Hotel Iquitos

Figured I was overdue for some more jungle ramblings, but I'm afraid there isn't a whole lot to catch up on. I've been spending my time laying low in Iquitos, and another trip out to the jungle. Rob (who I went surfing with in Lima and hiked the Santa Cruz Trek with) arrived by boat in Iquitos 4 days ago! We had such a wonderful reunion and got caught up on the happenings of the week we were separated for.

We have been using our time in Iquitos to visit the many wildlife sanctuaries and refuges around. They are really awesome, are doing great work, and I feel warm happy fuzzies inside for supporting some really cool causes :)
Today we spent the afternoon at a manatee refuge center which is also functions as a research center for the Peruvian Amazon. We were able to feed the baby manatees (18 months and younger) today - OMG cuteness overload!



Iquitos is very strange city. I overheard a conversation between 3 gringos the other day - 1 an ex-farmer from Indiana, another from Seattle, and another who I think was from Arizona - who have all been here for years: "Iquitos is just like the Hotel California. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." I'm beginning to realize the truth to this statement. Commence panic! I promptly used this as an opportunity to figure out how I was getting to Quito, Ecuador so I don't get stuck in the Iquitos trap. Whenever I go out during the day, I run into at least one person who knows my name. You know you've been somewhere too long when you're no longer anonymous. I have a strange feeling I'll be returning to this place at some point later in my life. But for now, I'm about ready to leave. I miss toilet seats and appreciate walking for 1 block without someone trying to sell me something. I am also worried that if I get one more ant, spider, fly, or mosquito bite I'm going to fall over into a pile malaria soup who has contract some rare strain of dengue fever...

Anyways, I'm now frustrated with the internet so hence the end of this post. Trying to plan an epic monkey filled jungle adventure for my birthday on the 13th :)