DAY 28. HELLO, IQUITOS

This morning, I found that the lacrimal gland in my right eye was slightly inflamed. The first time I felt the pain the day before, but I thought it was just a mosquito bite. Maybe something got into my eye, I do not know. I treated it best as I could and rinsed my eye with clean water.

Then I walked to the centre of Iquitos to find a Western Union branch. My good friend from Turkey, Nikolay (whom I had met on another journey), was to send me some back up money (thank you).

Each of us is rich in something. I have persistence, energy, and time; someone possesses financial means. It is good when these resources create synergy together. It makes expeditions to such far-flung places a little safer if the concept of safety can be applied to them at all.

Once in the city centre, I was literally besieged by tour operators offering to take me on a magical ayahuasca adventure. No, thank you. They were very surprised that a white man was not interested in their services. Probably, it is usually the meeting with a ‘shaman’ that tourists are drawn to. Behind that pretty cover one typically finds a common hustler, nothing more and nothing less.

Juan from Pucallpa had told me how several young guys from Europe died in such ceremonies. The scheme is simple: a person wants to catch a visit, pays a bunch of quid for each day of the course, and the shaman stretches this visit for several weeks against all common sense, while even a single week is a shock to one’s body. Both alcohol and drugs are poison, no matter what some people say. Not only can a person damage their health, but drugs also destroy their motivation, their brain itself – it is as if they are suspending themselves in a void with nothing to hold on to.

I withdrew some cash and went to buy a tarafa, a cast net that would help me catch fish when the water receded a little. I tried to find a small one but failed. Buying a big one is expensive for me, as they are around 100 metres long. So I only bought a bucket to do laundry and some containers for small things. This will make my life easier. I also celebrated my arrival in Iquitos by buying myself a lunch of rice and hot palameta, one of the tastiest local fish. It is unspeakably delicious!

Getting used to the hum of city streets is not easy. There are motorbikes, cars, and some curious buses. I have never seen one of these before. The upper part of the bus is made of wood and upholstered with some tin! It is like someone put a house on suspension and added some wheels. It is a spectacular design.

I returned home and found that the tent on my boat was slightly torn at its side. Apparently, the rudder handle from a neighbouring 7-metre canoe had hit it while rocking on the waves. I should not spend too many days here or my little baby will be dismantled for parts. Well, the torn tent is no big deal: I have a lot of duct tape.

It rained heavily in the evening, and I spent the rest of the day in the company of Yoli. She turned out to be a very cheerful hostess, and despite her seemingly unsociable nature, she had constant visitors – and not always nice ones. For instance, several times that day she was visited by some people wearing motorbike helmets, and I got to know some of them. It turned out that they were all Venezuelans and lived here illegally, making profit by lending money to the population. Private money lending is illegal in Peru, but there are no other jobs for them. The locals dislike them but still use their services. That is classic.

Tomorrow, I think, is my last day here. I will try to find some paint and paint the new parts of my ‘Libertad’, so that they are not damaged by water or eaten by termites – they are a real nuisance! And it is nice if the boat is a little brighter: during continuous rains even the colour of the boat matters, as it lifts my spirits.