Account of my trip - Day 2

After showering, I left the hostel in search of breakfast and ended up at the Yellow Rose of Texas, where good ole American grub is served. I met an Australian there who'd been to Iquitos before and was back to visit for a few months.

After breakfast, I went to iPeru to get their official map, then checked out of the hotel. I wanted to leave my things at Mad Micks'before heading out to check out a few places: Barrio Florido, Allpahuayna Mishana Reserve and the Quistococha Reserve. I was walking along the Boulevard when Rosendo greeted me.

It was still pretty early in the morning and I was in a good mood (not overwhelmed by bothersome tourist-botherers) so I stopped and talked to him. He told me that Barrio Florido was in the east while the Reserves were in the west, then offered me a good price for taking me there. I didn't believe him at first so I went around to Putomayo street to talk to a few more vendors, and also to leave my things in the hostel.

After speaking to various people, including Mad Mick himself, I realised that Rosendo had offered me the best price, so I went back trying to look for him. I wanted to make sure that there were no hidden costs, so he explained to me that lunch would be included in the price, but I would have to pay for the admission fees and any drinks I had. After some calculation it was still a good deal, so I paid him upfront and off we went.

The first stop was at Allpahuayno Mishara. We stopped at the office to pay the admission fee (S./21) and to get a pair of boots. Then it was off on the trails leading to a small nursery. Rosendo's knowledge of native plants really shone through as he showed me edible Amazonian grapes and a fruit some native tribes used to pain their faces.





There were gardeners tending the plants, and one of them explained a little more about the types of plants and their uses to us.



Then we went off on the trails winding around the reserve. We saw butterflies, different types of plants and vines and the different types of trees used in native constuction. Rosendo pointed these things out, as well as huge termite mounds, and explained their uses to me. We must have spent about 3 hours hiking around the reserve, with a cloud of mosquitoes following us.



Upon exit, I went to wash my face to cool down - thankfully I had brought facial wash with me. We then went to Quistococha where I ate suri, a type of maggot that develops in fallen aguaje tree trunks, for the first time.



Next, we headed to the Quistococha zoo and lagoon, where we saw many of the native animals. The highlight was not the poor animals, some of whom looked as if they could do with a much larger living space, but the medicinal plants section.



Rosendo, by the way, greets almost every male as "primo" (cousin) or "tio" (uncle). He knew a guy working there who brought us on a special tour of the place and showed me the more well-known medicinal plants like sangre de grado and some others I've forgotten. :P The man even created a small plaster using a sticky gum-like resin and a leaf and pasting it to my arm. That substance does not wash off easily, I assure you. It took me lots of scrubbing over the next day to get most of it off.



By the way, the zoo will probably be the place to see most of the animals native to the region, as they are normally human-shy. The only pink dolphin I saw was in that zoo.



We then went directly to the Manatee Rescue Center a little up north. I had to hand over my identity card to request entry. Rosendo seemed to be persuading the guard while I waited in the morocarro. After about 5 minutes we were let in, and it was a real treat as we had the place to ourselves. It turned out that the waiting was so another group could leave first. A youth volunteer working there explained that the manatees there were injured by contact with boats, or were maltreated when they were kept as pets. I got to bottle feed two manatees.



Finally we went back to Iquitos, where I parted from Rosendo. I didn't want to confirm that I'd be going off with him the next day, even though I let him know where I'd like to go and asked him for a price. I wanted to talk to Gart first as I'd previously made a verbal confirmation with him.

I went looking for a pay phone, not an easy task. There was one in a shop at Block 5 of Putomayo. I told Gart that I'd received a better offer for a similar tour. He said that I should go with Rosendo as he had offered a good price. With that in mind, I called Rosendo to confirm that I'd meet him the next day.

After some time in the internet cafe, I went to the Iron House where there was a small Peruvian restaurant serving roast chicken. I ordered a hamburger and coke at a reasonable price. It was drizzling a little, but in the Plaza de Armas a military band was playing contemporary music. I braved the drizzle to listen to them for a bit before heading back to Mad Mick's for a shower and an early bedtime.