10/9-10

Today marks the beginning of a sweet Peru trip!  After waking up in Reno and a quick flight to Los Angeles, my travel partner Barbara and I meet a few people while waiting for our plane to Lima, Peru.  My mom even comes up for lunch!  I am still not sure how to feel about the trip, considering we are still in the U.S.  Barbara has brought enough luggage for the both of us.  Picture 2 of the bags are mine, the rest are hers. 

My bags are the one on my back and the one under the red bag...

It's going to be an interesting travel day.  A few hours later, we board our international flight to Lima, Peru.  LAN is a great airline.  The food was decent; they come around often for drinks or food items.  Each seat has its own monitor with music or games or movies.  Your headphones even hook straight into the monitor.  We are not exactly roughing it.  Neither of us sleeps much, which is tough but nonetheless, we arrive in Lima.  Once off the plane, the airport is electric with movement and life.  There are so many people here, it is the busiest airport I have ever been to.  Barbara and I quickly head over to domestic flights and find us a Peruvian coffee shop for breakfast.  The smell of fresh ground Peruvian coffee is mesmerizing.  Being awake for 20 hours at this point and not much to eat along the way makes this stop absolutely brilliant.

Breakfast is coffee and cakes!

We spend a few hours here chatting with some young students from Oregon about their trip through South America and in no time we

are on our plane to Iquitos.  The plane flies low along the country, low enough to see the vastness of the Amazon river.  Our first peak! 

The winding Amazon river from my seat.

Iquitos is the main city nearest our destination on the Tahuayo River.  We are warmly greeted by our affiliates at the Angels of the Amazon non-profit organization.  Quickly we make our way to the car and head into the lodge where we stay for the night. 

The city of Iquitos from my hotel room, the motorcycles are our cabs.

We unload our things and head for the nearest restaurant.  The food is so clean and very rewarding.  We both ordered a pisco sour, which is our equivalent to a whiskey sour but with a Peruvian liqueur.  Once dinner is devoured, we walk through the town center where there are musicians, skateboarders, soccer players, dancers, and lovely people all around.  It is a typical night for the townspeople but what an event to see so many people enjoying the night air in one of the town centers.  After a brief walk through, a stop at the local cathedral, we take a taxi (a home made motorcycle carriage) back to the lodge to get some rest. 

What a long trip, but absolutely captivating thus far.

La Catedral de San Juan at night in the city