27 March 2017
This week we spent time with our partners at the National Rehabilitation Institute (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitation) in Lima reviewing the training courses we will jointly present over the next two weeks in the jungle city of Iquitos, Peru, and then again high in the Andes Mountains in Cusco.
We are donating 1,100 wheelchairs this year throughout Peru (in addition to the 3,500 wheelchairs we have already donated over the past 5 years). Having a wheelchair can make the difference between having a job and supporting a family versus being locked into a life with no future.
We left Lima Friday night and flew to Iquitos in the jungle for the first week-long course for wheelchair evaluators and maintainers.
Half of Peru is in the Amazon jungle. Iquitos, located near the equator in the north of the country, is the principal hub in this remote region and has a population of 500,000. There are no roads into Iquitos because of all the rivers and jungle - everything comes in either by boat or by air.
Iquitos is very remote and hard to reach. This is the largest city in the world that you can't reach by a road. And, since everything must be imported by air or boat, cars are few and far between. Motor taxis rule the streets. Motor taxi rides are fast and very breezy, and it costs about $0.60 to $0.90 for a ride. You find these loud three-wheeled motorcycles everywhere you go in Iquitos. There must be 10,000 of these motor taxis in Iquitos, making it the loudest city we have ever visited. It feels like a motorcycle rally (or go-cart race) is underway wherever you go.
The Amazon River, about a mile wide at Iquitos, serves as the jungle highway of Peru. The river is filled with boats carrying people to distant jungle cities, boats of fishermen and their river catches, and families in dugout canoes plying the waters of this constantly changing river
River ferries shuttle people up and down the river. This boat was heading up river to Pucallpa, Peru, a journey of 3 days. Similar boats head down river to Manaus, Brazil, and take 10 days. Everyone sleeps in hammocks and cooks their own meals on the decks.
The jungle begins right at the edge of town where the last paved street ends. We found a boa constrictor hanging from a tree a few feet from the sidewalk, so we all took turns holding it (while being careful not to let the thing bite). Thankfully, it was only a small boa because holding a large one would have been like trying to hold a wild, fighting firehouse.
Our journey into the jungle was a hot, sweaty experience. We visited nature reserves and saw a host of jungle animals.
One nature preserve kept us inside a cage made into a tunnel of chain-link fencing to protect us from all the animals that roamed freely outside. We felt like we were the exhibits at the zoo and that we were brought in so the animals could be entertained.
We stopped in a tiny jungle village and found a woman who set up shop next to a path to a river overlook. She was selling her handmade handicrafts and the fruits she had gathered from the surrounding jungle - a real entrepreneur in the middle of the Amazon. We bought some incredible jungle fruit from her stand.
We climbed to the overlook tower to get a good view of the jungle. Sweat poured off of us as the jungle heat rose. From the top, all you could see for miles and miles was the green wall of the jungle and the Amazon splitting the jungle into two halves.
Peruvian food is excellent. However, here in the jungle, they do things a little different. Instead of potatoes, you could get fried bananas. We have eaten fried bananas at least once a day since we arrived. They are tasty treats that I think we will miss when we leave.
And so our week of training here in Iquitos gets underway, and we have hopes for it being a successful adventure. Wish us well!
This week we spent time with our partners at the National Rehabilitation Institute (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitation) in Lima reviewing the training courses we will jointly present over the next two weeks in the jungle city of Iquitos, Peru, and then again high in the Andes Mountains in Cusco.
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| Putting the finishing touches on wheelchair courses with our partners from the National Rehabilitation Institute who will be helping with teaching the courses in the jungle and high in the Andes Mountains. |
We are donating 1,100 wheelchairs this year throughout Peru (in addition to the 3,500 wheelchairs we have already donated over the past 5 years). Having a wheelchair can make the difference between having a job and supporting a family versus being locked into a life with no future.
We left Lima Friday night and flew to Iquitos in the jungle for the first week-long course for wheelchair evaluators and maintainers.
Jungle City - Iquitos, Peru
Half of Peru is in the Amazon jungle. Iquitos, located near the equator in the north of the country, is the principal hub in this remote region and has a population of 500,000. There are no roads into Iquitos because of all the rivers and jungle - everything comes in either by boat or by air.
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| Iquitos, principal jungle city of Peru, is located on the Amazon River. Jungle makes up about half of Peru. The other half is made up of the the high-altitude Andes Mountains and a narrow strip of very dry coast. |
Getting Around Iquitos
Iquitos is very remote and hard to reach. This is the largest city in the world that you can't reach by a road. And, since everything must be imported by air or boat, cars are few and far between. Motor taxis rule the streets. Motor taxi rides are fast and very breezy, and it costs about $0.60 to $0.90 for a ride. You find these loud three-wheeled motorcycles everywhere you go in Iquitos. There must be 10,000 of these motor taxis in Iquitos, making it the loudest city we have ever visited. It feels like a motorcycle rally (or go-cart race) is underway wherever you go.
