we flew to Lima then on to Iquitos, the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by road. Hemmed in by muddy rivers and flooded rainforest on all sides, Iquitos's only bridge to the outside world are planes and cargo boats. As we crossed the tarmac in Iquitos, we were struck by the incredible heat and humidity that surrounded us even though it was well after dark. The next morning we travelled four hours up the Amazon River by speed boat to our lodge in the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Reserve.
The lodge was built high on stilts crouched between the edge of the rainforest and the Amazon River. We each had our own private bedroom with bathrooms 20 feet off the ground! Since the river rises and falls 50 feet every year, everything is built high above the ground. The rooms are connected by covered walkways that are lit by oil lamps every evening. Even though we were deep in the heart of the world's largest rainforest and sleeping in open air bungalows, bugs were not a problem. All of our beds were covered with mosquito netting and screens serve as walls on all rooms including the hammock room and dining hall. It was amazing going to sleep every evening and waking every morning with the sounds of the rainforest around us.
Every day we met with our own English-speaking guide who would help us map out an itinerary for the day. Fifty different activities including flying through the trees on a zip-line 100 feet off the ground, fishing for piranha, and swimming with pink river dolphins were offered. We tried everything and especially enjoyed donning wading boots and trekking off into the rainforest to find amazing plants and animals that we had only read about before, including a 500-year-old mahogany tree, brilliantly colored bromeliads, poison dart frogs, giant three-toed sloths, black caiman, harpy eagles, and 13 species of monkeys. One hungry Woolly monkey jumped into our boat from an overhanging branch and scrounged through our packs until he found our lunch. Sitting on our laps, he peeled and ate eight bananas then leapt back up into a tree and disappeared into the dense jungle. We then understood why our native guide continually told us what a "good friendly place" the jungle was, not a "scary dangerous place" as many people believe.
After three weeks and 11 different flights, we were on our way back to Illinois. We had enough adventure for a very long time!