Eight people ranging in ages 10 months to sixty-nine. Living on opposite coasts and in the Midwest. Very different ideas of fun - Alex's motto is "no pain, no gain" and loves Sufferfests of climbing in 99 degree weather. Lola would much rather have free reign to cheese and chocolate. And Lolo - well, there's no place like good ol' San Diego Seaport Village, and he'd be happy just staying home and going to dance class. And we are also hoping Nana will join us for her first trip with the Quiroz clan. Luckily, Nana did not run when we asked her to join us for our Christmas trip. We were going to the Amazon - a mix of adventure AND with the comfort of a nice river boat and jungle lodge for a 10-day trip. Check, check, and check!
Now if you want to check out the abridged Wham Wake Me Up version of the trip, you can watch this video here. Thanks to Rob for teaching me how to make one (how is it that he knows how to do everything?!)
Day 1: Arrive in Iquitos, navigate up river, Amazonas.
I make the (wise?) decision not to fork over the cash to buy Scarlie a seat on the plane. Which I quickly regret as Alex lays her on top of both of her laps. Luckily for us, Scarlie is a super chill baby and once fed, falls into a coma. She is basically out for the entire 7 hour trip. But not so luckly for me, as I am a restless sleeper and maniacally need to twist and turn as I sleep - yes, even in an airline seat. But it's a no-go with the chunky little legs on me, so I forfeit sleep for the night (game, set, match Scarlie!)
In my sleep deprived state, I accidentally forget the Bear's McQueen backpack on the plane. Trip now equals disaster. The backpack has all the Bear's prized possessions (basically Santa's gift to him of Ninjago legos). Thankfully, I use my halting Spanish to ask them the airlines to retrieve it for us. Relief.
We meet up with the rest of the family, and we fly together to Iquitos. Where to go as our first stop? Chinese restaurant! No, though Iquitos apparently loves Chinese food, and Lolo - I know you wanted to go there (ah, memories of our first European trip, where our first stop was Chinese food).
Before I get too far, you'll notice that some of these photos are freaking awesome. They're likely because they're my brother's. Like the one below. You can tell it's his because it's got the cool logo on the bottom right. He also writes a very fun blog - which is where I stole these photos from. Check it out!
http://gemcoska.blogspot.com/2017/01/2016-12-23-jungle-cruise-through-amazon.html
Picked up by our skiff to head to our boat.
Notice the water effect in the background and the sun hitting the Bear's (sweaty) face perfectly. Yep, another one of Rob's photos. How does he do it?
Scarlie doing what she does best.
Gas station - on a boat!
Our home for the next week. We got lucky and scored a boat just for ourselves. Four rooms, a lounging deck above, and our private dining room. 1:1 staff ratio with our own chefs, waiter, naturalist, skiff driver, boat driver, engineer, and cabin boy. If you ever want to book a river cruise, call Dan at Rainforest Cruises. He helped set us up! www.rainforestcruises.com/cattleya-amazon-cruise/
My mom enjoying her room with floor to ceiling windows - still clean and pre-Scarlie wreckage. Thanks to Lolo, Lola, and Nana for taking care of the kiddos during the trip!
The Bear at the wheel. He learned from Lolo port, starboard, aft, bow. Sadly, I could only remember two of them - thank goodness for google!
Our private dining area.
Fresh squeezed juice, wine for dinner, vegan meals, kids meals (fresh Pasta for the Bear), and freshly caught seafood too.
We went out for our first skiff ride in the Amazon birthplace of Ucalaye and Maranon.
The locals make money by making charcoal and selling it in the city. Here is one of the locals waving down their taxi boat (via towel).
Black vulture
Mr. Bear's prized Ninjagos.
This year, we celebrated Christmas with a gift exchange. Each person was assigned a family member and had to spend $20 or less on a gift. They they presented the gift with a mini-speech, a handwritten card, and the background about the gift.
Here's Lolo with his new hat from Alex.
Alex scored some lightweight shorts from Rob. Size 30 waist, or something scary tiny like that (but actually fits!)
In addition to a gift, Lolo sang me a very touching song Pearly Shells - reminding me of our days living in Hawaii, as Lola danced the hula. Thank you :)
And of course, as the only grandchildren (yep, they're waiting on you Rob), Scarlie and Bryson were showered with lots of gifts.
Catfish! And this is just the head. Lolo was drooling when he saw it (he loves fish heads).
Day 2: Boat ride along the Amazon. Boat exploration in Yarapa Creek.
Yep, check out that bad boy scope in front of Rob. That is how this guy rolls! (Although the Bear doesn't seem to be too impressed).
Caiman lizard (our naturalist guide Chino says these are very rare)
Black vulture
Yellow headed caracara.
Cool spider web covering this entire tree - at least five feet wide and tall.
Looking outside our bedroom.
Dolphins!
The Chef not only cooked delicious food but check out this presentation!
3-toed sloth.
Squirrel monkey.
Black collared hawk.
