Jungle Fever

Out the front of the PSF gates with some of the many amazing people i met!

So I'd made it to the Amazon, but there were some adventures in between. I'll take you on a quick recap! 6 months at PSF and i thought I'd never get out of that place. It has a very appealing draw to it and it's no wonder people stay there so much longer than planned. Had it not been for some strict commitments myself it wouldn't be any surprise if i was still there now, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Everybody's times comes to an end sooner or later and it was my time to venture off. There is never a good time to leave Pisco, but the reality is you can't stay there forever. So with the help of Christine i was able to break the shackles of Pisco and move one.

Finishing the concrete sports pitch for the community of Jhiret!

Little Guadalupe who stole my heart! She is what made it all worth it!

Our first pit-stop after boarding that infamous bus at el cruce was to the centre hub of Peru and one of my least favourite cities, Lima. Now don't get me wrong, Lima is a beautiful city. Lima has the ability to find the right balance between historically cultured and modernly developed, but it just isn't the right city to travel to after an extended stay in one of Peru's poorest areas. It's almost like a culture shock in it's own right the with contrasting differences that are most significantly highlighted only 4 hours south by bus. After living on a peasants wage for the last 6 months the first battle i had to admit defeat on was the prices of things. Accommodation, food, taxi's, just about anything you were looking for in Lima is definitely overpriced. 


Now to the everyday person living comfortably back home these prices may not seem expensive, in fact a lot of these things will seem very cheap indeed, but after living on the alternate side to Lima for such a long time it is a very big shock. When you're volunteering you're not making any money, in fact you're paying money to donate your time to help. It may not be a lot of money, but you're still sacrificing your own personal funds to be there. You learn to be meticulous with your spending, not in a Scrooge like way, but in a way that makes you understand and appreciate the true cost of living. In a way that makes you realise how certain people have been living on the bare minimum, and how back home you have so much access to expendable and disposable money. It's not that you are being a big tight-ass about spending money, but you've seen, in its rawest form, just how far that money can go and it's hard not to think about that every time you want to justify spending wasteful amounts. The key is to just be a little bit more conscious of this fact, but also acknowledging the unfortunate fact that you are going to have to spend a little more when getting to these big cities.

With that fact resonating in our minds we decided to only spend a couple of relaxing days in Lima before embarking upon the next adventure. Relaxing being the key word, but not being the right word. These days were far from the relaxing adventure I'd expected with the running around trying to plan things, the longing in my heart from already missing Pisco and the uncomfortable spending situation. After a couple of days we were well and truly ready to hit the road again and after a couple of personal treats (McDonald's sundaes in the park everyday and some expensive sushi) we were ready to hit the budget again. We were heading north to the Amazon, but we needed to travel some distance first. First leg of the travel was a 30 hour bus ride up to a little town of the fringe of the Amazon Basin called Tarapoto. We stayed here for a night simply because the 30 hour bus was a very uncomfortable experience, and then we headed straight for the last stop on the road, Yurimaguas, before you hit the river. From here it's only by boat or plane that you can go any further into Peru. The next stop, and our next destination, is Iquitos. Iquitos is a city famous for being the largest city in the world unreachable by land. The only way to access it is by air or boat, and by boat it's a couple of days on the slow barge with a hammock strung up, which as the cheapest option we naturally decided upon.

After Yurimaguas we boarded a slow boat for the day before getting off about 12 hours later in a small section of the Amazon called Lagunas. From here they run tours into the Amazon jungle that are a lot less touristy than when you get to Iquitos. We hadn't really planned much so when we got there we worked off a couple of recommendations, but otherwise that was it. After a long stint at PSF and then a equally busy week we weren't the most energetic go getters so in hindsight perhaps settled for one of the easier more organised tours. Probably a lot more pricey when i think about it as well. In Lagunas there are many more options than originally thought in terms of jungle tours and guides pretty much work around you. If you've got the time it's recommended to go there and source out prices and haggle a bit. I mean don't get me wrong the tours are not really expensive, but after you finish and see how cheaply it's done then you do wonder where some of the money goes. Overall, however, the experience was one to remember. Whether it was the sticky heat, the constant bugs or the sleepless nights, this tour had something for everyone.

The base of the tour was canoeing down an arm of the Amazon and into the jungle. The tour itself only lasted 3 days and we didn't go deep in, but it was enough time to see some amazing landscapes, spot some exotic animals and do some crazy things. Among some of the local inhabitants we spotted were a baby anaconda probably 1.5m long, some small 1m caymans, toucans, jungle parrots, few different monkey species, a sloth, river turtles, venomous tree snakes and various other things. We got to fish for our dinner and caught all kinds of strange looking catfish and happened to snap up a few piranhas as well. We swam in piranha infested waters, chased wild pigs through the jungle with machetes and went exploring along the river in the middle of the night in pitch black for all the nocturnal wonders of the Amazon. For a short 3 day period we jammed a lot in and it was a great snapshot of the jungle life. Had there been a few more days to spare then perhaps we would have considered spending more time there and going deeper, but we were on a strict schedule to get to the north of Colombia in 2 weeks to meet up with Christine's family. So with the Amazon jungle experience ticked off our list of things to do we boarded another slow boat and heaped to Iquitos, this time for 2 days.

