Well I am now in Iquitos.

The boat ride was long and very very crowded. The captain declined to give me an estimate of numbers but admitted that because it was before Christmas the boat was a lot busier than normal. I thought that on my last boat that I had never seen so many hammocks in my life ..... how wrong I was. Last time it was one next to another but on this boat it was also three tiers of hammocks, one on top of me and someone sleeping on the floor below me. It was crazy, even hammocks over the stairs. Thankfully the captain moved the chickens on our floor as it was "premier" class and the livestock was only allowed on the bottom level (I felt sorry for the people on that level). But parrots were allowed. Oh and there were only two bathrooms. The bar ran out of coke after one hour which was a sign of things to come. Beer ran out the next day and on the final day the only thing left was water. The food was not so great and it is discomforting to strike a chicken´s claw while spooning out your gruel.

Besides these trivialities it was a fairly fun trip. I met a nice Peruvian guy on the boat called Francisco and we chatted as much as possible and he attempted to improve my Spanish and also learn English. There were also three French travelers on the boat and I hung out with them a little as well. One of them had their camera and some money stolen which was too bad.

So now I am thinking of doing a jungle trip before Christmas but must go and price around. I have gotten too used to lazing round in hammocks however from the boats and now this is all I wish to do! So am in the midst of giving myself a talking to and having a hangover from beers with these English and Americans last night doesn´t help.

ros from URL @ 6:39 pm