The last night of the Huayhuash trek in Huaraz I twisted my knee. The twist hurt so bad, I had to rest for 3 days in the hostel. Knowing the Alpamayo Circuit, last trek left on my list, is the hardest of the ones I´ve done, I decided not to challenge a bad knee with it.
The next stop for me would now be - Iquitos.
Iquitos is the biggest city in the world which is isolated with no road leading to it from the outside world. The only way to reach Iquitos is by plane or by boat (down/up stream on the Amazon).
I then took a night bus to Lima, and caught the first flight to Iquitos...
During my travel, my father set me up with a contact person (a friend of my father´s colleague). Apart from being an amazing bird-watcher, Noam is the regional-governer´s advisor for everything to do with the community and forests around it. This means he is responsible for recommending new national parks and reserves. In general, Noam is the man you want to be with when arriving to a crazy place like Iquitos.
After a day of just walking around, knowing the city & checking my touristic options, Noam knocks on the door of my hostel and offers me a ride on his motor-cycle to his house.
Ignorance is bliss?
Here I have to interrupt the story and tell what I think about the following events and its consequences:
Most people who arrive to Iquitos or the Amazon area in general - go on ´´Jungle-Tours´´. These tours cost around 100US$ a day, depending on how far you want to enter the forests and where (Brazil/Peru/Colombia) you book them. I almost booked a tour with an agency in Iquitos for about 5 days. The only reason I didn´t was because of what Noam told me. He said these tours go to the same place with all their tourists. The guide walks through trails which thousands of people walk on every day/year. This simply means that even if you do see animals on those trails they probably were put there by the agency. He also added that not all agencies are like that, but to see ´´real´´ jungle one would have to pay three times the offered price of the market and so no regular tourist would be able to afford such a big expense.
To hear/read these facts (by a very knowing man), one doubts everything he ever done/planed on doing. Knowing I can´t afford such expenses I tried my best to see the jungle my way.
If I haven´t met Noam - I would have spent (like any other tourist) a fortune on a touristic jungle tour. On the other hand, maybe if I wouldn´t have known it was touristic - I could live with it just fine - like the people I´ve met on the way telling me how wonderful their jungle tour was...So maybe ignorance is bliss after all?
In Noam´s house I met Ethan. Ethan is an Israeli-American, living in Miami for a long time, travelling the world for the past 3 years. Ethan is staying these days in Iquitos in order to finish the book he´s writing about the evolution of cities in human history. Peace of mind is something easy to come by in the small city of Iquitos.
Noam is a working man, busy. That´s why Ethan turned out being my travel friend for my stay in Iquitos. We first went to Nauta, the closest city to Iquitos and the only one connected to it by road.
Fun Fact: There is only one road exiting Iquitos, that´s why when someone want´s to ´´go out´´ and have some fun, he would turn to his friend and ask if he/she would like to go with him to ´´the road´´ (La Caratera).
From Nauta one could take a Pek-Peke boat to ´´The Birth of the Amazon´´. Rio Marañón & Rio Ucayali meet and together create the world´s widest river. It was impressive to know that I´m standing there, but really - it looked just like any other two wide rivers, it´s either me or the dry season...sorry.
Nauta itself is quiet and un-touristic. Walking around the small market makes the local people turn their heads to see the strange tourist passing by.
A few days later, Noam offered me to join him for a one day jungle walk. Just 30 minutes drive out of the city NP Alpauayo Mashina lies. We dismounted the taxi (colectivo), and just walked in to the woods. Walking around with an expert like Noam is amazing even without the jungle surrounding us. Walking around, he carries: DSLR (big ass camera)+3 lens´ (400mm, 100mm Marco, 18-135mm), iPod+speaker, Microphone+Recorder, Binoculars.
Hearing a bird from afar, Noam would identify which bird it is, then he would search for the right track in his iPod and play it to the bird. The bird, hearing the right sound, would fly closer and search for it´s mate. Noam would then re-play the track, look though his binoculars and only after being satisfied from the work, he would quickly try and take amazing photos with his new camera. First I like to see it, he says. If he doesn´t have the voice of the exact bird, he would then record the animal ´´live´´ (with the microphone - remember?) and play the bird its own voice.
Not long after entering the woods, I understood birdwatching is just not for me. Being color-blind (thanks mom) I just couldn´t see all the birds Noam could see. Bummer.
