The Amazonas
June 11th 2019 (entry for June 10th-11th)
When I arrived on Santa Rosa, I had to walk a hundred meters or so across narrow planks to make it to dry land and the “road.” On Google Maps, it is indicated that there is a bank on the island, so I had kept all my Pesos to exchange them over here instead of in Leticia. Turns out, Google Maps was lying. Luckily there was a place that exchanges money, so I could get rid of my Pesos and get Soles. I also got USD $20 exchanged for Soles in the hopes that it would be enough for the boat ticket and additional food/water I would need on my journey.
The heat was almost unbearable – especially with luggage on my back and front. I tried to find the slow boat dock, but had no luck, so I ended up asking a police officer that came up the path I was walking down. We had some trouble communicating (he thought I was looking for the Migración, but I showed him my passport that was already stamped and tried to explain again that I was looking for the boat) but eventually, he understood what I wanted and told me to walk with him. He showed me the place where I would have to hire another small boat to get to the big one and also told me that the slow boat only left at night around seven. I thanked him and we shook hands before I tried to find a shady place to spend the next five to seven hours at.
I sat down in a restaurant that had a terrace overlooking the swamp, ordered a juice (with milk) and started writing. When I was done recapitulating my Amazonian journey so far, I drew a self-portrait and then just sat there and enjoyed the view. From where I was sitting, I could see two slow boats at the dock. Shortly after noon, they both left and for a moment, I was extremely worried that the information I had received was wrong and I should have been on one of those boats. Before I could hit full panic mode, I tried to calm myself down by reassuring myself that surely another boat would arrive at the dock in a few hours. I ordered another juice (with milk) and continued enjoying the view (even if I was a bit tense).
All of a sudden, it got really windy and a few minutes later, it started pouring down as if the world was about to end. Even though there was a roof where I was sitting, there were no walls and I had to move all of my things – and myself – to the other side of the terrace because everything within 4 meters of where the roof ended got completely soaked. It rained for about an hour before – as suddenly as it had started – it stopped. While it had been raining, I had seen that another boat had arrived at the dock. I asked the waiter if that was the boat to Iquitos and after receiving an answer in the affirmative, I paid and went back to where the small boats were. It was only 3:30pm, but I didn’t want to risk missing the boat.
For 3 Soles, I was taken to the slow boat. Once there, I set up my hammock on the top deck in the middle of the boat and right in the middle of two lamps as to avoid both rain and bugs as best as possible. I spent the next couple of hours doing nothing and staring outside and reading. Sometime during that time, the captain came up to me to write down my details. I learned a new word (“birthday”) because apparently that’s a hard thing to find on a passport. A few more people set up their hammocks on the upper deck, but it was still relatively empty (especially compared to the always crowded middle deck). By 6:30pm it was completely dark outside, by 7:30pm the boat finally left the dock and by 8pm I was fast asleep.
I was unceremoniously awoken when the lights were turned on at 9:30pm by three crew members, who were making their rounds to collect the payment for the ride. It was a bit scary since I was still half asleep and I couldn’t really understand them, but they were nice and honest. (Misunderstanding the price, I had handed them 100 Soles and they gave me back one of my twenties, instead of taking advantage of my vulnerable state.) I had a tough time falling asleep after that and kept waking up the whole night before being fully awake by 5am. Breakfast was handed out around 6:30am. I declined the offered coffee (or was it? :P) and when bread was handed out, I wasn’t offered any. I guess I’ll take the coffee tomorrow.
There is nothing much you can do on a boat, so I spent the morning reading and snoozing in my hammock, occasionally taking a few photos with my phone. I don’t really feel comfortable taking out my camera after having been warned about carrying it around so often in the past few days. Maybe I’ll find the courage at some point during this trip. (Spoiler alert: I don’t.) At 10:30am lunch was handed out. It was a plate of rice, lentils and a piece of chicken. I actually quite liked it, despite it being a very simple meal.
On our next big stop around noon, police and immigration basically swarmed the boat. They checked everyone’s IDs and bags before we were allowed to continue on our way. The officers were all surprisingly nice and the one who searched my bag even helped me put back my small back pack into the big plane cover after having it taken out from there.
One thing I totally forgot to write about earlier – that also totally shocked me in the Caribbean – is how the natives don’t seem to care about the environment and nature at all. The amount of trash that was laying around everywhere in the Caribbean was absolutely insane. And I witnessed there – as I do here – that it’s the locals who pollute their own home. People on the boats here use a lot of plastic and instead of using the trash cans on board, they throw their waste into the river. It’s horrible. I kind of understand organic waste, but everything else just leaves me speechless.