Arrival in Iquitos and Transfer to Boat

Saturday, February 13, 2010 Part II

We took a short evening tour of Iquitos after landing. This port town on the Amazon is located in the northeast of Peru and many of the houses have elaborate handpainted Spanish tilework. The17th and 18th century French style buildings with second floor balconies give the city a New Orleans feel. Finally, we arrived at the M/V Aqua, the boat which will be our home for the next three nights. The boat has 12 cabins, each of which have an entire wall of windows to view the Amazon River. Dinner was served after a brief welcome talk and featured local dishes including Brazil nut soup and catfish. We had a pink drink and a sorbet made from a cuma cuma fruit that looks like a grape and is very sour when eaten plain. From the deck as we sailed down the Amazon, all the lights from the town faded and stars were incredibly bright and numerous.

Interesting Fact: The Amazon River starts in the Andes mountains, where melting snow feeds the tributaries, and flows from west to east where it empties in the Atlantic. The water levels can change 37 feet from the wet season, which we are in now, to the dry season.