Trip to Iquitos (Day 5)

March 9th, 2018

Lis, Helena, and I all woke up on time this morning to make it to the boats in time so that we could partake in the tour we had missed the previous morning. We were the first ones to be out there, and before we knew it the other exchange students were quickly joining us and we were clambering onto the boats.

The ride down the river was pretty successful, as we spotted and iguana, sloth, monkeys, and a whole lotta trees.

Iguana!

The sloth that I couldn't see without the guide

After we got back from the morning tour, we ate breakfast and boarded the boats once again and headed over to go to a local sugar cane brewery (not sure if thats the right word). Not sure if everyone knows, but a special liqueur can be made from fermented sugar cane juice. They derived the juice from the plant that was crushed by gears then boiled and cooled. We also learned how they made honey from sugar cane. We also got to taste test the products of the place (I personally thought it was a little early). After our tasting, we went back to the boats and headed to our water tower for the last time. = Today wasn't for work; however, but merely for a celebration :)

When we arrived, we were all pleasantly surprised to find out that everything had been decorated for us. There was a pole with food hanging from it and an arc of flowers over the doorway. We did the ceremony, which involved another bottle of beer being broken, we danced, and I sang. We cut down the wooden pole with all the food, and ate the food from our tree (it was a special version of a piñata).  Eventually we had to say our goodbyes, the one that hurt the most being the small little girl that had become my little bestie.

Our fully constructed water tower!

The snake was in the bottom left corner of this photo

The food tree

I forgot to mention that there was also a sloth present at the celebration (although he wasn't too happy to be there).

After we left, we scrambled around to eat and then leave the hotel for the final time. We then set out on the boats as quick as possible to go to what I had been looking forward to the most: La Isla de Monos (Monkey Island). I was not disappointed upon reaching the island, as the monkey were abundant and ready to play. Some were quite calm, and some quite crazy. The craziest monkey was named Martin. I thought Martin was a calm and collected monkey. I was wrong. Martin jumped on my head three times, which is kinda terrifying (try having an animal hurl itself and your face). He also bit quite a few of the exchange students.  Martin the crazy monkey also broke my BBW hand sanitizer off my backpack and ran away with it (the guides chased him down for me).

Holding hands!! :)

Martin the crazy monkey right before he jumped on Jared and bit him :)

Martin during the attack pt. 1

Pt. 2

Sadly we eventually had to leave monkey island and get to Iquitos. Once in the city, we were left to eat a little bit before heading to the airport.