This experience, was one of the reasons I wanted to go into the Peruvian Amazonia. At that time, it was the longest canopy walkway in the Amazon Rainforest, spanning over 500 meters, and, at the highest, 35 meters above ground. The adventure itself, and getting to see arboreal wildlife up close. The latter turned out to be a hard task. Either the inhabitants didn’t come out play, so to speak, or, more likely, was so hard to spot among the leaves – perfect cover. I think, it was a combination of the two. On a couple of occasions, our guide pointed out some monkeys to us, but there was no chance of me being able to spot them. I guess a trained eye, comes in handy in these situations. So, as far as wildlife encounters, this was not the best way to go about it. Unless you count the ants going up the tree trunks. Not liking creepy crawlies, it freaked me out a bit 😀 Now, it wouldn’t have bothered me as much. As for the canopy walkway, it was cool! The whole thing is made up of 13 platforms, set up in trees, and connected by walkways / suspension bridges. The first platform and last platform are towers, with staircases. In other words, no climbing involved in getting up there. Even though you’re pretty high up, it doesn’t feel like it. I guess the perception of height is skewed, due to the lower lying tree tops. All you see is dense forest, you rarely see the jungle floor. However, when you do get a rare glimpse, you feel it, in a split second. The views are, no doubt, splendid. And when you take a moment to grasp where you in fact are, you realise how off the grid it is.
Accessing the Canopy Walkway, was a task, probably, not possible to undertake on your own. I usually prefer doing things outside a group context. It started in the early morning, on a boat from my hotel, Ceiba Tops, 40 km from Iquitos. The destination was another accommodation, Explorama Lodge, which is an additional 40 km away. There we switched to a smaller boat, to make it possible to go up a narrow tributary. In the end you’re 80+ km away from a settlement, that’s not a river community.
Getting back to Explorama Lodge was a challenge for me. Our guide came up with the brilliant idea, that our group of 4, was going to hike back, through the rainforest. I tried to get out of it, by pointing to my trekking sandals (now, I have no idea why I opted for that kind of footwear), hoping to be put on the boat bringing another group back. However, he concluded I would be fine… Who wants to go through the jungle, in sandals!? Not me! The hour it took, felt like forever. Luckily, the elderly uncle was as uncomfortable as me. His niece and nephew, on the other hand, loved it. Heard on the walk: “What is that hole?”, “It’s a snake hole”, “Can we please move on?”, “Oops, there’s a spiderweb across the trail, I have to move it to the side”. I have never been this scared. The whole time I stared at my feet. Stomping the ground, whether I was walking or standing still.
When we finally exited the dense forest, we found ourselves at ReNuPeRu Ethnobotanical Garden. There a local shaman taught us about Amazonian medicinal plants, and their use. I was introduced to Dragon’s Blood, which I later picked up a bottle of, at the market in Belen, in Iquitos. For itching mosquito bites. When we left the garden, I feared we were going out into the jungle again. To my relief, it turned out we were right outside Explorama Lodge.
Explorama Lodge is a rustic accommodation built in 1964. It has palm-thatched houses and walkways, running between the buildings. All on stilts. We made use of the dining room, Hammock House, restrooms, and canoe… Simple, but nice. I considered staying here, when I did my research, but basic and rainforest citizens do not match, in my head. Well, apart from monkeys. Some common squirrel monkeys came to get scraps from the kitchen. As for the canoe, the niece and nephew decided they wanted to go for a ride. Their uncle didn’t, so I was asked to join. Fearless as I am 😀 , I did. Our guide told us not to go too far, and to be careful as we had no life vests. Falling into the waters, not having a life vest, would be the least of my worries. What else is in the waters, would be my concern… #snakes #piranhas #caimans
More on the rainforest beyond Iquitos.
