I think it’s fairly common knowledge that the Amazon River and the surrounding drainage basin are both massive. Incomprehensibly so. Let me start with a few quick facts:

• 40% of the entire continent of South America drains into the Amazon Basin
• The river, at its narrowest, is 1.6KM (1 mile) wide
• The flow of the Amazon is greater than the next 7 largest rivers COMBINED
• For perspective on the last fact, by my math (may be flawed) the Amazon could fill Lake Michigan in 17 seconds!
• 1/3 of all animal species on the face of the planet are found in the Amazon Basin
• The Amazon accounts for 20% of the world’s river flow

These facts do little to reveal the true scope of the Amazon and its drainage basin. I am quite simply, awestruck, after realizing that I was in constant motion for 4 days and only saw a sliver of this massive ecosystem.

The journey WAS the destination

I feel quite fortunate that this is my life. Imagine, sitting around the house one day and simply deciding to go! With no real plan we left the next Tuesday. Transport in Peru can be somewhat challenging, long bus rides cover vast distances at a fairly slow pace. Bus rides are quite commonly nine hours at a minimum. We decided that we would get a bus from Trujillo to Chacapoyas and from there make our way to Tarapoto and finally Yurimaquas where we would arrange passage on the river to Iquitos. It ended up working out surprisingly well.

15 hours on a bus got us to our first stop. Chachapoyas turned out to be an incredible place with many natural wonders and archaeological sites on offer. The area is best known for the ancient ruins of Kuelap, but we opted instead to visit the Sarcophagi of Karajía(click to embiggen).

We also did a bit of spelunking ‘ghetto style’ where our guide was equipped with a car battery in a backpack which was connected to a homemade lamp with a couple strands of discarded baling wire.

From Chachapoyas we backtracked a little bit to the crossroads town of Pedro Ruiz to catch a bus onward to Tarapoto. At the bus terminal, a lady had called the police to report the theft of her cell phone. She was pointing fingers, making accusations and demanded that the police do something. Eventually they gave in and started searching all of the males for the cell phone. As people were done being searched and boarded the bus, someone came back from the bus with her cell phone that they had found in her seat. This incident set the tone for the next eight hours on the bus.

We overnighted in Tarapoto and the next morning arranged transport to Yurimaguas. We knew that the boat trips between Yurimaguas and Iquitos are fairly spartan, so we knew that we would need to be gathering supplies. We had originally planned on spending the night in Yurimaguas so that we would have time to procure everything we would need (hammocks, rain gear, eating utensils, water and wine) but that proved to be unnecessary as out moto-taxi driver was more than willing to earn a commission by taking us to a local outfitter. The few soles extra that we spent by going with him was well worth it!

Everything that we had read indicated that this trip would likely take three to five days, so with our supplies purchased and passage booked we settled in for the cruise. We left Yurimaguas at sunset and hadn’t even pulled out of port yet before our first river dolphin sighting.

We ended up only taking two days to get to Iquitos, but it was a very interesting two days with many stops made to load and unload cargo at remote Amazonian villages along the river. By mid-morning on the second day we had made it to the confluence of the rivers Marañón and Ucayali which come together to officially start the Amazon. From there it was only a few hours to Iquitos.

The largest city in the world inaccessible by road

Iquitos turned out to be very interesting. It’s quite a scene, to say the least. We were surprised by the expat community there with an English language newspaper! We met a very interesting character who happened to be the proprietor of a floating bar/restaurant/hostel. I visited the shantytown of Belen, and we HAD to visit Casa Fitzcarralldo (which turned out to be somewhat disappointing). All in all a very rewarding trip!

Support local business owners!

Iquitos is fairly heavily touristed. One thing that has always bothered me about places that get a lot of tourist traffic is the number of foreign business that spring up to cater to these tourists. Travel agencies, booking offices, tour companies, hotels and restaurants are nearly all foreign owned so the locals end up benefiting very little. Whenever possible, I prefer to support locals who are often freelancers. While in Iquitos, we happened to meet a jungle guide from a nearby village. He spoke very good English and was quite friendly and comes highly recommended by past clients. His name is Pedro, but he’s known as “Wolf”. If you ever need a jungle guide in Iquitos, and especially if you don’t want to take some pre-packaged tour, you should get in contact with Pedro. He can be reached by email at pedro_wildlife AT hotmail DOT com or on facebook (Pedro Peña) in Iquitos, Peru. Seriously, this guy can set you up with whatever, whether it’s an ayahuasca ceremony, hallucenogenic toad licking or remote wildlife viewing, he’s your guy.

And now, the photos:

‘This country is going to hell in a handbasket’

Or, you could use any of about a million other cliches to describe the decline of the American Dream.  Unemployment is (and has been) teetering near double digits nationwide.  Americans are enslaved by debt and the government doesn’t  pay any heed to the will of the voters (take TARP for instance).  Suffice it to say that America’s problems are vast and there are no simple solutions nor easy fixes.

