Well, if I ever do this trip with my son, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter, it won’t be before 2021 (if that) and Baby Nina will be two years old. Which means that we can (perhaps) risk malaria to go on an Amazon River Cruise.
So, we’ll catch a bus to Juliaca Airport and then a flight to Iquitos which will have two stops along the way. My daughter-in-law will love it -all those takeoffs and landings! There are no roads into Iquitos. The main form of transport within Iquitos is via“motocarro”, a motorcycle with a small, rickshaw-like passenger cabin in the back.
The main reason for going to Iquitos is to embark upon an Amazon River Cruise. I could only find one tour that allowed children under nine years old, so Maniti Eco Lodge it is! Three days and two nights should be right, I think .
We drive from Iquitos to the port town of Nanay (Bellavista) then travel the 70 km by boat on a two-hour trip. We’ll visit Monkey Island, look for pink dolphins and maybe swim with them in the Amazon River (as if….), go for a nocturnal hike, and sleep in our bungalow by kerosene lamp. Next morning we’ll watch the sunrise over the Amazon, go by boat on a morning wildlife observation trip, go fishing in the afternoon to catch piranhas (in the same river that the pink dolphins are in!), go on a sunset canoe excursion with the opportunity to touch and hold a caiman (what’s a caiman?- of course, an alligator!). Another night in the bungalow, another early morning jungle hike, then back on the boat for a 2 hour trip back to Nanay.
Hmmm. My Nana-Antennas are quivering. This is no place for a toddler. No place for a Nana either. Nup. It’s time to come home.
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 