After we got back to Lagunas I took a welcome cold shower and changed to meet Josuey at the ultra-slow internet place once the electricity kicked in at 630pm. There I got him an online email, but I doubt he will use it judging from his reaction to just getting it - it`s a simple life there. But we can hope.The schedule for the barge to Iquitos stated the boat would arrive between 2 and 3 am - I arrived at the river at 1.10am to find the boat already left by 10 minutes. Bugger. The next day in Lagunas I transferred away from the house of Clever to the supposedly best hostel in town, saying goodbye to him and his family. I can highly recommend the tour with Clever at Ayahuasca Tours from Lagunas. If anyone wants to get the details let me know :)
Lagunas is home to 3000 people and a steady stream of jungle tourists but has very poor services. Most of these people are living in poverty, and the irony of their plight despite the tourism and living so near to in my opinion one of the most beautiful places on Earth is certainly not lost on me.
I was dejected to find out the barge due for the Friday night was cancelled - another night and day in Lagunas. The base nausea I had been feeling the whole time since arriving in Lagunas wasn`t just due to my stomach bug. The thick heat and humidity was taking its toll on this gringo. As was the environment I was in. The mostly dirt/mud roads are incredibly poorly maintained. The drainage doesn`t; as such pools of water collect along the roads and around the buildings, assisting in the proliferation of tropical stench, mosquitoes and undoubtedly nasty bacteria. The people must have sex like there`s no tommorow because children of all ages fill the streets. The majority of the population appears under or unemployed and seem to spend their days just shootin` the breeze.
So I spent another night with the wicked witch of Hostal Miraflores who charges extra for toilet paper and kicks the massively crippled resident dog. The next night it rained hard for 5 hrs straight and continued to when our barge arrived at 3.30am despite being told to be there at 12am. I sure was relieved to be leaving the poverty and wretchedness of Lagunas, but by the same token not the resilient cheerfulness of its people. I said goodbye to Josuey who had waited with me all that time just to ensure I got away OK. Josuey had some great questions and comments for me during our time together: `You know how to swim¿`, `You`ve been in a train before¿`, `How lucky you are to have 2 boys¡` (as opposed to 2 girls).
The barge to Nauta near Iquitos took 26hrs. Of course I managed to locate my hammock near a gaggle of toddlers - not my favourite creatures. The crowded boat-trip was quite uncomfortable with many people pushing past your hammock during the night and the added bonus of Bali Belly. Upon reaching Nauta we transferred to a shared taxi for Iquitos and drove the one and a half hours past partially cleared and farmed jungle, tourist retreats and more peasants trying to scratch out a living from whatever they could. We entered Iquitos through the outer suburbs driving past many wood mills and tropical timber yards. At Casa Samantha Steve and Allison from Sydney and I lodged into our rooms with sighs of relief - I promptly slept.
In Iquitos I did functional things like get the cumbia track I had heard and loved along my jungle excursions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoxPkKw-e7g), find out where I could get the replacement parts for my camera and book flights from Leticia to Bogota. I also visited an excellent cafe on the riverfront run by an ex-pat American that was full of other ex-pat Americans. One of them told me he always carries a pistol with him, but then confessed if a thief stole his laptop in the street he was pretty sure he wouldn`t be able to shoot him as he ran away - in his house was a different story, sure, no problem, BAM¡ ... Phew, that`s a relief, my generic American stereotype remains intact. At my hostel I met Petra from France who had just returned from a month exploring herself and the universe via Ayahuasca, the tradicional shaman medium for exploring life, death, the minds of plants and animals, past lives and future occurrences. She was also travelling to Leticia so we joined forces to catch a speedboat to Colombia in one long day.
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