When we got to Iquitos we didn't have a lot planned. A couple of days to check the city out and then we were back on another 2 day boat to the tri-border between Peru, Colombia and Brazil. Iquitos was spent catching up on a bit of rest, cooking some delicious meals and checking out a few of the local sights. One which included the famous Belen market where it is quite possible to buy/sell anything. From all kinds of mythical concoctions in oddly shaped bottles to parts of animals dangerously close to extinction, Belen has it all. It was quite the eye open in some sections, but we were fortunate not to witness too many horrific aspects to the market. One of the main reasons this market is famous is for the floating village that comprises the population of Belen. We happened to be in the low season so all we saw we the houses resting on their stilts, but in the high season as the river rises up to 15m higher, this whole village rises with the water. The houses, shanty shacks more appropriately phrased, sit on huge raft type structures that help with flotation. We heard it was quite a sight, but even just looking at the village was enough to realise how amazing this little town was.

Other than Belen market the 5 days we spent in Iquitos were spent lazing around, catching up on sleep, planning the next leg of our adventure and cooking. Cooking has become a huge part of the travels since leaving PSF as we maintain a great budget that allows us to see all the things we want to see and keep costs down. In fact after eating rice, pasta and potato 2-3 times a day in Pisco it was an absolute pleasure to start cooking for ourselves again. We could not only reduce the costs of travelling, but we could also cook delicious meals of what we wanted, when we wanted and for cheaper. In fact the food we were cooking was a lot healthier as well as most of the 'gringo' restaurants catering to travellers only serve up the same crap food you can get back home. Greasy hamburgers, chips and whatever get repetitive, boring, pricey and fattening. But you'll get to hear more about the cooking adventures later on down the travels.

Iquitos was all but done, but on the last day we ventured out to an animal and butterfly sanctuary just a short boat ride out of town. It was really refreshing to see a different perspective on animal refugee and protection after witnessing people eating monkeys and selling tiger skulls in the jungle. In the sanctuary they worked on rehabilitating animals caught on illegal trades and had a huge jaguar, an ocelot, all kinds of creepy biting monkeys and other assorted animals, as well as a huge butterfly breeding station. With that trip finishing up in the early afternoon it was a mad dash back to the hostel to pick up the bags and then we were back at the dock boarding a cargo ship to the Peruvian border.

This time we were in a boat for 2 nights and 2 days before arriving in Santa Rosa, the border crossing and last spot in Northern Peru. Another couple of lazy days on the Amazon River swinging in hammocks and taking in the local wonders, but after a sleepless night because of loud partying and drinking at the back of the boat, it was fair to say the novelty of hammocks on cargo ships was wearing off. It wasn't just the loud music and particularly crowded boat that was wearing thin, it was also the ordinary food served and lack of showering that was making us feel like real sea drifters. However, luckily it wasn't too enduring and we really didn't have too many complaints, but after another 2 days we were definitely looking to ditch the boat for some land.

Peligroso Boys making a lethal Pisco Punch!

Arriving in Santa Rosa we were immediately greeted by eager moto-taxi drivers wanting to acquire our services, but we had heard it wasn't a very far walk to the immigration office so we battled the heat for 20mins before realising maybe a moto would have been a smart idea. After walking right past the office and for an additional couple of minutes it was disheartening to have to trudge back, but upon arriving out the front it's no surprise we missed it. There were no signs, no plaques and no indication at all that this was an official government office. We walked up the stairs, of what looked like someones house, wondering if we were going to step into their living room, but instead stumbled across the office of a pretty relaxed looking guy in his early 20s. He was more interested in chatting to us than exiting us from the country and didn't seem too bothered that we'd both overstayed our visas. This was the second time now that I'd overstayed my time in Peru, however this time didn't cost me as much. It's one dollar each day your over, and after almost 7 months in Peru i only had to pay 20 odd dollars. I'd been successful in gaining a 6 month visa when first crossing over from Chile and that really saved me a bit. Christine, however, who wasn't as fortunate had to cough up well over one hundred dollars. After exiting out we decided to stay in Santa Rosa for the night and try to catch up on some sleep.

The area that we were in is quite a unique one. It is a tri-border between Peru, Colombia and Brazil and there are certain boundaries that you're able to cross into without having to swap visas, as well as being able to check out of a country and then cruise into the next for your entry stamp within a 24 hour period. A very relaxed process and you could officially become a lost citizen at this point in South America because if you just decided to go wherever you wanted no one would know where in the world you were. It's no surprise then that this tri-border area is an important smuggling port for all kinds of things and it's not hard to get your hands on anything if you know where to look or who to ask. Unfortunately we weren't looking for any black market trade, so instead we headed towards a cheap hostel and settled there for a few nights. There wasn't a great deal to do in Leticia so after getting our entry visa the following day we mostly just spent our time reading and cooking. In a couple of days time we had a flight up to Cartagena so the main part of our time in Leticia was getting some rest in after a big couple of weeks travelling. One thing to note about Leticia is that it is a little bit more pricey than what we had expected, and Colombia overall is a bit of a price shock after living in Pisco for 6 months. Leticia is deep in the south of Colombia and within the Amazon so the only options are to fly or boat product in, therefore most prices are increased to accommodate the extra transportation fees.

With the days of relaxing over we boarded our flight to Cartagena and arrived safely to perhaps take on my biggest adventure yet... meeting Christine's family and travelling with them for the next 2 weeks. Next edition includes the time in Cartagena and then heading north to see some of the most amazing sights that Colombia has to offer, as well as the non-stop adventure that is travelling with the Williams'.

Adios Amigos!