As soon as we stepped off the plane the humid heat hit us and driving in a mototaxi (rickshaw) to town we instantly felt like we were in a jungle town. It felt so very different from anywhere we´d been in S.America and more like Thailand. Iquitos itself is filled with Portuguese buildings alongside shanty style dwellings on the rivers edge (a place called Belem). The first day we spent in and out of agencies bartering for our Amazon tour. We finally found a great trip with Emerald Tours, at a great price of $120, staying in a jungle lodge 106km up the Amazon.

In the afternoon we strolled along the riverside promenade where there are vendors walking around selling blow up toys, stalls selling jewelry,actors putting on shows where people sit in mini ampi theatres to watch, ice-cream sellers, toy cars for children to hire out and drive about, and taking in the holiday resort for Peruvian kinda feel. We then went down to Belem where we were greeted by smiles and even shared a couple of shots of homemade liquor with Stu.For 4 months of the year the village (on stilts) is submerged by the river and can only be accessed by canoes. However, this time of year the village is a soggy bed filled with debris and sewage. This however does not put off the kids who use every open space, that´s not covered in little, as a volleyball or football pitch. It seems everyone is out in the streets, chatting, cooking, playing or simple sitting and there was a huge feeling of community spirit.