\We'll miss Segundo...
Our bestie, Dennis the bartender
We said goodbye to Segundo and Dennis the bartender, grabbed our backpacks and started our journey back to civilization. This time we took a more roundabout way to Iquitos. We made our way up the Napo river to join the Amazon river, rather than cutting across the land. We headed out on a couple of speedboats with a school group who was headed to another lodge. After trying to balance the boats by trading passengers, we finally were off. We got a last glimpse of a water snake as we sped away from the lodge.
We flew through the Amazon, passing little villages as we went, all the while trying to take in everything before we left. After a quick stop to drop off the kids at the Explorama Lodge (the 3rd farthest lodge in, 50 miles into the Amazon) we headed toward Ceiba Tops, Explorama's luxury lodge. 2.5 hours after leaving ExplorNapo, we pulled in for a rest at Ceiba Tops.
If we were staying at Gilligan's Island, aka ExplorNapo, Ceiba Tops is the Four seasons. They have air conditioned rooms (like real rooms, with walls, ceilings, beds, roofs), private showers in each room and a pool with a water slide. They gave us a room to use to rest until our boat left back to Iquitos. We used the bathroom, walked around the lodge and scoffed at those who called this roughing it in the jungle. I can understand why people would want to stay there; it's the jungle, but still comfortable. But I'm glad we had the experience we did, it is something we'll never forget.
A waterslide...and tablecloths in the dining room...
After lunch, we boarded the Amazon Queen for Iquitos. On board we met a group of kids from NYU who were spending the summer doing research in Iquitos. They were having trouble getting access to the information they needed in the hospitals because there were a lot of protests going on in Peru. Word on the street is that the big strike is supposed to come on the 9th, the day after we leave. We spotted some more grey dolphins as we made our way closer to Iquitos. A great send off.
We made it back to the explorama headquarters and thankfully our bags were there waiting for us. We boarded the open air bus with the rest of the tourists and headed to the airport. The airport was unlike anything I have ever seen before. It was one large room, with a molding ceiling, burnt out overhead lights and an open air room. We boarded our flight and headed off to Lima. We met a nice guy on the plane and swapped Amazon stories with him.
The airport
We landed in Lima and grabbed a cab. Of course, the cabbie we chose told us he knew where the hotel was...but actually didnt. After asking me for directions to get there, he finally ran inside to ask one of his friends.
Lima is a big city; a definite change of pace from the rest of the trip. We were headed for the tourist portion of Lima, so we passed fast food restaurants, casinos and malls. Everything was bright and flashy. 20 minutes later we pulled up in front of our hotel, the Country Club Lima hotel.
It is beautiful! We were given a grand suite and its a nice change of pace after the Amazon. It's the most luxurious hotel we've stayed at. They lay out slippers for you when your bed is turned down and the shower is like a waterfall. It's wonderful.
Much better than the latrines & cold showers
No mosquito nets here...
Tomorrow, we're off to explore San Isidro, the tourist portion of Lima.
Adios!
