This morning we (all sixteen) boarded another bus and headed back to the airport. We waited in traffic for about half an hour while contestants in a road race ran through the streets, but made it to the airport on time and were soon on the plane to Iquitos. The flight was took about an hour and a half and it was neat to look through the clouds and see the mountains and endless trees of the rain forest. When we stepped out of the plane the heat and humidity of the jungle hit us immediately . We gathered our bags and climbed onto yet another bus with our guide Ricardo and headed into Iquitos. This town was quite different from Lima. It was less geared towards tourists and showed much more of the native culture. The streets were filled with three wheeled motorized rickshaw-like taxis called “Tuk-Tuks”. We saw only a small portion of Iquitos but did get a glimpse of the "floating" village of Belin. When we reached the boat dock, many hands helped us aboard with our luggage.
At 2:20 p.m. the boat headed down stream and our first real look at the mighty Amazon river. We had a chance to relax in the sun on the deck and enjoy the boat for the rest of the day as well as see a few beautiful rainbows. When night fell we all climbed into the small boat and headed up the Atuncaño tributary for a night watching experience. We were looking for caiman and owls whose eyes glow when caught by a flashlight. We found a few whippoorwills and owls and heard a fantastic chorus of frogs and insects, but found no caiman. When we returned to the boat we were able to meet some of the Amazon natives who were in their canoes hoping to sell us some of their hand made goods. After trading some trinkets with them and petting their pet sloth and parakeets we headed off to dinner and then to the deck to enjoy the stars, the southern cross, and the full moon.

The Boat:
El Arca is fabulous. It has three levels and enough cabin space for 38 passengers. Since we only had sixteen people we only occupied eight of the two person cabins on the second and third levels. The top level had an area to sit and enjoy the view, two cabins on either side, and the navigating room in front. The only instruments in the navigating room were the helm, gear lever, throttle and a hand -held spotlight to guide the boat at night. The second level had three cabins on either side, the dining area, and the bar. The lower lever had the galley, the engine room and more cabins, which the crew was able to use for this trip.
The cabins were small but comfortable. Each room had bunk beds or two small beds, a tiny closet, a shelf and a bathroom with a toilet, a sink and a shower. The water in the bathrooms came directly from the river, so we could take cool (no hot water) brown showers but had to be careful not to brush our teeth with the water.

The meals on the boat were great and we were all amazed at the skill of the cook to produce the meals in such a tiny galley with hardly anything but a stove and a sink. Every morning we had some sort of eggs, either omelets, scrambled, or fried, usually some potatoes and some kind of fruit or fruit juice and always bread with butter and exotic jam. For lunch and dinner we always had at least three different dishes to choose from. There was always rice, one of the staple foods in Peru, and some kind of salad. There was a meat dish or fried or breaded fish, and usually fried bananas or plantain, and always bread and butter. The food was fun to try and we were all usually very satisfied after our meals, except for Alden who refused to experiment and stuck to bread and jam and an occasional potato.

There were twelve crew members plus our guide, Segundo. We all agreed that Segundo is one of the best guides on the Amazon. He speaks very good English and knows almost everything there is to know about the birds and the life of the Amazon. He is soon to graduate from a university with a degree in ornithology and amazed us by knowing every bird we heard and saw as well as the plants, animals, history, stories and much more. He is fun to talk to and finally figured out how to take our jokes. Every day he posted our schedule.

The captain of El Arca was named Hernan, but we never really had a chance to talk to him. The bartender was named Lider and we became very good customers of his. There were four pilots, Lisardo, Ramon, Robin, Geraldo (and Brock or Carol whenever they would let them drive). Geraldo was also the driver of the motorboat that we took on excursions. His nickname was “Mono”, meaning monkey, for his agility in climbing trees. The two cabin boys were named Jorge and Meneo and were good waiters as well. They did an excellent job of keeping the cabins clean. It was interesting each day to see what new way they would fold our fresh towels. Also a part of the crew were the cooks Horacio and Ricardo and the mechanics both named Rafael. Living on El Arca for a week was a unique and wonderful experience that we will all remember for the rest of our lives.

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