Lima Peru and heading for the jungle

On our way to a six day river boat trip on the upper Amazon River we stopped for a couple of days in Lima, Peru. Lima has between 8 and 10 million people, dependent on who you are talking to. We are staying in the district of Miraflores, which is one of the nicest districts in Lima where the rich Peruvians and foreign business people live. It is modern and safe with lots of restaurants, shopping and condos along the ocean. It is hard to believe the contrast to other areas of Lima, such as the shantytowns with no water or electricity, mostly made up of country people looking for a better life!

Beach in Mira Flores, Peru

Lima is an old city and the architecture reflects the different ages and influence of European styles of construction. The main downtown pedestrian street has varied styles, a 1700 French style, beside an 1850 style Italian, next to a 1980 modern building with some colonial Spanish across the street.

Loreen and I in front of the Presidential Palace of Peru

We visited the huge Cathedral of the Franciscan Order with art from the 1600s, murals of the life of St Francis of Azzi, the founder of this Order. There were 36 murals in all done by some Italian artist, they do not know who. These murals, painted on white washed adobe walls, had started to deteriorate and were covered up by canvases of the very same scene painted by local artists and were just discovered a few years ago when they took the canvases down to restore. There was also one room of four by eight foot canvases depicting the life of Jesus that came from Rueben's workshop.

The Cathedral

Then into the catacombs, where they estimate that some 70,000 people were buried. There are many areas about four meters deep, three meters wide and four meters long full of bones and skulls, all original, none made in China, our guide said. They filled these areas with bodies and lime and when they ran out of room they would dig them up and move the bones to a round pit about twenty meters deep and drop the bones in there. It is just amazing.

We met our 21 travel partners and all went out to dinner on the G Adventures. It is a good group of mostly middle aged Canadian couples.

Then off to Iquitos, a city of about 400,000 inhabitants and 70,000 motokars which are noisy three wheeled motor bikes with a two passenger seat. The only thing I can say about Iquitos, is you have to go there to get on the upper Amazon River. It is accessible only by air or boat.

Our six day boat tour was cancelled due to boat problems so the tour operator booked us into a luxury lodge located about 40 kilometers downstream from Iquitos on the main branch of the Amazon River.

On the way to the lodge we stopped at a manatee rescue/research center. The fresh water manatee in the upper Amazon are endangered and they have set up a center where they rehabilitate injured and orphaned manatee and get them back to health to reintroduce to the wild.

Then on to the boat for our two hour trip down river to the lodge. We were on the river after dark and the captain navigated with no lights, which was pretty scary for the amount of debris coming down stream due to the high water. Once in awhile we would hear some motor running and think it was a generator on shore, but no it would be another boat meeting us on the water, some of these had no lights whatsoever, you would just see the silhouette go by off the side.

The lodge consists of 75 individual cabin and a large central complex of lobby, dining room and bar, complete with swimming pool, slide and a hammock area for siesta. All the meals are buffet style and everything but alcoholic beverages are included. Although the river boat and sleeping on the river would have been a lot of fun, I am sure that the lodge is an upgrade and it seems like it will work out well.

The lodge has a few resident birds and animals, a scarlet macaw,

 a juvenile tapir,

a young deer

 and a few transient monkeys.

All but the monkeys are friendly and like to be talked to and/or petted.

Our guides, Willie and Cesar, tell us there are no seasons here, just high water and low water. High water peaks in May, it must be something as whole islands in the river are now covered with water. Some people have moved from their homes and some plantations along the river are flooded out and will need to be replanted.

On the Amazon