Today we got up, packed the stuff we kept with us in iquitos, and headed to the jungle! We met at the AP office around 9:30AM and loaded up the bus to head to the jungle. They passed out some sandwiches, yucca chips, juice boxes, bananas, and cookies for lunch on the way and we were off! It was about a two hour ride to Nautua (very well may have spelled thy wrong) and then a 2ish hour boat ride to the Yacamama Lodge on the Yarapa River in the middle of the Amazon jungle. On the way we saw a few river dolphins, but they were the grey ones. I also saw a bunch of birds that Jose Luis said were Ani birds. The ride was overall very pleasant.
We arrived at Yacamama around 2:30PM and waited for the other two boats to arrive behind us (we had the most powerful motor). They only took 15-20 minutes and then we got a tour of the lodge. There is even a resident pet macaw named Pepe who sounds like he's screaming, haha. Our group takes up the entire place so we are the only ones here, which is nice. I'm in a hut with Caitlin, Lindsey, and Stephanie. We have a bathroom with no doors, but a flushing toilet at least! All the beds have mosquito nets, so that's nice too, especially since there are bugs everywhere. Okay not everywhere, but they are creepy.
We hung out for much of the afternoon and I mostly read and took a nap in a hammock in the hammock room, then played some Uno and a round of BS until dinner was ready. Dinner was a chicken dish with lentils, plantains, salad, and rice. After dinner Stephanie and I gave our presentations and then it was almost 9PM, aka time for the generator to turn off. Patty came in the main area to show us the picture of the scorpion she found on her wall. Joy. We saw it when Nixon removed it for her. He's the manager here and resident creature remover. We went back to our cabin and dos a pretty thourough scorpion and bug check, finding some spiders, ants, and two cockroaches, but thankfully no scorpions yet. We all rinsed off and brushed our teeth and got ready for bed. Stephanie found a huge spider (I never saw it) and had Nixon remove it. I thankfully saw nothing on my bed and I'm now ready to sleep, though I doubt I will anytime soon. I'm pretty hot and I can hear the cockroach flying at the screens and lots of animals outside. I'm just hoping my bed is bug proofed enough and I don't encounter another scorpion!!
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| Nauta |
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| On the Yarapa River |
We arrived at Yacamama around 2:30PM and waited for the other two boats to arrive behind us (we had the most powerful motor). They only took 15-20 minutes and then we got a tour of the lodge. There is even a resident pet macaw named Pepe who sounds like he's screaming, haha. Our group takes up the entire place so we are the only ones here, which is nice. I'm in a hut with Caitlin, Lindsey, and Stephanie. We have a bathroom with no doors, but a flushing toilet at least! All the beds have mosquito nets, so that's nice too, especially since there are bugs everywhere. Okay not everywhere, but they are creepy.
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| Arriving at Yacumama |
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| Pepe the scarlet macaw |
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| Our room at Yacumama. My bed is the far left corner. |
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| Presenting |
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