Iquitos is a nice town with a very unique feel to it. It's here that I learnt about Shamans (what we call sangomas in Africa) and Ayuwasa (a hallucinogenic plant used during Shaman rituals). I discovered that this is a place where travelers "finding themselves" find Ayuwasa as well and get involved in Shamanism. Shamanism is a term relating to the interaction with the spirit world. A shaman has access to, and influence in the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enter a trance state through a ritual, and practices divination and healing. They are messengers or intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds.
During our time at the hostel we met a girl from Poland who, while travelling in Peru, had "found" herself in Shamanism and was at that time in the process of setting up a business with a shaman, with the view that she would one day become a shaman herself. We spent a lot of time getting to know her, understanding her beliefs and sharing our beliefs with her.
One day we went to Belen market, which is the poor person's market. It was quite an experience to say the least. A highlight was getting lots of yummy fruit and veg cheap. There was a large shaman market in the centre which sold all sorts of potions, ointments etc. The potions wouldn't be so bad in themselves if they didn't have spirits attached to them. It was a spiritually very dark place which I was happy to get out of.
Belen is in the poor part of town. The people live in stilted wooded houses on the Amazon river which is just on the edge of the market. They get to their homes by canoe.
Saturday, 31 March 2012
My first experience of a 3 day launcher along the Amazon river
Once we'd got fixing the car sorted, we got on a 22 hour bus towards Iquitos. This was a pretty good ride overall, far better than our next one. At 19 hours we swapped buses to take a mini bus for the last 3 hours through the mountains to Yurimanguas. The bad part of this trip was that winding through those mountains I was pretty car sick, the good part was making friends with a wonderful Isralita family who we would travel with for the next 3 days. By family I mean about 12 of them - grandparents, parents and kids.
From Yurimanguas it was time for us to get on a boat (known as a launcher) for three days to sail up the river to Iquitos. Iquitos is the largest jungle town which is only accessible by air or river. From Iquitos the road goes for about 1.5 hours to Nauta but that's it. No more road.
This was quite a crazy afternoon as we needed to figure out how and where to take the launcher. Lucky we had the Isralita family to help us. We also needed to stop by an orphanage to visit a ministering friend. We were glad we stopped by but wished we had more time. We also needed to buy our hammocks which we'd be sleeping in for the next 3 days. Plus some food... Why we were so rushed is we didn't actually know what time the launcher would be leaving. Some said 4pm. Others 8pm. Others... One thing we knew is that the launcher would leave whether we were on it or not.
After rushing back to the boat it of course wasn't leaving at 4pm. By 6pm Aleeza and Stephen went off the boat to buy some dinner for us leaving Natalie and I to guard our stuff. Someone had to be with our stuff at all times otherwise it would've disappeared. 10min after they left and our launcher starts moving, without them being back!! Natalie and I start panicking that we're leaving them behind, Natalie texts them frantically telling them to get their butts back on the boat pronto, I run to try find anyone who looked like they worked on the launcher (hard to find!) to find out if we were leaving and to try to explain that my friends weren't on the boat. He told me to relax, we were only leaving in half an hour. Then why was the launcher moving?? Quite obviously because it was only turning around. It landed up leaving at 7:30pm. Clearly not 4pm or 8pm.
How a launcher works is there is the option of cabins or sleeping in a hammock on the deck. There are two deck levels, the top one is for tourists and the bottom one is for locals. We of course travelled with the locals, in spite of many of them kindly directing us to the tourist level. We prefer the more authentic experience.
Everyone ties their hammock wherever they find a spot and that becomes home for the next 3 days. It's pretty crowded with people tying hammocks anywhere they can find even a tiny spot. I never knew I'd be able to sleep a night in a hammock on a boat!! An interesting thing about this form of travel is not really knowing you'll arrive. I'm not talking within an hour, I'm taking what day!! What was fun was hanging out with and getting to know the people on the boat. We had many ministry opportunities through just getting to know those around us. One testimony was "the nose guy" (so named because he had a massive plaster across his nose where he'd had an accident and I think a chainsaw had whacked him in the face, really destroying his nose badly), we prayed for him and he said the pain went away.
Breakfast on a launcher is at 6am - a very sweet porridgy stuff with quinoa and two bread rolls. Lunch is at 11:30am and consists of rice, a plantain and a bit of meat and veg. Dinner at 5:30pm is the same as lunch. During the day when we stop at little ports people from the village jump aboard to sell us stuff to eat. This was a lot of fun trying new fruit and other foods.
After 3 days we pulled into Iquitos. As fun as the launcher was, I was glad to be on solid ground again! I never was a fan of boats... We found a really nice hostel which was to become home for the next few days. After 3 nights of sleeping in a bus and hammocks we were happy to finally be sleeping horizontal in a bed!
From Yurimanguas it was time for us to get on a boat (known as a launcher) for three days to sail up the river to Iquitos. Iquitos is the largest jungle town which is only accessible by air or river. From Iquitos the road goes for about 1.5 hours to Nauta but that's it. No more road.
This was quite a crazy afternoon as we needed to figure out how and where to take the launcher. Lucky we had the Isralita family to help us. We also needed to stop by an orphanage to visit a ministering friend. We were glad we stopped by but wished we had more time. We also needed to buy our hammocks which we'd be sleeping in for the next 3 days. Plus some food... Why we were so rushed is we didn't actually know what time the launcher would be leaving. Some said 4pm. Others 8pm. Others... One thing we knew is that the launcher would leave whether we were on it or not.
