All Aboard the Amazon Aqua Nera!

OK – I admit.  I’m a bit behind with my blog!!  Its been a busy few days since we got off the plane in Iquitos and met our guides from the Aqua Nera – so I will do my best to catch you up!  I’ll collapse our first 3 days into a couple of blog posts and then attempt to write a shorter update at the end of each day instead.

Anyhoo…..  back to Iquitos airport.  As predicted, most of the gringos that were on our LATAM flight from Lima were, indeed, future passenger mates aboard the Aqua Nera.  There was a good mix of demographics (but no small annoying children, thank goodness) and an equally good amount of collagen, facelifts and branded athleisure wear.   This is clearly a fairly moneyed crowd.  It was a teeny bit disorganized at first, figuring out which of the 4 Sprinter vans we needed to get on – but we got there in the end and everyone was super nice and friendly, so it was no big deal.  Our luggage hadn’t taken long to get unloaded from the plane and, because it was an internal flight, there was no additional security or immigration to get through, so as soon as the Aqua Nera folk made sure they had scooped everyone up they were expecting, we were off!  By this point, it was about 2pm – so our first stop was going to be for lunch at this restaurant (Casa del Fiero) in Iquitos, famous for being made out of iron by Eiffel (yes, the guy who did the tower in Paris).  Apparently, it was supposed to have been delivered to Quito – but the delivery got mixed up so the building was sent to Iquitos instead!

Iquitos is the largest town in the Amazon region, with about 500,000 inhabitants and growing.  As a port city, it was particularly important during the rubber boom of the late 19th century, when rubber was exported in huge quantities out of the Amazon basin.  Now, young people come to the city from their villages in the forest to look for work and for education opportunities.  It has a large sprawling market that we drove through on our way to the dock after lunch – lots and lots of eggs and chickens!   It also had a SE Asian vibe due to the thousands and thousands of tuk tuks that buzzed around.  The drive to the dock took about 20 mins, so it was very interesting to look at the scenes of daily life as we drove through – particularly the spa area of the market, where the ladies were sitting getting their nails done.  As I stared openly at this one lady getting her eyebrows done, I realized that she was looking right back at me – and it suddenly dawned on me that the windows of the Sprinter bus were NOT darkened!  Horrors!  Obviously it’s rude to stare – and here all my gringo gawping had been totally busted!!

We got to the Aqua Nera exactly at 4.30pm, bang on schedule.  Its a much bigger boat than the Aqua Blu, designed for riverways rather than the ocean, so its longer and wider.  First impressions, its not as pretty as Aqua Blu but instead has a much more workhorse-like feel.  Maybe its the dark wood and black panels, but it feels more utilitarian.  Presumably it’s colored this way to blend in with the surrounding forest and the dark coffee brown river?   The interior is a mix of brown leather and taupe, so all very stylish and luxey with the usual assorted fancy coffee table books artistically scattered around.  There are 3 decks – we are on the 1st (lower) deck right next to the embarkation point where you gather to get on/off the skiffs for excursions.  Also on the lower deck is the spa – and yes, I did go get a massage as I have pulled a muscle underneath my right shoulder blade (probably from all the coughing I’ve been doing over the last 4 weeks) so hoped it would help. The donut hole was an acceptable size and while there was nothing wrong with the massage per se (I had requested the therapeutic option), it was not going to win any Spa Weekly prizes.  The therapist was nice – but didn’t have much English so I felt trying to ask for more pressure in a specific location was going to be tough.  So instead I lay there, slightly bored, and wondered how my roses back home were getting on.  Funny to think that exactly 4 weeks prior, I had been lying inside a tent at Everest Base Camp, also slightly bored, cos it was too cold to do anything outside!!