Scarlie doing what she does best.
Why shop at a store when the locals will come to you? The locals will bring their boats up to yours and show you all their handicrafts.
Day 3: Hike to see water lilies and pygmy marmaset. Marayal Creek exploration in the afternoon. Skiff exploration in Pahuachito Creek and Pacaya Saranily National Reserve.
We hike to see the water lilies - which are no ordinary lilies. They are monster lilies! I'm sure there's a technical term for it - but for details like that, my brother's blog will have it (thank goodness for him!). So for my purposes, we'll call them monster lilies. You can tell from the pic below that Scarlie is very excited.
See - excitement! (And of course, this is a Rob pic).
Black collared hawk
Pygmy marmasut - very rare and difficult to get a photo, according to Chino. Shout out to Alex for this pic.
Back on the skiff to explore Pahuachito Creek.
Common egret. These are the ones that like to stay in packs.
Squirrel monkey.
Pink dolphins! The pinker is the male. They are pink because their capillaries are close to their skin.
Lunch - and yes, there was a fancy dessert at lunch too.
Nests of oropendola - there are dummy ones in there too to trick their predators. Tricksy!
Black collared hawk.
Caiman lizard.
Jacana.
Check out this Jacana's feet - they are long like that so that they can balance on the lilies.
Grass tree frog.
Day 4: Nauta visit to Sapi Sapi Lake to see paiche, water monkey fish, turtle, and market. Afternoon at Nauta Canyon Creek. Night excursion by boat to see the caiman inside reserve (very rare)
Visiting the town of Nauta.
Paiche - I really wanted to get in the water and get a photo to show you how big these guys are. But here's a pic to give you a sense.
Yellow spotted turtle.
Market time.
Lolo rocking his new hat.
Alex has come up with a way to "motivate" the Bear to do his G&T test prep - surprises (aka Star Wars figures).
Headed to the reserve where we can see more animals.
Jacana.
Black collared hawk.
Wasp nest with yellow rumped Cacique
Paper wasp nest.
Cucouy Heron
Red Legged Cricket.
Yellow Ram Casiquis
Heading into the lake to spot caimans at night. It needs to be ultra-dark so that when you flash your headlight, you can see their red eyes.
Bingo. Caiman.
Boa constrictor.
Jungle Owl.
Day 5: Kayak in Yana Yacu Pucute in the morning. Afternoon boat ride along the Maranon River.
The next day, we wake up to these charming kiddos outside of our boat.
We also had a couple pink dolphins swimming next to our boat too.
We then did some kayaking. Alex laughed that I didn't have any oars (I think it works well that he does the rowing since he likes pain), but I did have Scarlie in my lap.
Check out Lola sticking out her tongue.
And then Scarlie gives it right back.
Black vulture.
Bryson trying to get Scarlie to laugh.
We also would have gone swimming, but apparently there were biting catfish in the water.
Day 6: Piranha fishing in the Jacinta Lake. Afternoon jungle walk.
Speaking of biting, the next day was piranha fishing. Nana and Alex opted out, so the Quiroz clan headed out to Jacinta Lake. But first - a few kiddo pics.
Walking through the tall trees. Yep, don't know the technical term for that and Rob doesn't have it posted on his blog, so can't really steal it from there. But they're big - that's the important thing.
No fancy poles for us. We're talking sticks and hooks. And some bait.
Colgate brushing, I speculate.
Dad scores the first bite.
Mr. Bear wasn't a fan of getting near the piranha I caught. That could be because when I caught it, I accidentally let the thing loose - right into my lap and dropping at my feet. Which was made worse because I was sitting in the small canoe (basically on the floor of the boat) with a little water on the bottom, which the piranha was snapping and swimming around in. So the poor Bear had to hear Mommy scream, very terrified. And then a few minutes later after the thing had been caught, Mommy then tried to coax the boy with, "Yes, it's fine. Hold it. Let's take a photo." Poor kid.
Caught 22 of these suckers! (Ok, I caught like two of them, but that's almost 10%).
More of the oropendola nests.
On our afternoon hike.
We had our own spotter who would walk ahead to find rare animals for us. And boy did he deliver. First up - anaconda!
Yep - a big ol' tree. Maybe a ficus? Anyway, it was big (and Rob wasn't on this hike, so gosh darn, he doesn't have it on his blog for me to copy).
Red poison dart frog. Mr. Bear actually named this one. He learned it in his 1,001 Animals to Spot book.
Another big ol' tree.
Red tailed boa constrictor. Just chilling out a few feet in front of us. Poisonous.
Spikey tree. How do you like my name for this one?
This one is a Bird Eating Spider. Because, well, it eats birds. When Mr. Beer heard that, he immediately walked over to it, and held out his hand. I was pretty horrified. And proud. Go Mr. B!
3-toed sloth.
Night kayaking. And looking like a night burglar with this mosquito net on my head. But don't laugh. Alex did, and went out mosquito net-less. And then guess who got stung by a wasp?
