As I indicated in the previous entry, I was the last day on the road in the Peruvian Amazon region. Bettina had their annual holiday zusammengeklaubt, was flown over and we met in Lima. After looking at the first World Cup preliminary round games were looked at, we got on the domestic flight to Iquitos. The 1500km were eaten in 1.5 h, after the surprisingly cool climate in Lima (12 degrees) we climbed at 38 degrees from the eastern city of Peru.
route 
river houses in Iquitos 
view from the Promenade 
seems probably to be in Iquitos a problem (Scheiß-Touristen!) And in the Amazon, everything is different! The heat combined with the humidity (90%) appear as an open-air bath with no emergency exit. The first two days I've actually only swung from fan to fan, so as not to hyperventilate. Since even watching the football was hard. Betty came to the climatic circumstances actually just fine. However, bot Iquitos, the ostensibly 400,000 inhabitants city, not really much worth seeing. From "Las Vegas of the jungle" we have heard nothing, but also not looking for it. The promenade offers a wonderful view, the "city on stilts" or shanty towns Belen the city with the eerily beautiful day market was impressed, but otherwise is really not much going on in Iquitos.
the Selva is famous for its tobacco products, here at the market in Iquitos I was most surprised by the most important inland port of Peru, the architecture is not really existent. The largest inland marine hub of the country is a Holzbolen with extravagant, muddy temporary berth. No pool, no docks, no moles. Actually, only vessels in the wild on the shore and the cargo is cleared through Holzbolen. At the marina, it also saw no different, except that there a lot of "snack stands" was offering local delicacies such as Suris (grilled maggots), boiled turtle eggs or monkey-head soup. For conservation reasons, I tried but only the former.
Suris, still raw 
the port of Iquitos 
Otherwise as the time in the Amazon a different rhythm. Watches are worn by the locals and it hardly seems as if there is not the physical size of time in the Amazon. Everything is calm and relaxed. In contrast, the rest of Peru seems almost frantic. It is therefore for the trip to the Amazon advisable not to much to hang on a schedule, because it is always different than planned. The departure of our ferry was canceled 5 minutes in front of the drop (after we had already waited three hours on board) and shifted by 24 hours. For that we secured our first mate of the box seats for the next day. And after the short delay was the best part for me to start the trip. Two and a half days on the ferry to the Amazon and its Nebeflüsse upstream. A dream! Endless green expanse, seemingly far away from the so-called civilization, always small indigenous villages on the banks of the inhabitants of the ship greeted with joy.
The boat was a ferry people and goods of the "Eduardo" - society. Three decks, the first designed exclusively for products, the second hopelessly overcrowded with people, the third, however, only up to half with suspension seats and a membrane roof was fitted. The kitchen was on the tween deck and if you did not want to hammocks, you could rent a room, for double the price in one of about 10 private cabins with bunk beds. However, there was in the little cabin on a day the Dems was unbearable. We were concerned about cheap hammocks and a place on the upper deck with a fantastic view backed up. The trip from Iquitos to Yurimaguas lasts 3.5 days and costs 60sol (about 18 €). The price includes breakfast (always more water rice milk, sandwiches and coffee) and lunch (always rice, plantains and chicken).
the steerage 
our box seats 
board breakfast 
without words The kitchen announced Eating touch with classical infernal knocking on, metals which roared through the ship. I found interesting was that the kitchen was on the Amazon steamers mainly evident transsexual / gay subject and nobody bothered it. In the often macho and otherwise homophobic Peru can not be taken for granted! In conversation I said one of Maat, and the kitchen guys are just predestined for this work because they both good cook and also could be strong enough to clear the vessels of the tackle. In any case, the kitchen crew a respected institution, because they made the middle of nowhere for the catering of the entire ship. For whom the board diet but too monotonous was able to supply at one of the many stops alternatively (fresh fried fish, fruit, vegetables). The bathrooms were the ferry in a simple, but surprisingly clean. leave
tasty snack 
The only way the ship briefly were quite a number of stops in small communities, situated on the waterfront and where cargo and passengers to or unloaded were. However, you never knew exactly how long the boat was at anchor and the signal to drop could mean that in 5 minutes, but sometimes not until half an hour is stored. So it was safer to stay on board if you are not inserting an involuntary stay in the Amazon was nowhere. And so we Schippert two relaxing days in which everything was out of our organizational control, only the Amazon and later ascended the Río Marañón and enjoyed nature, in endless green and with incredible sound of his seemingly untouched side showed. In Lagunas we set up a Zwischentstopp to directly advance into the green heart of the rainforest.
mystical Amazonian villages Lagunas is a small town situated on the banks of the Marañón and on the west side of the largest protected area in Peru Pacaya-Samiria . From there, make the guide a tip was based. In Iquitos, there are a confusing range of tourist guides, but all offering their services at inflated prices. In addition to Iquitos is located about no protected habitat, so that it can happen again, that on the tour menu endangered animals (monkeys, turtles, birds) are available. In Lagunas, however, there was a only (!) Further Touripäarchen and the advertiser Ayawaska-Tours we could be sure that all environmental properly expire. Finally, the Chief Guide Cleber for over 30 years in business and the employees still guides the way parking enforcement.
fishermen in the National Park We booked the basic package, a 3-day tour with two guides, accommodation in a Cabaña (wooden hut in the rainforest) and meals. And so we settled in a dugout of Harry and Joshua in the Peruvian rain forest kidnap. The first day we laid back about 5 hours in the boat and spent the night in said Cabaña, which was equipped with a kitchen and a bathroom with toilet and shower. Harry and Josue cooked for us and we could enjoy the twilight in the rain forest.
