Thursday, December 14, 2006
I'm in the Amazon, yes that's right, the AMAZON!!!!!
I always thought to see the Rio Amazonia and Amazon jungle you had to go to Brazil. WRONG. The best, least human wrecked parts are in the upper Amazon - Peru. Highly recommend Muyuna Lodge 140km upriver from Iquitos for anyone wanting to see the real Amazon and it´s people and animals.
11 December 2006
The blue of the sky is filtered by the fine white clouds. As they are reflected in the river, its brown water is turned to pink. The cloud is gradually building in thickness, just wisps early this morning on a clear blue sky but now at midday there are fluffy marshmellows, streaks of rice vermicelli and sheets of white tissue all competing for space on the massive expanse of blue.
The river trip started at 2km wide, now guessing, but nearer to 2.5km wide. It´s 25m deep in the channel and has barely started to spread across the flood plain. The wet only really started 3 weeks ago and already there is a steady stream of debris and silt competing for space. Our speedboat captain is very adept at judging the floating logs, vines, and water hyacinth islands for the potential damage they could do our outboard.
Bananas, coconuts, pawpaws, chickens, pigs, are shipped on huge balsawood rafts downstream to Iquitos. They float down on the current at about 8km/hr and once unloaded are broken up and sold for timber and firewood. The men get lifts back upstream on motorised launches and start over again. There are all manner of craft in the river carrying people, crops and animals. Small settlements appear on the banks out of the jungle - surviving on fishing and crops.
I always thought to see the Rio Amazonia and Amazon jungle you had to go to Brazil. WRONG. The best, least human wrecked parts are in the upper Amazon - Peru. Highly recommend Muyuna Lodge 140km upriver from Iquitos for anyone wanting to see the real Amazon and it´s people and animals.
11 December 2006
The blue of the sky is filtered by the fine white clouds. As they are reflected in the river, its brown water is turned to pink. The cloud is gradually building in thickness, just wisps early this morning on a clear blue sky but now at midday there are fluffy marshmellows, streaks of rice vermicelli and sheets of white tissue all competing for space on the massive expanse of blue.
The river trip started at 2km wide, now guessing, but nearer to 2.5km wide. It´s 25m deep in the channel and has barely started to spread across the flood plain. The wet only really started 3 weeks ago and already there is a steady stream of debris and silt competing for space. Our speedboat captain is very adept at judging the floating logs, vines, and water hyacinth islands for the potential damage they could do our outboard.
Bananas, coconuts, pawpaws, chickens, pigs, are shipped on huge balsawood rafts downstream to Iquitos. They float down on the current at about 8km/hr and once unloaded are broken up and sold for timber and firewood. The men get lifts back upstream on motorised launches and start over again. There are all manner of craft in the river carrying people, crops and animals. Small settlements appear on the banks out of the jungle - surviving on fishing and crops.
# posted by The Essence of Good Taste @ 1:44 PM 
