When I lived in NYC, I tried to get out of the cold weather in winter and head somewhere interesting and warm.  The Amazon, that great river and jungle in South America, was next on my list.  The travel choices were an Amazon River cruise, a group tour with a company like Oversees Adventure Travel (OAT) or to create my own itinerary (with the help of a tour company.).  The cruise sounded inviting, but I realized that I would only see the area near the river.  A group tour is usually limited as to time and only gets surface deep in an area. I wanted to go inland and have an in-depth experience. In order to accomplish this, I researched and found a company called Explorama, which owned 5 lodges in the Amazon in five very different settings – and different level of comfort (or discomfort).  By luck, when I called, I was connected to the owner of the company, Peter Jenson, and worked directly with him.  I chose to stay in all 5 lodges, but I took his suggestion and only stayed 1 night in Tambos, the most primitive of them.  Good decision.  For reference, here are the five lodges, where 1 is the most comfortable and 5 is the least comfortable. 

1. Ceiba Tops, 2. Explorama, 3. ExplorNapo 4. ACT and 5. Tambos. 

Explorama arranged for a dedicated guide, Luis, whom we met him in Iquitos, Peru. He was born in one of the Amazonian villages but now lived in Iquitos so that his kids could receive a good education.  A 1 ½ hour high speed boat trip brought us to Explorama Lodge, (the company’s original lodge and 2^nd level in comfort).

There was electricity in the bar and dining room, and oil lamps in the rest of the camp.  

The camp common areas were very comfortable with lovely hammocks and easy chairs.  I took lots of naps in the hammocks – every time I lay down to read, I fell asleep. 

The trip took place midway into the high-water season, (the Amazon doubles its size), which meant that some trails were under water and could only be navigated by canoe, while others were still passable by foot.

The only other boats, we saw were those of the locals. On trail walks Luis pointed out medicinal plants including garlic, lemon grass and paprika. 

Because we had extra time at Explorama, Luis took us in a motor boat to visit his birth village to meet his brother’s and sister’s families. Being on a private tour, we were able to see real village life.  

On the final day at Explorama, we visited a more tourist oriented Indian jungle village. Luis and his family are River People, mixed Spanish and Indian.  These villagers were Jungle Indians and spoke a dialect that Luis did not understand.  

They did a dance demo for us and expected us to dance with them.  They also demonstrated the use of blowguns that they use to hunt monkeys and other small animals.  The darts can go 25 to 26 feet.  When trying it out, I hit the target first try.  Beginners luck, I guess.  

Explorama to ExplorNapo Lodge:

It was time to move to the next lodge, ExplorNapo Lodge, by motor boat. We boated down the Amazon to the Napo River and down it for 50 miles to the Sucusari River.  Both the Amazon and the Napo rivers make the Mississippi look like a midget.  The Napa River was at least a mile wide – the Amazon three times that.  

ExplorNapo Lodge is much smaller than Explorama and more primitive.  The rooms were nice, however they did not have an attached bathroom or shower. The lodge had a combined dining room and bar, which had electricity every evening for about 4 hours to charge electronics, as well as WIFI.  

I imagine that the lack of in-room facilities keeps the number of tourists down, but I am sorry for those who did not make the effort – the jungle experience here was wonderful.

Unlike the land around Explorama Lodge, this area is very sparsely populated because most of the land is not farmable. On one boat trip, after the first 3 miles, we saw no more houses.  

The exciting sighting was a sleeping 2-toed sloth, as well as monkeys, and birds. The day was very relaxed especially the way back, when we coasted with the current and did not need the motor.

ExplorNapo Lodge to ACTS:

Our arrival at the next camp, ACTS, was anything but smooth.  We were supposed to walk between the camps, they are very close in distance.  But because of heavy rains, the trail was too muddy to navigate, therefore, we had to go by canoe.  Luis brought only one paddle, and with the fierce current, the canoe ride took 1 ½ hours in pouring rain.  At the boat dock in ACTS, we were met by about 1 million termites.  I might be exaggerating, but they were seriously annoying.  The rain brought them out and luckily they were gone by night fall.

This camp was more rustic than ExplorNapo.  There was a small dining room/bar, which also housed the hammocks.  The bathrooms were about 110 feet from the room.  And consequently, there were only 2 other tourists at the camp.

The reason to come and stay in ACTS is the awesome Canopy Walk, a 5-minute walk from the camp, erected and owned by Explorama.  It is made up of a series of swinging bridges tied from tree to tree and because the bridges go above the trees, it’s a great place to see birds and monkeys.  

One of the highlights was a night walk in the Canopy.  It was amazing!!!  The walk to the canopy was in total darkness except for our flashlights.  It was more challenging than in day light, but totally fun. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, Luis turned off the flashlights and had us sit and just listen. It didn’t matter if we closed our eyes or not, it was just as dark.  The sounds of the jungle were wonderful.  Then we walked up to the highest point of the canopy and looked around.  It is lighter at the top than at the bottom of the forest.  You can see the outline of trees up there and a hazy light of the city, Iquitos.  Luis shined his flashlight and we saw the eyes of a nocturnal monkey at a tree far away.  We also saw the large brown furry Kinkajou monkeys sleeping close by.  

