The Amazon River
There is some dispute over which river is the longest in the world. The Nile is commonly accepted as being the longest river at approximately 4,145 miles with the Amazon coming in a close second at approximately 4,000 miles. However, The Guinness Book of Records, without explicitly stating which of these two great rivers is the longest, suggests a highly contrived path through the Amazon's massive estuary system which can make it stretch to 4,195 miles.

However, there can be no dispute over which of the two rivers is the biggest - the Amazon wins hands down based on the sheer volume of water that flows out of it into the Atlantic Ocean. This can be as much as 45 million gallons per second - or to put this into some perspective: it carries one fifth of the world's river water which is more than the combined flow from the Nile, Yangtze and Missouri/Mississippi rivers put together.

We could see this mighty river winding through the jungle below us as we flew into Iquitos but this didn't prepare us for the size of the Amazon when viewed from its banks. Water from its source high up in the Peruvian Andes at Laguna McIntyre hasn't even reached the half-way mark when it passes Iquitos but the river is already well over a mile wide and it still has over 2,200 miles to flow before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. We have previously been on a Nile cruise in Egypt and even crossed over the Nile in Cairo very close to the Nile's delta and, although it may be longer than the Amazon, the Nile looks like a stream in comparison.

Before we headed down the river and into the jungle, we were shown around the market in Iquitos. As well as these colourful fruit stalls, we were also shown stalls selling all sorts of herbal medicines made from plants found only in the Amazon rainforest. This included a very popular herb called Cats Claw which is being hailed as the new wonder drug and it is even being used to treat cancer and AIDS.

The Amazon Jungle
From Iquitos, we took a 50 mile boat trip down the Amazon River to the Explorama Lodge. This was a surprisingly high speed trip without that much scenery to speak of except a few village huts and this depressing timber depot. We were only allowed to take an overnight bag with us as we were only staying one night in the lodge and it could only be reached on foot along a fairly long path through the jungle.

Our accommodation in the lodge was quite basic to say the least. The lodge consisted of a number of wooden buildings (which were mostly built on stilts for when the Amazon floods). Our room contained two single beds each covered by a mosquito net, an enamel bowl with a jug of water for washing, a couple of hooks on the wall, 2 chairs and a bookcase! It was lit by an oil lamp as there was no electricity in the lodge. There was virtually no privacy either as the curtains fell a long way short of covering the window. There was also no glass or netting in the window, so any of the diverse wildlife that we had come to see could easily come in to take a look at us while we were sleeping (protected only by the mosquito nets). The lodge had communal toilets (which were just a seat over a hole in the ground) and communal showers without hot water (although the cold water was just about OK since it was quite warm being just south of the equator).

Our jungle walks
We had time to freshen up before lunch and then we were taken on our first guided walk through the jungle. We were split into two groups which went along different routes. Our guide was Paul, who spoke excellent English. Unfortunately, with 19 of us generally walking in single file, his voice often didn't carry as far as the back of our group. We managed to catch about half of his commentary and the various plants that we passed were described to us with a particular emphasis on whether they were harmful or beneficial to us. We were also introduced to any wildlife that we came across. We saw a large armour-plated centipede, a small (1") tarantula and loads of fire ants (which we had to be careful not to touch as they were everywhere). We had been warned in advance to expect the path to be muddy in places but it turned out to be OK.

Our walk lasted just under 2 hours. We returned to the lodge to freshen up and we had chance to take a look around. We found some friendly parrots that had been attracted to some fruit that had been left out for them. They were not the only thing that was interested in the fruit though, as a vulture had also dropped in for a bite. It didn't stay long though as a dog quickly chased it off. What was surprising was that it sped right past the parrots barking its head off and yet the parrots didn't even flinch. They must be used to it guarding their fruit for them.

We were then taken back out onto the Amazon to look for the pink river dolphins that live there. We were initially a little sceptical about their claimed colouring but when we reached their feeding ground we saw quite a few of them and, as you can see in our picture, they really are pink! We saw quite a few of them and they were easier to capture on film than other dolphins we have seen because they surface quite slowly. Despite this, it was still difficult to make out their shape but something definitely looked a little strange about them - their bodies looked very muscular. We watched them for quite a while until the sun set over the Amazon when we returned to the lodge.