Next time, I went on my own to Alpauayo Mashina. I went to a different area and managed to see some monkeys and more birds (less than what I´ve seen with Noam´s help, and far away...) and lizards.
So, in order for you to not be sad for me for not seeing all the animals the Amazon has to offer, I went to the Local-Animal-Zoo. There I could witness with my own eyes amazing creatures one could see, regularly, only in the zoo.
The days in Iquitos pass by slowly but surely, I would spend a lot of time with Ethan. On Fridays we would eat great food at Noam´s house (great cook by the way). Everyday would end with ice-cream on the ´´broadway´´ of Iquitos. Ethan is amazingly kind and can not witness a child in need, every other day he would buy the children (living in the streets) ice-cream. It was just heartbreaking to see those kids, trying to sell worthless candy to tourists in the middle of the night.
Without even noticing, two weeks have gone by. I then took my vacation days in strict hands and climbed the next boat leaving towards the Brazilian/Colombian border.
Tips for Iquitos:
- Think about what you want to accomplish by arriving to such an amazing place. You can always take the touristic tour, but is true? Is it real?
- If you do take a guided tour through the jungle, check carefully if the guide is known and get recommendations. Never go on a tour with just any guide offering himself on the main plaza (for example. There have been too many stories of people lost/robed/left to die in the jungle by unreliable guides.
Showing posts with label Noam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Noam. Show all posts
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Monday, 26 July 2010
Rio Pirita – A Very Wet Trek
The second option was a 5 day wet canyon trek in Rio Pirita. And the two more were Noam (a lonely Israeli girl worshiping Shaul) and Alexa (a 19 year old British girl, trusting an Israeli who recommended Shaul to her back in her hostel).
We set to meet back at Shaul’s the next morning, 08:00AM, packed and ready to go. Back the next morning, I found out Noam convinced another Israeli to join. Asaf is 37 years old and just now found some time for his big trip in South America. Bolivia has its own time schedule, and we ended up leaving La Paz at 10:00AM. From La Paz we drove 6 hours by taxi to a town called ‘Caranavi’, then, 2 more hours (switching private taxis?!?) to the starting point.
After already driving an hour and a half on the second taxi, Asaf finds out that the rear storage door has jumped open during the drive. Stopping and counting the bags, we found out that Asaf’s bag is missing. All passengers & remaining bags dismount the taxi and the driver + our guide (Leonid, AKA Superman #1), drive back to town to find the missing bag. Waiting forever, we decide to make some ‘Nachle’ black coffee on the road. Asaf has a problem with it (not good enough for him), and I end up drinking it by my self.
After a long time (the bag was found back in town, a car driving by picked it up), we finally continue it the right direction. Although we were meant to walk a bit that day, we arrive too late to the dropping point, and just settle for the night.
The next morning we wake up to very tasty oatmeal made by Leonid (which turns out to be a good chef), and start walking on a jungle path down towards the stream bellow. Once down, we cross the river for the time (certainly not the last), and walk without equipment to a three stories waterfall splashing all over. Happy and amazed, we go for a swim (not knowing how much wetness awaits us).
Back with the bags, Leonid makes lunch (tasty again). We, by the mean time, re-pack our stuff inside large thick-rubber bags, to avoid the upcoming water. Leonid, after he had finished making lunch (never rests) ensures our bags are all secure, and raps them with blue Utah-bags as well (to avoid damage to the expensive bags). This routine is repeated every morning and after every lunch, until we finish the trek.
Starting to walk, at first you care if you’re dry or wet, but after 100 meters it doesn’t matter any more. We arrive to a pool crossing, high walls on both sides, and all we can do is swim through it. Leonid surprises us again by gently laying his pack in the water, and jumping right on it, using it as a small raft. We do the same (not as successful as Leonid, but still).
The next adventure is a high waterfall without the option to go around it. Leonid ties a very worrying rope to a big tree, and we all climb down from it.
Another worrying spot, but Leonid always has the answers. This time, a slippery looking slop, and we’re not sure how to pass it. Leonid signals us to wait. He, easily climbs up, ties the rope to a tree, climbs down without his bag takes Noam’s and climbs back up, Noam climbs very slowly after him. Same thing happens with the other bags (and with the rest of us). When I arrive to the top of the climb, I realize there’s another slop on the other side, and all the bags are already waiting down there.