‘Corporate Personhood’

corporate personhood is, in my opinion, the single largest contributing factor to the decay of the American Dream.  The main aim of the Occupy Wall Street movement is to end the idea of corporate personhood.  You can read more here

To sum it up, I’ll use this bumpersticker quote

I refuse to believe that corporations are people until Texas executes one

So…that’s the pitch, and here’s where you come in:

This is something that I believe in, but my budget simply doesn’t allow for travel to NYC to be present.  I’m soliciting donations for airfare for my wife and I to go.  My personal friends will attest to the fact that I am the most qualified person to speak out against corporate injustice.   Click the button below to donate:

and, here’s the deal, if we raise any money at all, but not enough to fly, we’ll subsequently forward the donations to the Occupy Wall Street organization.  Thanks for any support.

I’ve never really been one to take organized trips, especially when the advertisement for the trip bills it as little more than a picnic. But there was a bonus offered on this particular picnic – whale watching!

The Panama Island Tour organized by Boquete Outdoor Adventures turned out to be a great way to spend a day. I’m a bit of a sucker for quintessential tropical island settings, you know, the idyllic beach that looks like sugar, the water that reflects and intensifies the vibrant blue of the sky overhead, and the palm trees gently swaying in the breeze and not a soul in sight. To me, this type of setting represents “getting away from it all”.

The trip began with a morning departure from Boquete, Panama and a pleasant drive through mountainous tropical rain-forest. We followed the road until it dead-ended in the tiny village of Boca Chica. Boca Chica is the jumping-off point for exploring the Golfo De Chiriqui Marine Reserve. From the dock there, we boarded a small boat and cruised through gentle waters passing several small islands en-route to our destination. I made some comment about one island in particular, and how beautiful its beaches were. I was told that those beaches were our destination, but before we went there, we were going to see if we could spot any whales. Not seconds after that exchange our boat captain spotted the first whale of the day, we proceeded slowly in the direction of the whale sighting and then the captain cut the engines and we floated for only a few seconds before right in front of us, the whale surfaced. We were so close to the whales (it turned out to be a mother and calf) that we could almost reach out and touch them. It was truly spectacular. I feel fortunate to have been visiting during the humpback migration, but apparently this trip alternatively explores the nearby mangroves during the part of the year that the humpbacks aren’t migrating.

We made our way to our private island and disembarked from the boat. Our boat captain and the guide set to work putting up hammocks in the palm trees and preparing lunch. We were free to explore our private paradise, snorkel around the nearby reef or simply relax in the utopian beauty . It wasn’t long after the group was more or less settled on the beach that the whales decided to give us a show. There must have been at least a half-dozen whales in the distance frolicking and making a splash. The site of this left me awestruck at the sheer power, beauty and grace of these animals.

Lunch consisted of a simple yet flavorful selection of local fresh fruit & vegetables and meat, cheese and condiments as well as cold drinks (including cold beer…yes, beer is INCLUDED on this tour). There was plenty for everybody and something to suit everyone’s taste. For everything that was included in this day-trip, I think it is very economically priced and a great way to simply relax and enjoy your vacation.

Click on the thumbnails to embiggen:

Three great travel videos!

Someone shared these in my google+ circles (I have google+ invites if you need one)

Take a few minutes and enjoy these with your Saturday late morning coffee:

Move:

Eat:

Learn:

My first time traveling to Peru could have easily been my last. My first impression of Peru was the beachside resort village of Mancora. Mancora embodies everything that is horrible about over-touristed travel destinations, including the worst hostel ever!

Mancora is well located on the coast of northern Peru. The beach is actually quite nice, has great surf and predictable afternoon breezes that

photo: Theodore Scott on flickr

So, why do I think Mancora is so horrible, and what about this hideous hostel experience? First, the beach in Mancora isn’t open and accessible without going through either a hotel or a restaurant, it’s like trying to get out of a casino.

And the hostel…so, here’s the deal: I had made the mistake of booking a Loki hostel ahead of my arrival in Mancora. Booking ahead meant that the money was already spent…always a risk, I know, but the pictures looked nice, so I went for it. Loki hostels are a chain operating in Bolivia and Peru. They’re foreign owned, operate in a handful of already over-touristed destinations and add to the ugliness of tourism.

Upon checking in, I was immediately adorned with a wrist band that I would need to get in and out of the gate. Now, I can understand that maybe management thinks that this practice is in my best interest – you know, keeping the “bad” people out, but in reality, the wrist bands are about branding for Loki. This presents two problems. 1) I can be immediately identified by thieves and other ne’er do wells as a patron of Loki and marked as someone who must be an absolute sucker. 2) I’m forced now to be a walking advertisement for what amounts to be a corporate franchise. A bit ironic, methinks.

So, having been marked with the Loki brand, I was now free to roam the dusty streets of Mancora. I like beer. I like to drink beer poolside. Loki has a pool but their beer selection is limited and the prices are hyper-inflated. I did what any logical person would do and purchased some beer at the bodega outside the gate. I wasn’t allowed to take the beer back inside the hallowed Loki grounds.

The folks at Loki claim:

We are a group of backpackers
who met in Lima, Peru and over a
number of nights out decided to build
a hostel

I wonder if they, as a “group of backpackers” would like to be treated the way they treat their customers?