We got our wakeup call at 6:30 for breakfast at 7. We were a
bit late to breakfast because we had to pack in the morning to be ready to be
on our way. The boat was already docked at Nauta so really it was eat breakfast
and then pay our bar bill and say goodbye to the crew before getting on the
skip and heading out to the docks. I
chose to eat a lighter breakfast because we would be flying that day.
We all piled into the tour bus and were driven from Nauta to
Iquitos. This ride took about 2 hours
and both Juan Carlos and Hulber (our guides) told a few stories and details of
the local area on the way. We had to stop
for a bano break because one of the passengers had started to get sick but it
was not too long before we were on our way.
When we reached Iquitos they brought us to the Dorado Hotel and dropped
off a lot of the guests who were going to stay there one or two more nights. Only 7 of us were returning to Lima
directly. We had enough time to use the
bathrooms then run around the square and buy some ice cream. We ate that in the lobby of the hotel until
Hulber said it was time to go. From there it was another half hour or so to the
airport.
We were somehow just able to beat the line for check-in at
the airport and then we did a quick souvenir shop outside security before
passing through security which was simple (it is a very small airport). Inside security we found the Altomayo café
(the brand of coffee I like here) and I got an empanada and a beer. I ate that and it was not really much longer
before we were boarding. We had to walk outside directly and climb the stairway
into the airplane. We were very close to the front of the plane. There are no first class seats in these domestic
flights. The flight was very generic and
I slept through a lot of it while I think Daniela read for a fair amount of it
(I am not sure if I mentioned she is reading Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki
Murakami, in Spanish of course).
After we landed and got our bag she got a secure taxi and we
drove to her her house to pick up luggage and then quickly were off to the
apartment. The taxi driver tried to take
us through the coastal route but it is still partially shut down which I
believe made us take longer than if he had just stayed inland the whole
route. In any event we got the apartment
and were able to get right in. The manager of the apartment was there and
waiting for us. We got unpacked quickly
and had to get right down to Daniela’s office to drop something off to her
sister. We said hello to the folks from the gallery. It was Halloween by the
way… Juan Carlos (from the record store not the guide) was wearing a Dracula
cape. There were a lot of kids walking
around Miraflores in costumes with their parents apparently trick or treating
at the businesses in the area. Halloween
is starting to become a thing in Peru but it is not fully big yet. I see most of it happening from American
influence like the Dunkin Donuts here were all decorated up.
After the office we went to the Spanish school and I signed
up for a week of classes from Monday to Friday 9-1 each day. They are beginner
but not completely unable to know any Spanish classes. We will see how it goes… After signing up for that we walked to Pardos
and had dinner (I am sure for Daniela it was lunch but it was about 6:30 when
we got there). I had a quarter chicken with fries and the cooked vegetable
salad. She had a quarter chicken with
the green salad and boiled and roasted potatoes. The food was good. We shared a chicha morada
and eventually a flan for dessert. After
we finished eating we headed back to the apartment by way of Vivanda and bought
a couple things we needed but not a real shopping.
By the time we were at Daniela’s office it had become
obvious that a couple of the insect bites I got in the jungle had started to
have a reaction. They were near my ankle and it was all swollen and rather
painful and itchy. So I took an
antihistamine pill with dinner and by the time we got back to the apartment I
was already totally starting to pass out from it. So we started doing some
laundry and I ended up unconscious fairly early in the evening.
The pictures from today are found here.
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