This post contains 57 photos from the town of Iquitos. I arrived in Iquitos on Sunday, December 15, 2014, still immersed in the panic of having no direct access to money (because of the robbery in Lima). By Tuesday, Dec 17, I was renting an apartment for a month, with new credit/debit cards on the way. I am so grateful for my apartment here, because it has given me a safe base from which I can explore while leaving my bulky luggage behind.
As usual, the photos in this post are thumbnail images. Please click on any photo to enlarge it. The thumbnails leave much to be desired as far as colors and resolution – plus the thumbnails clip all of the edges. I use thumbnails for the post itself, because it gives people an opportunity to get a summary glimpse without downloading huge amounts of data for the high-res photos.
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE TO HIGH RESOLUTION
Day One
After checking into a hotel, one of the first views I had of Iquitos was looking East over the Rio Itaya.
Yes, that is a house in the middle of the water. There are many floating houses here.
Turning around from where I was standing in the above photo, we see the restraunt/tour center “Dawn on the Amazon.”
The owner “Bill Grimes” was incredibly helpful to me, giving me tips on how/where to have my bank send new cards, how to transfer money, and ideas for renting an apartment.
The food and smoothies here are great too. I am so grateful for the help of new friends. I am not sure I could have made it through that first week without the help of Judy (fronting me some cash and letting me share her hotel room) and Bill.
Still standing in the same spot, turned looking to the right at a lower patio area.
Inside of the room I shared with Judy. I slept on the near bed, on the right. This is inside the “Casa Morey” — a very nice little hotel in a historic rubber plantation building.
Another view inside the hotel room. It was very large.
In And Around My Apartment
Judy and I explored Iquitos on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, while I at the same time did a little apartment hunting. I ended up deciding to trust my feelings about the first place I looked at. On Tuesday morning, with enough cash in hand (From Judy and from a Bank Transfer), I rented a small one-bedroom apartment on an inner courtyard, right near the downtown area and the Rio Itaya.
Early in the morning on December 18, 2013, I quickly moved in before taking a river trip with Judy. I will include photos of that trip in my Iquitos Part 2 post.
This is the entrance to my apartment. It is one of many that are off of an inner courtyard. The door to the street outside is metal with bars. I have no view here, but just outside that door is a gorgeous view of the river.
This is the side of my apartment, just to the right of the door. My kitchen/living room is inside the first window, and my bedroom/bathroom is inside the back window by the air conditioner.
Another view of the exterior, taken from further back.
Some people parked their motorcycles inside the courtyard. There is a very noisy parrot here. My apartment is to the right.
Standing in the same spot, but turned around the other way. This is the indoor hallway that leads to the outside gate … out onto the street.
This is taken just outside my apartment on the street. The river Itaya is below, and you can see a small floatinig house in the water.
I took this photo during a heavy rainstorm.
A better view of the river below. The river is often smooth and glassy. With the heavy rain falling it is quite agitated and rough, and the skies are very hazy.
Stepping back a few feet, directly in front of my doorway. Lots of mototaxi drivers like to park here during the day. On a dry day, they hang out right here on the sidewalk. Today, in the rain, they are playing cards across the street.
Here are the taxi drivers hanging out under the awning of the building across the street. They have a lot of fun playing cards together.
All of their mototaxis parked in the rain at the end of my street. I like the street because it does not have any through traffic, and is therefore much quieter than other places in Iquitos.
The outside entrance to the courtyard where my apartment resides. This place is called “Hospedaje La Rivera”.
And yet-another rainy view of the Rio Itaya below.
This is the other side of the wall where the taxi drivers are parked. Here there is a steep slope leading down to the water. There is a wooden staircase that leads down the a small dock below.
Still in front of my apartment, looking to the left, with a view of other buildings on the same street.
In Guatemala, we called these “Tuk-tuk’s”. Here they call them mototaxis. When it rains, they hang a tarp in front of them, with a little slit at the top where the driver can see.
These differ from the Guatemala Tuk-tuks, in that in Guatemala the driver was enclosed in a shell, where here, the driver is simply sitting on a normal motorcycle seat, fully exposed to the elements.