The middle deck houses more cabins (there are 10 each on the 1st and 2nd decks) as well as the main restaurant and the gift alcove (whoo hoo).  The upper deck is the main deck for recreation, with the bar and lounge area, a sun deck out back with a plunge pool (mainly for insects it would seem) as well as the gym (which, yes, I have been to – twice so far!) and an area on the front where breakfast is set up, weather permitting.  There is also a screening room as well as another room with a pool table in it.  I guess its a bit of a flex for how smooth the boat’s sailing is – but I haven’t seen a single person in there in the 4 days we’ve been on the boat so far, so its kinda dead space.  As soon as we got on board, we were directed to meet in the bar area where we were met by the cruise director, who went through the schedule for the rest of the day as well as a safety briefing.  All pretty standard stuff.  We had a mandatory evacuation training to attend with our life jackets (which we grabbed from our room) and were also issued more streamlined life jackets to wear when we were out and about in the skiff.  After that, we could go back to our rooms and settle in and unpack before dinner at 7pm.

Our room is perfectly nice – although the designers made some interesting choices with proportions.  The bed feels huge (though I think it is just a king) relative to the rest of the living space – as is the bathroom.  The shower is huge which is guess is nice but a little unnecessary, I feel.   There is, however, a distinct funk to the room (and the entire lower deck) which I guess is simply the smell from the Amazon and all the wet vegetation – its probably worse for us as we are nearest the door holes leading outside.  I’m sure my nose will acclimate after a day or so – and I’m taking it as a positive sign of a return to full respiratory health that I can actually smell it!

Dinner was in the main dining room on the 2nd deck – there are about 35 of us onboard, although a much smaller number who are doing the full 7 day cruise option.  A lot of people are only doing 3 or 4 day cruises, before then departing and heading to Macchu Picchu or wherever.   The seating was a mix of 2 top tables and then shared tables – for our first night, we snagged a non shared table, but have since mixed it up and shared with other couples.  Everyone seems nice enough, though perhaps a little shy and reserved on the first night.  As the trip has progressed, folk have been socializing and we met some nice people – including a couple of fun chaps from Iceland, one of whom (Yuri) was a complete goofball.    The food was OK – but I think here is where we were totally spoiled on the Aqua Blu as the food on that trip was simply outstanding.  It was served in a similar way, family style, and it was tasty enough – but not in the same Oh My God this is delicious way.  However, I will say that their bread has been yummy, so kudos to whoever is doing magical things with yeast and flour in the kitchen.

So in the evening, just before dinner, there is a short presentation to go over the itinerary of the following day.  Having been on board for a few days now, the schedule usually includes 1 or 2 morning activities, then lunch and a long afternoon siesta, then something in the late afternoon and/or evening.  It makes sense to have a break over the hottest part of the day – and ManpanionTM is certainly enjoying the opportunity for some scheduled downtime!   We started the day early with our first excursion on the skiffs – a 6am boat ride to look for wildlife.  Unlike some of our previous trips, we’ve been enjoying the lack of a time difference as the Amazon here is exactly the same time as back in Chicago.   So a 5.15am wake up was a bit on the early side but there was a coffee station in the bar area, so I went and grabbed us a couple of cups to help get us moving!

Each skiff can accommodate around 10-12 people and our group of 8 seemed very nice – we were named the Cara Cara boat, so each time we’d go down to the disembarkation point, we’d then board together as a group.   We’d been given a pamphlet on the Aqua Nera when we’d boarded and, if you opened it up, it was full of all the various animals, birds, insects, snakes etc that you might see during the wildlife excursions – as well as a rating (from 1 -10) of your likelihood of seeing that particular animal at the different times of year.  There are only 2 seasons here in the Amazon – high water season and low water season.   As we are only 3 degrees from the equator, there is no “bloom” season per se – stuff flowers all year round.  The big variable is the height of the water and how much of the forest is then dry vs submerged (albeit dry means muddy AF) – incredibly, this can vary by as much as 75ft!!  There were a number of animals rated as a 10 – so you were guaranteed to see them – and we did!  During our first skiff ride, we encountered both the grey and pink dolphins (though all pictures are totally underwhelming as all you see are their dorsal fins, maybe a bit of their torso – but they don’t leap or crest like whales so forget trying to get any Nat Geo level shots!), iguanas, marmoset monkeys and cara cara (vulture-like birds).  We also saw a couple of sloths and lots of birds.  Quite a good haul for the one hour we were out on the water!

