Right after the New Year's Eve fiesta 2008/09 we flew into the Amazon basin near Iquitos for our first vacation in Peru. A motorboat took us 120km upstream to our jungle home, the Muyuna Eco Lodge. For city slickers like us the soundscape there was overwhelming. I never thought the jungle could be so loud! Every day we would head out bushwhacking, accompanied by our jungle guide Rafael. From pirana fishing, swamp paddling, swimming in the Amazon, to monkey tracking, eating worms and canonball fruit - we did it all. Truth be told, we wouldn't have survived without Rafael. He caught 7 fishes in 1 hour, while Florian and I toghether caught 1 fish in 7 hours. Also, it's hard to keep a fishing rod still when you are surrounded by thirsty mosquitos... Thank god we always had our mosquito-proof lodge and a wonderful hammock to return to.
After nightfall we always explored the river's shores by boat, to encounter the creatures of the night: big hairy tarantulas, all types of wacky-looking frogs, a beautiful tree snake, young crocs. All these animals are cool and nice to watch from a distance, but after one of those night expeditions we were greeted by a tarantula on the porch of our cabin! Here nature came a bit too close for my liking. But Florian bravely swept it aside with a broom, saving the day, ...again :-)