Tree Frog.
Moth. Chino told us that people come from all over the world just to see these moths. Lucky us - it was just sitting there across our room. Check out this photo to show you how big these suckers are.
Day 7: Leave Nauta for Iquitos, Head to Explorama Ceiba Tops
Sad day - last day of our jungle cruise. But the party doesn't stop. There's still the Manatee Rescue Center and lodge.
Heading back to Iquitos.
Stopping by the Manatee Rescue Center. This is a walking palm tree (I kid you not - I actually remember the name of this bad boy).
Yellow footed land turtle.
Caiman.
Manatees - fun fact. Did you know they're related to elephants?
Saying goodbye to Rob before heads back to LA to celebrate New Year's.
Taking a boat 25 miles downriver to a Ceiba Tops.
http://www.explorama.us/ceibatopslodge.shtml
We'll be staying here for 3 days and 2 nights. Here's the welcome and dining hut.
Milipede - our guide Chino picked it up and starting looking for ticks "Because," as he explained, "if you find one of those, it can bury itself in your skin and you'll get very sick,"
Ginger plant - it has a furry velvet touch on both sides. Really!
Termite nest. Huge!
Ceiba Tops Lodge was named after this 150-year old tree. It was about to be cut down for wood, but the Explorama founder saved it and built the lodge here instead.
This leaf is huge - and can be used as a fan for the humid weather.
We headed out at 6am for an early morning animal siting trip. First up - 3-toed sloth! Fun fact - this guy needs to go down the tree to do his business every 6 days. He needs to bury it so that big animals like jaguars don't know where he is when he goes back up the tree.
Oriole black bird.
White winged swallow.
Toucans.
Bromiliad nests.
Green tree iguana.
Yellow hooded blackbird.
Common black vultures.
Smooth billed ani
Black water from the river from the decomposing of plants. Alex wants to jump in.
Black collared hawk.
Amazon king fisher.
Bryson loves to kiss his little sister.
Scarlie loves to pull on her big brother.
Trouble maker.
Pink dolphins!
The pull outside of our door.
Visiting the Yagua people. This home fits 8 families.
Their Chief.
The red on her cheeks are made from achiote which repels mosquitoes (also called arnatto). She is holding a yellow fronted parakeet.
3-toed baby sloth!
Blow gun competition.
Bryson nails his bulls-eye.
Circle dance.
Blow guns back in the day were used to kill animals (tapirs, rodents, wild boars,
venison, monkeys) – curare poins were taken from the strignus plant, which is used today as a
muscle relaxant.
Bryson buys himself a blowgun.
Bryson also picks out a sloth for his baby sister.
Back at the ranch, we find one of their "pets" Cynthia, a tapir. Cynthia
was about to be slaughtered and eaten 4-5 years ago, and one of the guides
happened to be visiting the village and exchanged her for food. She roams freely and goes in and out of the jungle. Here she is checking out Scarlet.
Scarlet pets Cynthia.
Cynthia ate about 30 bananas.
Time for a night hike (yes, it's still the same day as the early morning bird spotting trip). We start out with a series of tarantulas. Here's one of them. Tarantulas live
in nooks and crannies of trees, sometimes in banana trees among bananas. Which is why our guide, Paul, told us, "Don't touch the trees! There might be tarantulas - or scorpions."
Smokey jungle frog aka whopping frog – this one is female – 10 inches
and 2 kilos.
Lola comes close to petting the frog (yes, it's poisonous).
Mr. Bear crouches down to get near the frog. The frog, by the way, is trying not to move so that we don't know she's there.
Starting off the morning with a preying mantis. Fun fact - Females will actually eat the male when mating with a male. After the male performs a complex mating dance, the female will bite the head or legs off the male. Check out this video.
Scarlet macaw and blue and yellow macaw. The scarlet macaw finds a mate that they will stay with for life.
Sleeping Scarlie.
As we walk through the village, children gather to follow us.
Outside their school.
Giant water lilies.
Moth.
Great hawk - juvenile. This guy was perched right up the stairs as we headed back to our lodge.
Alex took a hike back to where we saw the caimans and spotted these guys. Ducks?
Wood pecker.
Caimans in this lake.
Heading back to Iquitos for our flight home.
I was telling my dad how awesome it was that we got to see all the animals. He smiled at me, "That was nothing! I can take you to where you will see much more." I looked at him quizically. He beamed, "When you come to San Diego, I can take you to the zoo!" Oh Dad.
And just when I thought we had a smooth-o trip, poor Mr. Bear runs into the corner of a table and get a huge gash and bleeds like crazy. Alex and I think he has a concussion! Luckily, we had Lola with her nurse skills and Nana with her medical supplies to the rescue. Happy New Year!
After all that, if you want better pics and funnier stories from the trip, check out my brother's blogpost. Good stuff!
http://gemcoska.blogspot.com/2017/01/2016-12-23-jungle-cruise-through-amazon.html
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