Day 14: Welcome to the Jungle!

Right now I am typing this blog post 67 ft in the air inside a tree house surrounded by the Amazon Jungle. It is amazing to just sit here and listen to all of the sounds. I serious feel like I am on Swiss Family Robinson or on some type of movie set because it is so unbelievable.

Our guide picked us up at our hotel in Iquitos at noon and we took a 90 min car ride to a small fishing village on the Maranon River. We then got on a small river boat that took us down the Maranon River to the Amazon River to the Ucayali River and finally to the Yarapa River where the Treehouse lodge is located. We saw a bunch of river dolphins on the trip, which was fun. Once we got to the lodge, the boat pulled off to the bank of the river and you literally walk down a wooden platform straight into the Amazon rain forest.  When we arrived they had a welcome drinks made from a fruit called uchuva, which tastes kind of like a sour mango and grows on the trees in the area. Now we’re not sure which drink is better, the uchuva or Limeade de coco!

The lodge is made up of eight tree houses all connected through a series of raised wooden platforms and hanging bridges. There is also one main lodge area that contains the restaurant and bar. Our tree house is the tallest (by choice of course), so in order to get there you have to walk down 2 wooden platforms, go up 79 stairs wrapped around a huge true, cross a hang bridge 60 ft above the ground and then go up another few stairs! We are nestled in between the tops of the trees, towering over the rain forest with absolutely magnificent views.  The rainforest is crazy! There is so much going on between all the bugs and birds and vegetation!

There are two other young couples staying at the lodge and they invited us to have dinner with them, so it was fun to get to know them and here about their stories after already being here for 4 days. Based on their stories, I’m not sure what we have gotten ourselves into! We also didn’t realize that our stay here includes our own personal guide who is in charge of taking us on all of the excursions. He is a really cool guy who grew up in the area and is full of so much information about the jungle.

After dinner our guide told us that every year the local village has a party to celebrate the anniversary of the village and tonight is the yearly party. He told us they have a DJ and drinks and many of the workers at the lodge were going and we were invited to come along. We had only been in the jungle for a few hours and we had no idea what to expect, but it sounded like fun so we went! We also felt special because we were the only tourist at the lodge invited to come.

It was quite the experience! About 10 of us piled into a little dugout canoe and travel about 30 minutes down the river in the pitch dark. The party was at a local “hall” (a larger hut that they use as a community building) and it was packed with people. We were the only non-locals at the party and as if it wasn’t already blatantly obvious, the DJ made sure to let everyone know by announcing “Bienvenidos a los turistas!!” as we walked in. Even the chief of the village came over to welcome us and shake our hands. It was a little awkward at first, but after a few drinks and getting out on the dance floor, we had a lot of fun! It was cool to get to know the staff at the lodge as well.  Welcome to the jungle!