The Heart of Darkness

Well, not really.

Boating deeper into the jungle up the Napo river, I couldn't help but feel like I was on my way to find Colonel Kurtz. The horror! No, the journey up to Santa Clotilde was beautiful, and I'll rewind a bit and tell you how I got here.

After arriving at the Lima airport a responsible 2 hours before my flight, I waited an extra 2 hours before I finally took off for Iquitos. A wild "motocar" ride later (kind of like a dirt bike with a cab in the back) I was at the vicariate where I was able to fit in 6 hours of sleep before my first boat ride. Before I left, I met a Quebecoise nun who was happy to speak some French for a while. She said she'd been in Peru for the past 50 years, and asked if I'd do the same. To be determined.

Motocar ride #1

The boat was packed, but I was sitting next to a very friendly 15-year old boy who had lots of questions about who I was and what Canada was like. The boat took me up the Amazon River to Mazan, where I would take another motocar to the port which services the Napo River. The road was so narrow that I almost cringed every time my driver passed someone, and he passed people a lot. I got to Mazan with time to spare before boarding the "Rapido" to Santa Clotilde, so I went for a stroll and bought some local eats: an egg sandwich, and a a rice ball stuffed with chicken wrapped in a banana leaf. Delicious.

The dock in Iquitos

Motocar ride #2: through Mazan to the Napo River

The Rapido! 

The port along the Napo River - I later found out that Peruvians eat green bananas with everything

Some friends I made in Mazan - they wouldn't tell me where they bought their popcicles

The boat ride up the Napo was beautiful. I slipped in and out of sleep as we passed endless jungle, with temperatures fluctuating with the passing of numerous downpours. You would sometimes see homes along the river with roofs made of dried leaves and children playing in the river, where we would stop and drop off a copy of what looked like the latest newspaper. And almost 5 hours after I left Mazan, and 48 hours after I left Montreal, I finally arrived in Santa Clotilde.

Docked along the Napo

That's all for now. Much and more has happened since I arrived, but technical difficulties with iPhoto have slowed me down a bit with the photo uploading. I'll post again in the next couple of days with updates on life around here and the first of many interesting medical cases!