Iquitos

One of the things I love about flying from one place to another is that you get to appreciate the change. The dramatic shift in environment and culture hits you much harder than if entered by land and usually takes a while to adjust. In my view, this is one of the best feelings you can obtain from traveling. The buzz of excitement from seeing new sights makes me feel so alive and this was definitely one of those moments.

The minute we stepped off the plane I was hit with a renewed sense of adventure. I’m not just talking about that excited feeling you get upon arrival at an airport, this was something different. It was the smell of damp hot air and change in flora which made me realise that we had entered not just a warmer climate, but a whole new world to explore. The instant we walked out of the airport terminal we were met with a ton of people shouting and waving their hands at us behind railings. A security guard had to restrain the crowd and push people out of the way just to let us walk through. It was almost as if they had mistaken us for being famous. I looked at Ali and asked “do you know these people?”. The mass of tuk tuk drivers and “jungle guides” were desperate for business and considering Ali and I were the only westerners on board the small plane, we were valuable victims. They practically tripped over themselves for the opportunity to take us wherever we needed to be and I figured the only way to deal with such a situation was to fix my eyes on the nicest looking man and agree to go with him.

The roads were wet from the recent downpour with puddles everywhere, but there was still lots of activity to be savored. Children ran around in their shorts and bare feet along the muddy un-surfaced streets. There was political graffiti on almost every wall and disused buildings were in complete disrepair. Women happily went about their business selling food on the side of the street and mechanics lay one their back fixing broken tuk tuks. Their skin was so black and flawless. Everything was so different. Lima seemed to be a million miles away and as we continued to enjoy our crazy ride into town from the airport, I couldn’t help but laugh as we overtook the other tuk tuks - it was complete mayhem! My eyes watered with pressure and Ali’s hair flew all over the place as our flimsy vehicle raced down the main road. I remember not being able to stop smiling. Our tuk tuk sped along the road so fast it almost tipped over when the driver tried to avoid crashing into a car in front of us. We were one of about a thousand other motorbikey-car-things on the road and the whole experience reminded me of Wacky Races, a cartoon where characters race each other in funny vehicles and get into all kinds of mischief along the way. I’m not sure what was to blame for my ecstatic heightened state of awareness - maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t realized how mundane and boring the past couple of days had been. Or maybe it was simply just the adrenaline rush, compliments of our driver.