The walls of the canyon are closing on us, making the views prettier and the water colder, each evening Leonid finds a dry spot next to the waters to make camp. He also makes breakfast, lunch and dinner, and lets us help just a bit. During the second day Alexa’s Utah bag tears and the polls for the tent fall off and in to the water, we recognize they are missing way too late, and from that evening Leonid builds a shelter as well (from scratch).
On the fourth day we leave our bags, in the bushes and go for a detour in a nearby smaller creek. We walk for about an hour and arrive to a black narrow canyon with cold (very cold) water rushing through slippery waterfalls. Leonid amazes us again being able to climb slippery waterfalls from the middle, then, once he’s up throws the rope back down and raises us up. The way down is a lot easier, and just as fun – we just jump down to the deep pools, or slide down the waterslides made by nature. This experience resembles the ‘Black Gorge’ in the ‘Zavitan’ river back in Israel, but think about doing it back and forth.
We got to the end of the canyon (the main one), and so the last day was just crossing the stream from one side to the other, until we got to the pickup bridge.
One of the things Shaul loves the most, is sending Muchileros for ‘expeditions’, this meaning you go and check out a place no one has ever been before. For us, he offered a tube ride downstream in another river close to the town of Caranavi. We had to wait about three hours for the guide sent from La Paz with the tubes and for the purpose of helping out Leonid during the two upcoming days.
Fernando, AKA Superman #2, arrived to Caranavi after nightfall. We drove in a taxi for about half an hour, and got off next to a different creek from the one we left earlier the same day. Leonid and Fernando went to search for a place to make camp.
In the morning, we went back to the drop off point to look for a place to fill up the tubes. Once filled up with air, Leonid and Fernando tied each bag to one tube, making it as comfortable as possible to sit on and float. All was good except for the fact that there weren’t so much water in the stream. We tried real hard but we just couldn’t float with the tubes, and ended up pulling them down the stream instead.
That night we slept by a nearby smaller river, which we checked out shortly before sunset. The second day of the expedition was a half day, due to the fact that we understood pretty fast that the difference between enjoying the tube ride & getting hurt really badly is very close. If you succeed on gliding through a waterfall – it’s really fun & nit, but if you don’t – it hurts really badly, and it can very easily be dangerous.
Good thing we asked to stop at midday, because even so, we got back to La Paz in 03:00AM. Shaul was very nice, and let us stay for the night at his place.
We set to meet back at Shaul’s the next morning, 08:00AM, packed and ready to go. Back the next morning, I found out Noam convinced another Israeli to join. Asaf is 37 years old and just now found some time for his big trip in South America. Bolivia has its own time schedule, and we ended up leaving La Paz at 10:00AM. From La Paz we drove 6 hours by taxi to a town called ‘Caranavi’, then, 2 more hours (switching private taxis?!?) to the starting point.
After already driving an hour and a half on the second taxi, Asaf finds out that the rear storage door has jumped open during the drive. Stopping and counting the bags, we found out that Asaf’s bag is missing. All passengers & remaining bags dismount the taxi and the driver + our guide (Leonid, AKA Superman #1), drive back to town to find the missing bag. Waiting forever, we decide to make some ‘Nachle’ black coffee on the road. Asaf has a problem with it (not good enough for him), and I end up drinking it by my self.
After a long time (the bag was found back in town, a car driving by picked it up), we finally continue it the right direction. Although we were meant to walk a bit that day, we arrive too late to the dropping point, and just settle for the night.
The next morning we wake up to very tasty oatmeal made by Leonid (which turns out to be a good chef), and start walking on a jungle path down towards the stream bellow. Once down, we cross the river for the time (certainly not the last), and walk without equipment to a three stories waterfall splashing all over. Happy and amazed, we go for a swim (not knowing how much wetness awaits us).
Back with the bags, Leonid makes lunch (tasty again). We, by the mean time, re-pack our stuff inside large thick-rubber bags, to avoid the upcoming water. Leonid, after he had finished making lunch (never rests) ensures our bags are all secure, and raps them with blue Utah-bags as well (to avoid damage to the expensive bags). This routine is repeated every morning and after every lunch, until we finish the trek.