It is possible to visit the Canopy Walk from either Explorama and Ceiba Tops as a day trip. However, to do that, you leave those camps about 6am, have breakfast at Napo, then walk 45 minutes to ACTS, then another 5 minutes or so to the canopy.    The Canopy allows only 3 people on each bridge at a time and a total of 4 at a tree – therefore if you were with a group of 30, it would take a while to get across the 14 stations.  Then, they return and have lunch at Napo and spend about an hour with the Shaman before heading back to their camp. They get the experience but if it happens to rain while they are there, they don’t see the birds.  Being at ACTS, I was able to go to the canopy six times, before and after the day visitors and see lots of wonderful animals and birds including Toucans. Yes, ACTS is not luxurious, but it provides such a wonderful and varied canopy experiences.  

ACTS to Tambos:

Tambos was rustic!!  It was so rarely used, that it is no longer listed on Explorama’s website. I guess there just aren’t enough crazies to want to camp in the jungle.

There were 10 covered sleeping platforms, a screened dining area with a long table for about 20 people.  (We were the only ones at camp). There was an open pit for cooking, A cook came to cook our dinner and breakfast.  There was a non-flush toilet in the woods (without a door). I did not attempt it in the middle of the night. There was a basic cold-water shower as well, which felt great after the hike. Obviously there was no electricity or WIFI.  But unfortunately, there were lots of ants.  

A couple of guys carried food, water, nets, and beddings from ACTs for us.    A guard, with a gun, was up all night to protect us. I am glad I was there for only one night since there is actually nothing to do except walk in the jungle, which we had been doing regularly.  But I am glad I was there for that one night.  It was an experience and the fried fish at dinner was excellent. 

I slept fitfully and woke up permanently at 5am.  I waited till 5:30am till it was a bit light to get out of my netting. Breakfast was at 6am and then we started off through the jungle back to ACTS and from there by boat to the last camp, Ceiba Lodge.  

Ceiba Lodge:

After the last 3 rustic lodges, Ceiba felt like a totally luxurious resort.  The rooms were air-conditioned and there was hot and cold water and flush toilets in the rooms.  

 It was nice to have a warm shower and in-room toilets – but I missed the kerosene lanterns and the personal attention.

One of my adventures from Ceiba, was an excursion to Monkey Island. There is a house on the island that feeds the monkeys every day, therefore they come out of the jungle for their food.  The monkeys are very friendly, actually overly friendly.  

They like to climb on the visitors.  A monkey greeted me at the dock.  Then another monkey with a baby on its back came to say hello to me.  Before I knew it, it had gotten hold of the binoculars, which were around my neck, and climbed up with the baby on my shoulder and then sat around my neck.  It was like wearing a fur neck scarf at 85 degrees.  The monkeys were of different varieties and all frolicked together.  It was fun to watch them eat the fruit.  

Another adventure was an amazing jungle walk. On it, I saw the most beautiful Ceiba tree. It was so tall that I couldn’t get it all in one picture.  Next I saw some monkeys jumping from tree to tree.  

Some palm trees have thorny bark, while other palms do not.  We entered a primeval forest and Luis pointed out how much darker it was than the forest that we had just walked in.  The previous forest had been cut and farmed before Explorama bought the land and let it go back to nature. 

From Ceiba, we went back to the town of Iquitos via the Amazon Queen River boat.  The river boat can only go 10 miles per hour, therefore, we floated along, which was lots of fun.  It took 2 ½ hours versus the 45-minute that the speed boat would have taken.

Compared to the lodges, Iquitos felt like a huge Metropolis.  On our free day there, we hired a guide and went to Iquitos’ sister town, Belen, the “Venice of Peru.”

In high water a canoe is necessary to go into the part of the city that is underwater. The people here build 2 story houses and use only the top story in the high-water time. They also build floating houses.  

Best of all was a visit to the Manatee Conservation Center.  I learned that some natives kill the mother manatee for meat.  The orphaned babies are raised at the conservation center.  They need milk for the first 2 years.  I was allowed to feed a baby manatee a bottle of milk.   The females take 4 years to reach maturity.  The male needs 7 years.  The female is pregnant for a full year and has one cub every 4 years.  They are docile and love to be touched.

Final comments:

1. The choice to do a personalized land tour rather than a cruise or organized tour was the right one.  The extra time that I spent in each location meant that I could delve deeper in the culture and the environment.  It takes more effort, but is well worth it.
2. Going to the more primitive lodges was also the right decision.  The benefits outweighed the discomforts. I treasure it more now that I know that Tambos is no longer available.
3. Being in such a hot humid climate, made hand laundry a challenge.  On this trip nothing dried within 24 hours most things didn’t ever really dry because it was so humid.  Socks took at least 3 days to dry.  Luckily I packed 5 pair of socks and underwear.  I wore pants and shirts long after they passed the normal dirty stage.  Traveling has its challenges.