3 April 2017
We finished the wheelchair training in Iquitos prior to the delivery of our wheelchair donations in the coming months (see our last post for more details). As we leave the jungle, there are a few more images of the jungle that will stay with us forever.
As we flew over the jungle, we saw a green carpet split apart by various rivers flowing into the Amazon. Tiny villages, few and far between, show how few people live in this harsh environment.
The jungle makes up half of Peru's land area, but only 5 percent of the population lives in the jungle.
Belen is a suburb of Iquitos that sits right on the river. We took a small powered canoe out into Belen to see this place that is sometimes wet, sometimes dry, depending on the season. Since this is the wet season, we got to see a far different side of Belen now that the rivers are at their highest.
It is hard to believe that 45,000 people call this place home. The city goes way out into the river.
The Belen Market, about 20 blocks in size, is one of the largest jungle markets in the Amazon. Even though we came by on a week day, it was packed with people.
The Belen Market is a sprawling complex. Plastic tarps cover most of the stalls and give a little sun and rain protection. Nevertheless, it was a sweaty place filled with sounds and smells you seldom find elsewhere. With its numerous open-air meat markets, aromas wafting through the air can turn the most avid carnivore into a vegetarian.
Belen Market is not considered safe for tourists, so we hired a local guide to just walk through with us. The guide was raised in the jungle, so as we walked from stall to stall, he would stop and tell us about the many plants being sold and how to use them to treat a host of ills. He showed plants from which you can make your own shampoos, salves, ointments, tonics, and ways to make treatments to cure virtually any disease.
A block of shops in the Belen Market were devoted to jungle cures, some of which were of dubious credibility. Zoom in on this photo and you will see boa constrictor oil, iguana oil, and turtle oil, 'guaranteed to cure' most every ailment.
While the jungle pharmacy was pretty strange, there were other things in the market that would make your head spin (and your stomach wrench). The thing that got to me in the market were the places where they were slaughtering chickens or cutting up turtles to put into the stew pot. I decided not to include those photos.
I asked a vendor if he could make something for me from parrot feathers. He agreed and took me to the back of his shop (I could see the river beneath us through the floor boards). He pulled out a bag of feathers in every color imaginable, and he told me he purchased his feathers directly from natives who came out of the jungle. When he finished, I had some amazing feather trinkets made in the jungle home of the parrots themselves.
Each day during our wheelchair training, we paid the bishop in our church to bring food from his business so we didn't have to leave the building. His wife actually made the food over an open fire in their yard (20 pounds of rice each day), and he would walk the streets of Iquitos selling 'Juanes' (see picture below) on the street. Then, at lunch, he would swing back by their house, pick up the lunch for eight of us, then drop it by the church.
Iquitos was a unique jungle experience we will never forget. From the wildlife to the stilt houses, from the noisy racket of thousands of motor taxis to the sweaty days when I would soak through my clothes multiple times each day, from the Amazon River with slow boats hauling locals to distant locations with hammocks on deck for beds to incredible fruits we never knew existed, Iquitos was one place that words fail to fully describe.
And so our jungle training course ended, and we moved back high in the Andes Mountains (12,000 feet) to conduct the course again, but this time from the comfort of a chilly mountain environment. Peru, what a place of incredible contrasts!
We finished the wheelchair training in Iquitos prior to the delivery of our wheelchair donations in the coming months (see our last post for more details). As we leave the jungle, there are a few more images of the jungle that will stay with us forever.
Peruvian Jungle
As we flew over the jungle, we saw a green carpet split apart by various rivers flowing into the Amazon. Tiny villages, few and far between, show how few people live in this harsh environment.
The jungle makes up half of Peru's land area, but only 5 percent of the population lives in the jungle.
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| Jungle village and one of the many rivers flowing into the Amazon. |
Belen Neighborhood on the River
Belen is a suburb of Iquitos that sits right on the river. We took a small powered canoe out into Belen to see this place that is sometimes wet, sometimes dry, depending on the season. Since this is the wet season, we got to see a far different side of Belen now that the rivers are at their highest.
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| Houses in Belen are built on stilts so water flows beneath when the river is high. The family car is actually a boat. |
It is hard to believe that 45,000 people call this place home. The city goes way out into the river.
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| Going to work in the morning involves paddling your boat. They call Belen the 'Venice of Peru'. |
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| Sidewalks in Belen are built out of wood and run through the air over the water. During low water season, the Belen market is held in this very street, but only after the water is gone.. |
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| Cute little girl in Belen waving to us while her young brothers shuttled her along in the family boat. |
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| Elder David and Sherri Jones (church wheelchair specialists from Texas, left) and Elder Marshall and Sandy Henrie (right) during some free time at the boat taxi stand in Belen, Iquitos, Peru. |
Belen Market - Everything from the Jungle
The Belen Market, about 20 blocks in size, is one of the largest jungle markets in the Amazon. Even though we came by on a week day, it was packed with people.