jungle food A concert of a thousand animal voices, with different vocal giant frogs clearly played second fiddle. Was supplemented polyphonic quarks of bird arias Grillenconcertinos and occasional monkeys roar. Here, the orchestra has been hidden and it seemed as if the dense greenery around us to be his own wild giant sound machine. We did not enjoy this unique atmosphere for long, because over 18 clock fell apocalyptic hordes of mosquitoes is upon us. Tiny small, but a million times it crashed on us, stung by our long pants and sweatshirts, we contributed to the protection useless at 30 degrees, and started another of the open-air concert enjoy impossible. We did the same and our guides disappeared in our mosquito safe berth. Still, we rocked the animal songs still in their sleep. Go
Josue with lunch fishing Early to bed was not a bad idea, because the next morning it was early by 3 clock go look for crocodiles. In pitch-dark night, we slipped almost noiselessly over the river and were actually some caimans to face, which had focused too much on the hunting and dodging the flashlight light too late. At noon, we were still monkeys, crazy colorful birds, turtles and tarantulas on the road.
Tarantulas can walk on water! After lunch then went for 4 hours to walk in the woods, where Harry showed us different plants and trees, and declared that the natural healing substances. In addition to skull ( Frailes ) and large black monkeys (monos negros ), we found tapir ( Sachabaca ) and Wild boar tracks ( Huanganas ). After a somewhat mysterious dip in the muddy brown water and piranjahaltigen, we followed in the dugout at the rest stop before hours passed by river dolphins ( Bufeo Rosado ). In a lagoon that seemed to be waiting for us and we could watch the swimming school of about 8 pink dolphins (+ 2 pups) in, jump and snort.
too fast for the camera, pink Bufeos 
Eagle Eye Harry operations seek On the way back we still some sloths ( Pelejo ) that had crept into the twilight in the highest Baumwimpfeln. Sun stoically as the moving, we wondered how long they had probably used in order to sneak up very high in the canopy? In the evening there was another freshly caught fish and a short concert, we had to point 18 clock from the invading hordes piercing take to their heels. The next morning we set out on the way back to Laguna. Had we had more time so we would have probably opted for a 4-5 day trip, because the further one advances in the jungle, the more likely it is that a large wild to run into. Although we at Tiger give Jaguar, Puma and Anaconda had, the trip was worthwhile for us completely. Relaxed and Guides chummy with supernatural hearing and vision brought us close to unique and unforgettable impressions. Absolutely recommended!
Harry when fishing In the evening we returned from the rain forest we set equal to the ferry to move on to Yurimaguas. The next day about noon we reached the harbor of the small town on the west bank of the Río Marañón from where we travel to the tropical Andean slopes to Cajamarca should continue. The port in Yurimaguas was architecturally the larger and more important port of Iquitos light years ahead. A real port stop, with pool, pier and dock. We were back in Peru! long
In Yurimaguas, the last major city in the Peruvian rain forest region Loreto, we did not keep us up and it went straight on to Tarapoto. The capital of the rain forest region St. Martin Although infrastructural very well prepared for tourism, but there are few tourists could use the. Unfortunately, there was the time in the neck and we rushed straight on to Chachapoyas, the capital of the department Amazon , the western rain forest region of Peru. There, we were already well-2200m altitude and the tropical temperatures in recent days were of the past. Actually I wanted to Baguas, which is about 2 hours away from Chachapoyas to interviews about the terrible Ergeignisse in June 2009 (see article above) to lead. Since my contacts did not respond, we used the time to visit the rock fortress of Kuelap .
main entrance to Kuelap Kuelap was built by the natives of the region, the military Chachapoya. Until it one of the last cultures were defeated by the Incas in 1470, they controlled large parts of present-day northern Peru. Unfortunately, there are few historical documents from or about this culture, so the fortress Kuelap, which was only released in 2001 for tourism, one of the few legacies is the Chachapoya. Even the name of this culture goes back to the Incas and means Cloud People. First by the Incas almost asimiliert culturally, the Chachapoya later fought on the side of the Spaniards against their oppressors. The English conquistadors showed his gratitude in their own way, by subjecting the Cloud People turn their rule by force and spared by the Inca cultural relics destroyed.
defensive wall Kuelap The fort itself is 600m long and 100m wide. On the west side it is protected by a 21m high stone wall on the east side by a cliff hundreds of feet deep. The entrance is so narrow that you can only enter one. A perfect defense construction to intruders did not even let in, or if they were in there but once, make the same man for man to behead. The interior of the fort is placed on different height levels, the significance was, according to archaeologists in a strictly hierarchical social structure. The 2,000 residents of 300 houses were Kuelap, the presumption of scientists, divided into separate social strata of society. It priests were probably the social elite dar. The self-contained temple of Kuelap was at the top of the fortress. It is also interesting that the Chachapoya their dead in the kitchens of the houses were buried, because there were holes dug in complete human skeletons, which remained in a ritual position.
could thus have looked to reconstruction of a house in Kuelap 
"Cloud People", near Chachapoyas represents the completion of the trip, a visit to Betty with my family in Cajamarca dar. We had not much time until their departure, and so the program is limited in Cajamarca to the essentials and of course the Baños del Inca , where we are in hot thermal water in the cold Cajamarca travel into the hot Amazon could end contrastive.
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