Day 76 - Iquitos, Peru to Quito, Ecuador

Up bright and early today for our 8am flight and get so see a wonderful sunrise. Red sky in the morning. 

We have to go back via Lima on the way to Quito with a two hour stop off in Lima. 

We soon take off again after a short delay. Great views of the snow capped mountains when we get close to Quito. 

Some really huge clouds though that create some pretty bad turbulence when flying through them. I mean, it even knocked my sandwich off my table!!!

Great scenery coming into land. It is so lush and green. 

Some really interesting landscapes too with deep valleys meandering their way through the mountains.  

We arrive in Quito and it is a delight. It is so modern, although we are at the new airport. Randomly our first sight is a TGI Fridays  in the airport which isn't so great. We jump in a cab - all very easy as they use US dollars here and all prices are listed. So nice to not have taxi admin and negotiating to not get ripped off when arriving somewhere. 

The airport is quite far out of own and it takes us about an hour and a half to get to our hotel. This country seems a lot more wealthier than others we have visited so far. We opted to stay in the lively part of town and it really is just that. Our hotel, the NU House Boutique hotel is literally ground zero for the nightlife, set right in the Foch square (pronounced exactly as the swear word is!). It's a nice enough hotel but we have a of trauma when we get stuck in the lift on the way to our room. It's the tiniest lift in the world and we are in there for 15mins whilst they sort it out to our amusement. We didn't even want to get in the damn lift as we are only on the 2nd floor but were ushered in by the bell boy!

Our room overlooks the square which by this point on a Friday night is absolutely pumping. It's actually a nice place with nice bars and restaurants - more soho than magaluf. We have a few beers in a German beer place and listen to them pumping out some old Roxette classics!

This is Nat with make up and her hair done. You won't have seen this for a while but I assure you it is her. 

Our hotel. Our room is the left hand side on the second floor. It is going to be a noisy night.

Such a heavy police presence around this square to keep it safe. Apparently venturing a few blocks away is a big no no which is strange as it feels so safe. We stick to the advise though and stay around the square. Even the hotel tell us not to venture too far which is surprising for a hotel. They usually say its fine. 

We eat at the restaurant opposite our hotel called Azuca beach. It's a lovely restaurant and we actually sit on a beach. We have the ceviche and a few beers and then head back to the hotel. I have a serious amount of blog admin to sort out but more on this tomorrow!

Day 75 - Iquitos, Peru

Last day in the amazon today. We meet our lovely guide Julio again at 9am and set off to Barrio Florida, a place that is down the amazon river that is a caiman farm. This trip was actually planned for yesterday but the company messed up so we get a free tour today which is great!

Very precarious journey to get onto the boat. Nothing like a spot of right rope walking. 

We both make it on dry and set off. Barrio is about half an hour down the Amazon river. 

It's boiling again today as there is no cloud cover but a gorgeous breeze sat on the front of the boat. 

Panoramic view. The river is so wide here it is like a sea. 

Nat striking a yoga pose. 

We arrive at Fundo Pedrito which is like an oasis in the middle of the jungle. Such a gorgeous and well kept place. It also has the best tree house ever. 

The giant Amazonian lillies on the lake were huge. Never seen lillies this big before. 

First stop is feeding the fish (not sure what type). But reminded me of visiting a trout farm as a child when you throw the food in and they all go mental to get it. 

Next up was the main event - we head to the lake with the dodgy old fence around it which must only mean one thing -  caiman enclosure. There are so many of them in the lake. 

They almost don't look real as they are deadly still. Waiting to pounce. 

Whilst watching we see a bit of commotion and the guys that work there running about. Apparently one of the baby caimans has found a hole in the dodgy fence and escaped. Naturally I rip my top off and dive into the bush to help them, managing to catch it with my bare hands and bring back my trophy to show the other tourists. 

We then head out into the lake to see the paiche fish which I had no idea even existed before today.

They are huge, about 4-5ft long with the most amazing organs colour on heir stomachs. They also love eating other fish which we happily feed them. 

Back across at the caiman enclosure it is feeding time which is creating a lot of exceitemt. 

It's amazing how deadly still they stay, statue like when "stalking their prey", even though their "prey" is a bit of dead fish on the end of a stick being waved under its nose. With their statue skills I think these caimans would make a better living in covent garden!

This guy stayed like this for ages. 

There are also loads of turtles living in harmony with the caimans as well (despite the picture below making out the caiman is just about to attack the turtle).  

It's also feeding time for them too - large pieces of fruit. It is so funny watching them struggle to get their tiny mouths around the fruit and swim off with them. 

By now we as absolutely melting it is so hot today. The hottest yet. We need to get back to the boat in the shade and with the breeze. Not before I check out the tree house though!

King of the world. 

Back in Iquitos we say farewell to Julio for the last time. I have never known a man to get so excited and be so passionate about birds and trees. He has been fantastic and so knowledagble. A really lovely guy. 

Love the wooden buses here. 

We go for a bit of lunch at Karma Cafe - a gorgeous little cafe with good wifi so it is therefore full of tourists not speaking with their heads in their phones. 

That evening we decide to go back to Amazon Bistro, our favourite restaurant in Iquitos and home to the best lasagne ever! I convince Nat to have it too and she confirms it is indeed the best lasagne ever. 

We are not sat outside for long before we experience our first bit of Amazonian rain. And boy what rain it is!!

He quick dash for the umbrellas. 

Followed by the fast realisation that umbrellas were going to be useless for what was in store for us. Rain like I have never seen. Even the three second dash back into the restaurant made us look like someone had thrown a bucket of water over us. 

The road turns into a river. So cool to see. It only lasts for about 30 mins again and it's boiling again. Great lightening too but strangely no thunder despite the storm seeming quite near. 

Testing whether we have another weird reaction to carmenere wine. Luckily we don't as we love it! 

It gives the place a great clean though. The roads look immaculate after. 

Great use of a couple of pieces of wood and some tarpaulin by the motocarro drivers to protect them from the rain. Is there any problem that a bit of wood and tarpaulin can't solve? 

Time to move on from Iquitos tomorrow. We have had a great time here and really felt like we have experienced what river and rainforest life is like as well as life in a big town in the middle of the amazon. Iquitos is such a vibrant, hard working place with a real vibe to it. It's really grown on us the longer we have stayed. It has a real character to it despite some odd smells in parts and a fair amount of grime. When will Preuvians learn that it is not OK to litter. Everything they use just gets dumped on the street with no regard. Oh and the Iquitos woman are surprisingly pretty hot. Very out of character with the rest of Peru. Must be that murky Amazon water or something!

It's also so long Peru as we head to the middle of the earth tomorrow (Ecuador). It's been an amazing two weeks here. It is such a great country with such great variety and some truly amazing sights.