Starting to walk, at first you care if you’re dry or wet, but after 100 meters it doesn’t matter any more. We arrive to a pool crossing, high walls on both sides, and all we can do is swim through it. Leonid surprises us again by gently laying his pack in the water, and jumping right on it, using it as a small raft. We do the same (not as successful as Leonid, but still).
The next adventure is a high waterfall without the option to go around it. Leonid ties a very worrying rope to a big tree, and we all climb down from it.
Another worrying spot, but Leonid always has the answers. This time, a slippery looking slop, and we’re not sure how to pass it. Leonid signals us to wait. He, easily climbs up, ties the rope to a tree, climbs down without his bag takes Noam’s and climbs back up, Noam climbs very slowly after him. Same thing happens with the other bags (and with the rest of us). When I arrive to the top of the climb, I realize there’s another slop on the other side, and all the bags are already waiting down there.
The walls of the canyon are closing on us, making the views prettier and the water colder, each evening Leonid finds a dry spot next to the waters to make camp. He also makes breakfast, lunch and dinner, and lets us help just a bit. During the second day Alexa’s Utah bag tears and the polls for the tent fall off and in to the water, we recognize they are missing way too late, and from that evening Leonid builds a shelter as well (from scratch).
On the fourth day we leave our bags, in the bushes and go for a detour in a nearby smaller creek. We walk for about an hour and arrive to a black narrow canyon with cold (very cold) water rushing through slippery waterfalls. Leonid amazes us again being able to climb slippery waterfalls from the middle, then, once he’s up throws the rope back down and raises us up. The way down is a lot easier, and just as fun – we just jump down to the deep pools, or slide down the waterslides made by nature. This experience resembles the ‘Black Gorge’ in the ‘Zavitan’ river back in Israel, but think about doing it back and forth.
We got to the end of the canyon (the main one), and so the last day was just crossing the stream from one side to the other, until we got to the pickup bridge.
One of the things Shaul loves the most, is sending Muchileros for ‘expeditions’, this meaning you go and check out a place no one has ever been before. For us, he offered a tube ride downstream in another river close to the town of Caranavi. We had to wait about three hours for the guide sent from La Paz with the tubes and for the purpose of helping out Leonid during the two upcoming days.
Fernando, AKA Superman #2, arrived to Caranavi after nightfall. We drove in a taxi for about half an hour, and got off next to a different creek from the one we left earlier the same day. Leonid and Fernando went to search for a place to make camp.
In the morning, we went back to the drop off point to look for a place to fill up the tubes. Once filled up with air, Leonid and Fernando tied each bag to one tube, making it as comfortable as possible to sit on and float. All was good except for the fact that there weren’t so much water in the stream. We tried real hard but we just couldn’t float with the tubes, and ended up pulling them down the stream instead.
That night we slept by a nearby smaller river, which we checked out shortly before sunset. The second day of the expedition was a half day, due to the fact that we understood pretty fast that the difference between enjoying the tube ride & getting hurt really badly is very close. If you succeed on gliding through a waterfall – it’s really fun & nit, but if you don’t – it hurts really badly, and it can very easily be dangerous.
Good thing we asked to stop at midday, because even so, we got back to La Paz in 03:00AM. Shaul was very nice, and let us stay for the night at his place.
Tips for Rio Pirita:
- If you like to do things your way, get in touch with Shaul. See if something catches your eye on his website, or just ring the door bell with his name on it on Tarija street, La Paz (look for an A4 sign on a second floor window, Shaul’s name is written in Hebrew).
- Leonid was a very good guide. Knows just Spanish, but other than that, he’s perfect. Good cook, knows the way, and will do anything to satisfy your needs. Say hi for me.
- The trek itself was really pretty. The only downside was that I couldn’t take as much photos as I wanted – water problem. If you’re not into water, this trek is not for you.
- If you like to do things your way, get in touch with Shaul. See if something catches your eye on his website, or just ring the door bell with his name on it on Tarija street, La Paz (look for an A4 sign on a second floor window, Shaul’s name is written in Hebrew).
- Leonid was a very good guide. Knows just Spanish, but other than that, he’s perfect. Good cook, knows the way, and will do anything to satisfy your needs. Say hi for me.
- The trek itself was really pretty. The only downside was that I couldn’t take as much photos as I wanted – water problem. If you’re not into water, this trek is not for you.
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