We had a huge breakfast with warm bread, eggs, lots of fruits and fruit juices, and then, it is …
Amazon River day trip! We signed up with Dawn on the Amazon, which brought us to Belen market, the floating market and up three rivers, including the Amazon.
Belen market is like a huge wet market, where they sell meats, like fish they just caught, and all sorts of jungle produce, like love portions, and jungle fruits. It has quite a reputation. Our guide and our boat guy actually protected us, and constantly reminded us to keep our bags in front. They seemed to be on the lookout for trouble; apparently, there are many pickpockets.
After our little market tour, we headed to our boat. We walked through areas, which are usually covered by the river, when the rainy season comes. When we got to our boat, I think we were just gonna cruise around in a sampan, which would have been ok with me. But it turns out, we were paying the extra money (compared to some other tours), because the sampan was just a vehicle to bring us to our real boat parked out in the river. Our boat was actually very sturdy, had proper seats with cushions, could comfortably fit six people, and had a canvas shelter, that protected us from the sun.
We cruised down the Itaya River, and along the way, we saw kingfishers, abandoned boats, logs waiting to be sold. It was an interesting journey on the brackish Itaya River. After a while, we turned back, and turned towards the Amazon, which was the main reason for the trip to Iquitos – to see the mighty Amazon River and the rainforest. The water colour definitely changed visibly, and as an added bonus, we also saw pink dolphins. Our tour included another river, and we tried sailing that way, but as our boat kinda broke down, the mission was aborted. Our guide brought us on a motokar back to Iquitos, ending our adventure on the Amazon.
Fried by the heat, we spent the rest of the evening in La Casa Fitzcarraldo, and had our dinner there as well. Walter started up a fire for BBQ, so we had some grilled goodness. (the fish dishes are huge, btw)
Belen Market
Some produce sold in Belen market
Belen floating village
Amazon River
Treehouse in La Casa Fitzcarraldo
Wanderlust 