Lots and lots of hammocks on the launcher
After rushing back to the boat it of course wasn't leaving at 4pm. By 6pm Aleeza and Stephen went off the boat to buy some dinner for us leaving Natalie and I to guard our stuff. Someone had to be with our stuff at all times otherwise it would've disappeared. 10min after they left and our launcher starts moving, without them being back!! Natalie and I start panicking that we're leaving them behind, Natalie texts them frantically telling them to get their butts back on the boat pronto, I run to try find anyone who looked like they worked on the launcher (hard to find!) to find out if we were leaving and to try to explain that my friends weren't on the boat. He told me to relax, we were only leaving in half an hour. Then why was the launcher moving?? Quite obviously because it was only turning around. It landed up leaving at 7:30pm. Clearly not 4pm or 8pm.
How a launcher works is there is the option of cabins or sleeping in a hammock on the deck. There are two deck levels, the top one is for tourists and the bottom one is for locals. We of course travelled with the locals, in spite of many of them kindly directing us to the tourist level. We prefer the more authentic experience.
Me in my hammock - home sweet home for the next 3 days!
Everyone ties their hammock wherever they find a spot and that becomes home for the next 3 days. It's pretty crowded with people tying hammocks anywhere they can find even a tiny spot. I never knew I'd be able to sleep a night in a hammock on a boat!! An interesting thing about this form of travel is not really knowing you'll arrive. I'm not talking within an hour, I'm taking what day!! What was fun was hanging out with and getting to know the people on the boat. We had many ministry opportunities through just getting to know those around us. One testimony was "the nose guy" (so named because he had a massive plaster across his nose where he'd had an accident and I think a chainsaw had whacked him in the face, really destroying his nose badly), we prayed for him and he said the pain went away.
Breakfast on a launcher is at 6am - a very sweet porridgy stuff with quinoa and two bread rolls. Lunch is at 11:30am and consists of rice, a plantain and a bit of meat and veg. Dinner at 5:30pm is the same as lunch. During the day when we stop at little ports people from the village jump aboard to sell us stuff to eat. This was a lot of fun trying new fruit and other foods.
After 3 days we pulled into Iquitos. As fun as the launcher was, I was glad to be on solid ground again! I never was a fan of boats... We found a really nice hostel which was to become home for the next few days. After 3 nights of sleeping in a bus and hammocks we were happy to finally be sleeping horizontal in a bed!
The view from leaving our boat of the port of Iquitos, it's kinda crazy...
Piura, first time round
We slept the night camping on the beach in the dodgy town of Negritos. Thursday (23 February) we set off again and drove until we hit the town of Piura after lunch. This would be a town I would come to know well. We found a mechanic and dumped Shekinah there, with the idea that she'd either be fixed there in Piura, or we'd put her on a truck to Lima where she could get fixed there.
Four of us were splitting from the group for a couple of weeks to go minister in the Amazon jungle near Iquitos. We were left in Piura to take care of the car before we'd head up to Iquitos, while the rest of the team travelled south to Lima. The next few days in Piura were spent in the mechanics yard and mall, where we discovered amazing natural ice-cream. Plus the attraction of air conditioning when watching movies.
Leaving our not great camping spot in Negritos
Four of us were splitting from the group for a couple of weeks to go minister in the Amazon jungle near Iquitos. We were left in Piura to take care of the car before we'd head up to Iquitos, while the rest of the team travelled south to Lima. The next few days in Piura were spent in the mechanics yard and mall, where we discovered amazing natural ice-cream. Plus the attraction of air conditioning when watching movies.
The not very happening town of Piura...
Bienvenidos a Peru
I love Peru so much I've been here twice. Yes, somehow we managed to drive across the border from Ecuador to Peru without realizing it. How did we miss border control? Good question, shows how well sign posted it was. So second time round and we entered legally, filled with lots of excitement and expectation for this country.
After quite a busy time in Ecuador we spent the first few days in Peru chilling at a beach, in the small town of Zorritos. We camped on the beach and had a good time relaxing, enjoying the beach until half the team got sick. It was really bad, sunstroke, diarrhea, fevers, you name it. We never did figure out what caused it but we did have some very sick people for a few days. Thankfully I didn't get sick, although I guess that's because my time was being saved for the end of Peru.
The day we left the beach was quite eventful. We left, drove 30min and Shekinah (the Durango car) broke down. Transmission. So we turned around and drove back to the place we'd been staying at the beach. We were going to stay there while we found a mechanic, but then we found out that the road we needed to drive down towards Lima would be closed with a road block for the next few days, starting that evening. If we didn't leave then we'd be stuck which was no good as we had a deadline. So we got back in the cars and drove south to avoid the roadblock. Driving was slow as we had to go at Shekinah's pace (slow) and keep stopping to let it cool down.
Peru border crossing
After quite a busy time in Ecuador we spent the first few days in Peru chilling at a beach, in the small town of Zorritos. We camped on the beach and had a good time relaxing, enjoying the beach until half the team got sick. It was really bad, sunstroke, diarrhea, fevers, you name it. We never did figure out what caused it but we did have some very sick people for a few days. Thankfully I didn't get sick, although I guess that's because my time was being saved for the end of Peru.
Camping on the beach
Sunset over the beach
The day we left the beach was quite eventful. We left, drove 30min and Shekinah (the Durango car) broke down. Transmission. So we turned around and drove back to the place we'd been staying at the beach. We were going to stay there while we found a mechanic, but then we found out that the road we needed to drive down towards Lima would be closed with a road block for the next few days, starting that evening. If we didn't leave then we'd be stuck which was no good as we had a deadline. So we got back in the cars and drove south to avoid the roadblock. Driving was slow as we had to go at Shekinah's pace (slow) and keep stopping to let it cool down.
Waiting on the side of the road for Shekinah...
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