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| Motor taxis are everywhere in Iquitos, making this the loudest city we have ever visited. |
Amazon River - Highway of the Jungle
The Amazon River, about a mile wide at Iquitos, serves as the jungle highway of Peru. The river is filled with boats carrying people to distant jungle cities, boats of fishermen and their river catches, and families in dugout canoes plying the waters of this constantly changing river
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| The Amazon River, a mile wide at Iquitos, still has a 2,000-mile journey through Brazil before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. This shot shows a very nice floating house - most are not quite so nice. |
River ferries shuttle people up and down the river. This boat was heading up river to Pucallpa, Peru, a journey of 3 days. Similar boats head down river to Manaus, Brazil, and take 10 days. Everyone sleeps in hammocks and cooks their own meals on the decks.
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| A constant flow of ferries carries passengers up and down river on a scenic (but slow) journey. Note all the hammocks on which people sleep. |
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| In Iquitos down near the river, floating houses rise when the Amazon is high (like during this season). Other houses are built on stilts to keep above the water. |
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| Kids paddling without oars in their dugout canoe. |
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| We took a river tour on our free day. Dave and Sherri Jones, Church wheelchair specialists, flew in from Texas to direct the wheelchair training course, and they joined us on the tour of the Amazon. We traveled up and down the river in this high-speed motorized canoe. |
Wild Jungle - At the Edge of Town
The jungle begins right at the edge of town where the last paved street ends. We found a boa constrictor hanging from a tree a few feet from the sidewalk, so we all took turns holding it (while being careful not to let the thing bite). Thankfully, it was only a small boa because holding a large one would have been like trying to hold a wild, fighting firehouse.
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| Young boa constrictor we found hanging from a tree next to a sidewalk. |
Our journey into the jungle was a hot, sweaty experience. We visited nature reserves and saw a host of jungle animals.
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| These caymans are small crocodiles found throughout this region of the Amazon. This happy bunch of critters was in a nature preserve we visited near Iquitos while on the river tour. |
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| The jungle near to town was filled with colorful birds like this yellow-rumped cacique. |
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| This toucan was rescued from a live animal market in Iquitos. Rescued animals are often sent to nature preserves around Iquitos for rehabilitation and possible release. |
One nature preserve kept us inside a cage made into a tunnel of chain-link fencing to protect us from all the animals that roamed freely outside. We felt like we were the exhibits at the zoo and that we were brought in so the animals could be entertained.
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| Red-faced monkey and woolly monkey staring at us as we walked along inside our protective cage. |
Jungle Village
We stopped in a tiny jungle village and found a woman who set up shop next to a path to a river overlook. She was selling her handmade handicrafts and the fruits she had gathered from the surrounding jungle - a real entrepreneur in the middle of the Amazon. We bought some incredible jungle fruit from her stand.
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| Our river guide demonstrates opening and eating a pod of guaba we bought from the woman in the Amazon jungle shop. This long pod fruit looked like green beans and tasted like vanilla ice cream. The round fruit (sapote) was vivid orange inside and tasted a little like mango. She was selling the fruit, which she harvested herself in the jungle, for about 10 cents each. |
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| Sandy bought one of the handmade necklaces made from fish scales of a gigantic Amazon paiche fish. The scales were as big as potato chips. This handmade treasure cost something like $3. |
We climbed to the overlook tower to get a good view of the jungle. Sweat poured off of us as the jungle heat rose. From the top, all you could see for miles and miles was the green wall of the jungle and the Amazon splitting the jungle into two halves.
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| View from the jungle lookout - the Amazon cut through the heart of the jungle. |
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| Climbing the lookout tower was a sweaty experience. We made use of the hammocks on top to relax and try to stop sweating. |
Jungle Cuisine
Peruvian food is excellent. However, here in the jungle, they do things a little different. Instead of potatoes, you could get fried bananas. We have eaten fried bananas at least once a day since we arrived. They are tasty treats that I think we will miss when we leave.
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| Typical Peruvian Jungle food - fried bananas at least once each day instead of potatoes. |
And so our week of training here in Iquitos gets underway, and we have hopes for it being a successful adventure. Wish us well!
You held a boa constrictor? What a wild and crazy mission! It sounds like you're not having many dull moments. We miss you here but live that you get to serve the people there!
ReplyDeleteThis mission involves so much work - we have never been busier in all our lives. I hope this blog does not give the impression that this is a vacation, although we do cram lots of things into our one free day each week. We love all the service we are able to give freely.
DeleteThe boys will be so excited (and jealous) to see all of the pictures with the animals! I am always impressed with how much fun you can cram in your one free day a week. Stay safe and thanks for the updates!
ReplyDeleteEvery week is so full of the service we are providing. We both return home each night exhausted. Our one day off each week is our chance to blow off a little steam and play a little bit before the next week starts. This is a lot of work, but very satisfying. We are so glad we are here.
Delete