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| Belen Market, jam packed with people busy buying and selling produce from throughout the jungle. |
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| Young boy helping his mom run the family store. These tiny chilis are among the hottest in South America. The apple-size red ones in front of the boy are called rocoto and are among the hottest we have ever tried. The pea-sized yellow, orange, and green ones are right out of the jungle and often show up in dishes of salsa that Peruvian restaurants bring to your table. |
The Belen Market is a sprawling complex. Plastic tarps cover most of the stalls and give a little sun and rain protection. Nevertheless, it was a sweaty place filled with sounds and smells you seldom find elsewhere. With its numerous open-air meat markets, aromas wafting through the air can turn the most avid carnivore into a vegetarian.
 |
| The sights and sounds of this jungle market are an assault on your senses. |
Belen Market is not considered safe for tourists, so we hired a local guide to just walk through with us. The guide was raised in the jungle, so as we walked from stall to stall, he would stop and tell us about the many plants being sold and how to use them to treat a host of ills. He showed plants from which you can make your own shampoos, salves, ointments, tonics, and ways to make treatments to cure virtually any disease.
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| Our guide, Miguel, kept us safe while giving us a rapid fire course on Amazon botany and cures. |
Jungle Pharmacy
A block of shops in the Belen Market were devoted to jungle cures, some of which were of dubious credibility. Zoom in on this photo and you will see boa constrictor oil, iguana oil, and turtle oil, 'guaranteed to cure' most every ailment.
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| Snake oils and reptile oils to cure what ails you. |
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| Hanging from the ceiling - ocelot cat skin and anaconda skins, all of which have special powers in the jungle curing industry. |
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| Special items in this jungle cure shop included alligator heads (both with the skin and as skeleton only), snake heads, whole stuffed ducks, and eggs of unknown origin. |
While the jungle pharmacy was pretty strange, there were other things in the market that would make your head spin (and your stomach wrench). The thing that got to me in the market were the places where they were slaughtering chickens or cutting up turtles to put into the stew pot. I decided not to include those photos.
Parrot Feathers - All the Colors of the Rainbow
I asked a vendor if he could make something for me from parrot feathers. He agreed and took me to the back of his shop (I could see the river beneath us through the floor boards). He pulled out a bag of feathers in every color imaginable, and he told me he purchased his feathers directly from natives who came out of the jungle. When he finished, I had some amazing feather trinkets made in the jungle home of the parrots themselves.
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| Parrot feathers in every color imaginable. Natives often keep parrots as a continuing source of their feathers, which they sell directly to shop owners in Iquitos. I bought these feathers for about 30 cents each. |
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| Parrot feather trinket - handmade while I waited. |
Lunch in Iquitos
Each day during our wheelchair training, we paid the bishop in our church to bring food from his business so we didn't have to leave the building. His wife actually made the food over an open fire in their yard (20 pounds of rice each day), and he would walk the streets of Iquitos selling 'Juanes' (see picture below) on the street. Then, at lunch, he would swing back by their house, pick up the lunch for eight of us, then drop it by the church.
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| What a happy man, Bishop Lister Macedo of the Sacha Chorro Ward. Everyday he walked the streets of town selling the 'Juanes' his wife made. Living in humble circumstances did not affect his positive spirit. |
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| The Juanes, wrapped in banana leaves and then steamed in a pot over an open fire, this delight consists of rice and chicken concoction and was a delicious noon meal during our wheelchair training. And, served with a side of roasted bananas, it was the perfect jungle lunch. |
Farewell Iquitos in the Jungle
Iquitos was a unique jungle experience we will never forget. From the wildlife to the stilt houses, from the noisy racket of thousands of motor taxis to the sweaty days when I would soak through my clothes multiple times each day, from the Amazon River with slow boats hauling locals to distant locations with hammocks on deck for beds to incredible fruits we never knew existed, Iquitos was one place that words fail to fully describe.
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| Someday our ears may recover from the constant roar (day and night) of the 10,000 motor taxis in Iquitos. |
And so our jungle training course ended, and we moved back high in the Andes Mountains (12,000 feet) to conduct the course again, but this time from the comfort of a chilly mountain environment. Peru, what a place of incredible contrasts!
Your posts makes us feel like we were almost there in Peru with you. They also bring back memories of our time in Indonesia and the open markets that are in every town.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, words and photos don't do justice to the chaos and raw energy you find in these open air markets - it is something you have to experience in person.
ReplyDeleteNo they do not. We have found this true wherever we have served. Even tourists normally do not get to see and know a country and the people the same way you do as you serve a mission. Especially when you visit cities and small villages far from the regular tourist routes.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is fabulous! Love catching up with what you are doing!
ReplyDelete