July 15,

I awoke by 0700, but napped until 0730. Jeff had been up since 0500. We got around. Our place is big and very basic (but we are only here for three nights). There is a good bit of traffic noise, tuk-tuks and motorcycles. So I slept with my earplugs, and will need to for the rest of our time. We readied – taking a cool shower. It was not bad as it is hotter here. Anyway, we finished and went out and about. Our place offers breakfast but you have to arrange it the day before. Anthony is from the USA but his wife is Peruvian, we will have to try their breakfast tomorrow.

We first found the ferry office to book a “fast” boat to the three corners area (borders of Peru, Colombia, and Brazil). The Amazon River is labeled as starting on the map just before it reaches Iquitos. Anyway, we found the office and were able to procure a spot on Friday’s boat. Yeah!!! We have to be there around 1400. And our Amazon Adventure will begin!

That taken care of, we walked to Iquitos’ Plaza de Armas, and were approached by (the first of many) touts wanting to book us a jungle tour. There was a Iquitos instagram here. Two girls were posing and I took their picture. Anyway, the church on this square was very colorful and was a nice area, but we moved just off the square for breakfast. We stopped at Huasai Restaurant. I had a “triples”- a sandwich of avocado, tomato, cheese and egg with mango juice. Jeff went for scrambled eggs with mushrooms and two pocket bread rounds with a fresh orange juice. It was a good meal. We also got a small water. It cost us 55 PEN or $16.23.

Now we went back to the square and noticed the church was open so we went in. There was no charge, and the church was not cool – no AC. But it had an arched ceiling with nine, large painted murals of scenes of Jesus’ life. This made for a unique, pleasing interior. When we finished we trekked over to The Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures. The weather is humid and pretty warm. We took our time going. When we arrived, there was an admission fee of 10 PEN or $2.95 each. This place had no AC either – it seems most places don’t have this luxury! Anyway, we paid and went in. Jeff had seen this on things to do in Iquitos and as we are going down the Amazon…well, it was appropriate. It was fascinating! So many different tribes in Peru and Brazil. So many placards, and they were in English and Spanish. They described how the tribes lived: rituals, pottery, jewelry, garments & headdresses, hunting/fishing, warfare and most importantly, how they want to be left alone- “Voluntary Isolated” or “Un-contacted”. We both really enjoyed the two floored museum. I could have spent more time – there was so much information…if only it were air-conditioned. We were walking about sweating and using my hand-fan without much relief, so we took in as much as we could tolerate. When we left and went outside it was a bit cooler than inside!

From the museum, we walked to the water. The Itaya River meanders along much of Iquitos city and becomes a lagoon(?) before it joins the Amazon River which then shares a small edge of the city. We were at the “lagoon” area. The city has a nice boardwalk path here. We took in some murals, and stopped at Dawn on the Amazon Cafe – mostly for drinks. Still hot. I had a Red Berries (choice of strawberries or blueberries- I chose B) & Hibiscus Tea Smoothie and a Coke. Jeff went with a Chilled Gazpacho (tomato, onion,garlic, bell pepper, cucumber, salt and lime with bread and olive oil pureed together) with a side of cucumbers and bell peppers; and a water. It was not very much food-wise but it was refreshing and we weren’t hungry so much as thirsty. The bill came to 55 PEN – same as breakfast. We left and wandered back to our place as it was time for…MESSI, ie, Argentina vs. England. It was an exciting game. We watched it with a couple other people and Anthony, all of us were rooting for Argentina.

After the game we went back to our room. Jeff did some planning and booking. I actually took a small nap. This heat got to me. Then we watched a decent sunset and ate an apple with Nutella, and some fruit & nuts mix. Lastly I blogged as Jeff did more research and booking.