The lodge had been illuminated by oil lamps when we returned but we didn't stay for long as we were about to be taken out to be introduced the jungle's night life. We just had time to splash on plenty of mosquito repellent and cover our arms and legs to protect ourselves from the Amazon's insect life. We were again split into two groups but this time the groups went out at different times.

The night walk
We went on the first tour armed with just our torches. The first things that we were on the look out for were tarantula spiders. We were quite literally just a few yards away from the lodge when we were stopped and told to switch off our torches. Our guides crept quietly ahead to have a look around in the undergrowth and then beckoned us to approach quietly - in the dark! When we had gathered around they shone their torch on a large tarantula spider. It didn't like this attention and crawled away into its burrow. As you might expect, some members of our group got a little excited by their proximity to this 4" spider - they probably wouldn't have stayed around if it had headed towards them. Others were more alarmed by the fact that we were just a few yards away from the lodge's communal shower block which was actually being used (by people who were going on the later tour). The shower walls didn't quite reach the ground and we could see the occupants' vulnerable ankles. This caused quite a bit of amusement at the showering people's ignorance of their predicament but it also convinced some people that they probably didn't really need a shower when they got back. Our guides found 4 large tarantulas in this area and we managed to photograph one that wasn't as keen to disappear. However, the darkness made focusing very difficult and unfortunately our picture is quite blurred.

After this excitement, we were allowed to switch our torches back on and we continued our walk further into the jungle. We saw a laughing tree frog, a large scorpion spider (that we managed to photograph in focus), a small praying mantis and our guide caught a fire fly in his hand. We switched off our torches again and watched it crawl over his hand frequently signalling using what can only be described as two bright headlights. We could clearly see two triangular beams radiating away from the fly's head and lighting up our guide's hand as if a small car was driving across it. Meanwhile, we could see similar signalling going on in the trees above our heads.

This walk lasted an hour and we definitely needed a shower afterwards as we had been far too hot wearing our protective long trousers and long sleeved shirts. We had a very nice meal of carachama - a primitive cat fish and a speciality of the area which we had seen in Iquitos market. We then went to bed and slept very fitfully considering the potential for nocturnal visitors.

The Yagua Indian Village
The following morning we had to get up just after 5am for an early morning visit to a nearby Yagua Indian village. As we walked through the jungle, we could hear them playing their drums and chanting although this was probably just for effect since they knew we were coming. We also saw some tamarind monkeys in the trees above us.

After just a short walk, we reached a clearing which had a large hut in the centre. We were welcomed by some of the Yagua Indian men dressed in what looked like grass skirts and grass wigs. We went inside the hut where they played some music to us and the women danced for us. We were then told about their way of life in the jungle and a little about their history. Apparently, when the Spanish Conquistadores first came across the Yagua Indians, they thought that they had discovered the mythological “Amazon” warriors. They thought that the male Yagua Indians who attacked them were female because they had long hair and wore grass skirts and capes. This simple mistake resulted in the entire region (as well as the river) being named the Amazon.

We were then taken outside to be shown how the Yagua's hunt using very long blow pipes. They still use these as they are effective and quieter than guns so they don't scare off their prey. We were allowed to have a go but we weren't very good! Afterwards, we had time to look around their village, browse their craft stalls and take pictures before returning to the lodge for breakfast. It was tempting to think of the Yaguas getting changed into their normal clothes as soon as we left and heading off to work in their day jobs.

The Village School
After breakfast we were taken to another, slightly more modern village in the jungle. Here, the people lived in wooden huts built on stilts which looked only slightly down-market from our previous night's accommodation in the lodge. We walked along a path lined with these huts on either side. We were being watched by some of their curious but mostly shy occupants. Some of the children were brave enough to come out and follow us but they usually stayed at a safe distance. Our destination was the village school where we were going to meet the school children. The school had a single classroom which contained children of all ages. They sang a Spanish song to us and then we had to sing a song back to them - we chose to sing “Old McDonald” which they seemed to enjoy - probably because of the animal noises that we made. We then had chance to mingle with them for a while during which we gave out pens. We also asked them a few questions using our very limited Spanish skills.

We returned to the lodge after this and then sailed back up the Amazon to Iquitos to fly back to Lima for the night where we had a much better appreciation of the comforts provided by our hotel. We didn't really get chance to catch up on some much needed sleep though as we had to get up at 3:30am the following morning for our very early flight to the ancient Inca capital of Cusco - which you can read all about on our next page...