After we got back from our ride, it was time for breakfast – it was being served out on the back sun deck which was nice -until it started to rain!  I headed back down to our room and saw that the laundry we had left out last night had already been done and was neatly folded on the bed.  I also saw a couple of brand new wide brimmed hats (shop tags still attached) that were on the bed next to the laundry – and thought that was a nice touch, a lovely complimentary gift from Aqua Nera.  I then noticed there was a pair of brightly colored socks on the top of the laundry pile (hmm… those aren’t ours) and then looked more closely and noticed that the rest of the laundry pile wasn’t ours either.  It then dawned on me with utter horror that I WAS IN THE WRONG ROOM!!!!  Instead of going 2 floors down after breakfast to room 102, I’d only descended 1 floor and so was in Room 202!!!  (I should note here that all the doors are left unlocked so that the housekeeping people can have access to your room 3 times a day to service it – if you are in your room and do not wish to be disturbed, there is a wooden bracelet that you hang on the door knob to signify that to the staff).  I legged it out of there, pronto, scampered down the additional flight of stairs and crashed into our room, 102, to tell ManpanionTM what has just happened!  After a few minutes, I went to check something on my phone – and couldn’t find it.  I searched everywhere in our room and even went back up to the restaurant to see if I’d left it on the table at breakfast.  Nope.  Not there.  As I started to go down back down the stairs, passing the 1st deck, I had a horrible thought – had I left my phone in Room 202?!!   How to explain it??  I summoned up my courage and went back to 202 and knocked on the door – no answer.  I knocked again (maybe they were in the bathroom) and again, no response.  As I stood outside in agonies of indecision (do I go back in?), fortunately one of the housekeeping crew noticed me and came over to check I was OK.  I explained what had happened and so she then tapped on the door, waited a moment and then opened it.  The room was still empty – but there, right on the bed next to the laundry pile, was my phone!  I grabbed it, issuing profuse thanks to the lady, and legged it outta there!   A very close call!!

After that excitement, it was time for our second excursion of the day – this time a longer skiff ride, followed by a visit to a nearby village where we would see more about how the locals live, their houses and lifestyle.  We saw a lot of the same wildlife – more dolphins and this very cute little rat, just hanging out in a tree.  We also some green parrots and weaver birds, with their cool hanging nests and males with brightly colored feathers and distinctive call (sounds like a big raindrop going plooooop).  As we had a bit more time, we were able to navigate the skiff into the forest a bit, so that was cool, being inside and surrounded by trees.

The local village visit was interesting – inside a typical home, it was one simple open room that is used for all purposes.  Living, dining, sleeping.  When the family sleeps (and they still have very large families in the Amazon), then everyone simply lies on the bare floor (no mattresses or pillows) and covers themselves with a mosquito net.  That’s it.  Pretty hardcore.  They eat twice a day – breakfast at midday and lunch at 4-5pm – and its usually fish and rice or sweet potato or whatever other food they have gathered from the forest.  Women have families early here – the daughter of the lady whose house we were visiting was hanging out in the back of the room – she is 15, married and already pregnant.  Its a very simple lifestyle.

After our visit, we were taken to another covered area where we could shop the local, native handicrafts – while we were browsing, it started to rain and, within 10 minutes, it was chucking it down!  As the rain can last for days and we were on a schedule to get back to the boat for lunch, we were all given heavy ponchos and escorted carefully back to the boats.  Once loaded in, it was a solid 20 min or so journey in the pouring rain and where, despite the ponchos, we got absolutely soaking wet!!  It felt at one point that we were never going to get back to the boat and This Was Our Life Now – the rain was so heavy, we couldn’t even see more than 10 meters ahead of us!  But, eventually, we made it back and were met by the staff with dry fluffy towels and a mango juice.

We had about an hour before the next activity – a cooking and bar demonstration in the dining room on how to make Patarashca (a fish dish) and a Peruvian cocktail.  I, of course, volunteered to make the cocktail – its made from Pisco sour and ginger ale and was very tasty!  After the cooking demo, it was time for lunch – and then it was time for a nap!  There were additional activities in the afternoon and evening that we decided to skip – it had been an early start plus we are here for 7 nights, so there is plenty of time to see stuff.   So that was it for our first full day on board the Aqua Nera!  Tomorrow, we go fishing!!