Another rainy view looking up my street. It did not rain that much in December. The rains have picked up a little more in early January.
An unusual sight … a dolphin in the window of the apartment across the street.
The bedroom in my apartment. Bobby-bear and Brenda-doll are enjoyig the pillow.
My small bathroom. The shower has an electric showerhead, similar to the one I had in Guatemala.
Looking into my bathroom from the bedroom.
Just opposite my bed is a nice flat-screen television. The door on the left leads into the kitchen and living room areas. You can see my laptop computer on the desk just through the door. The internet here is barely tolerable, but it works most of the time.
My kitchen. I have a small refrigerator, a gas stove, two knives, two forks, two spoons, two plates, two bowls, two pots … well you get the picture. It is very minimally stocked.
I spent several days exploring the market here, trying to find a paring knife, a little tupperware, paper towels, dish towels, etc…
A different view of my kitchen. Please ignore the clutter. It has nice cabinet space.
My livingroom area, with my desk and computer on the left.
Another view of my apartment door … showing the Christmas decorations. They left them up until January 7th. There was even a Christmas tree in the indoor patio area.
Around Iquitos
The rest of these photos were taken on December 29 and 30, 2013, as I walked around Iquitos. This is just a small sampling of sites here – just a few places where I happened to have my camera with me.
Everywhere you go in Iquitos, the streets are noisy, chaotic, and crowed by mototaxis and motorcycles. There are no lanes on the road, and the drivers wind all over, in and out of traffic, passing each other every which way. The drivers seem to have a system of glances and nods where they acknowledge each other and give permission for someone to cut them off…
This photo is taken on “Junior Prospero” street, on the way to the Belen Market.
You can see a large row of motorcycles parked across the street. They are everywhere.
More taxi-filled streets. Right before Christmas, there were twice as many mototaxis as there are now.
A good view of a street, just a few blocks from the market.
I haven’t gone inside of any of them, but there are several little casinos like this one at various locations here in Iquitos.
Another street. Note the three story building … how the front is finished but the sides are just raw block/brick. This is quite common here.
Walking through a small section of the huge Belen Market. This market is several blocks wide, and seems to go on for eight or more blocks in length.
In the right foreground are lots of lemons, with the next booth selling chickens. You can buy just about anything in these markets if you know where to find it.
Lots of fruit and clothing here. Most of the market has dirt floors, and much of that is very yucky with trash and meat juices flowing around. It was not a place that I went to for a leisure walk.
Maybe it is a good thing that this is out of focus. I was trying to be inconspicuous with my camera, not stopping and making my “tourist-ness” obvious. On this table, there are multiple piles of chicken parts, very creatively arranged with the legs and claws stacked on top.
More meat and chicken claws etc… Almost everywhere you go in this market, there is a lot of meat like this.
Another section of the market. In places, the aisles are extremely crowded. Buildings occupy both sides of this inner walkway, and in those buildings there are lots of little stores and food places.
Some bananas being grilled on the stove.
Walking down another aisle of the market. Sorry for the bad focus. I was trying to hold the camera in a way that people did not know for sure if I was taking photos.
Back out on the main street, where lots of clothing items are being sold.
Lots of shoes.
Motorcycles and mototaxis everywhere. You can barely see inside of a small store across the street.
If you look closely, you can see cardboard on the seats of these motorcycles. Some men or boys make a living putting cardboard on the seats to keep them from getting extremely hot in the sun. The owners of the motorcycles give them a tip for doing so.
Chickens anyone?
A line of mototaxis racing down the street, briefly stopping for the other direction of traffic. Note, here in Iquitos, pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way.
More streets in this part of town.
This is a church at the main “Plaza de Armas” in Iquitos.
Another view of the Plaza de Armas. I am taking this photo from a restaurant called “Ari’s Burger” – which has way more than just burgers. I don’t have my own photo of the restaurant, but it is a popular meeting point in Iquitos, and I have eaten here often.
I downloaded this photo from my friend Judy’s Facebook page. This was taken inside of Ari’s Burger. Judy is in the middle, and my new friend Patricia is on the right. Patricia is from Chile.
Another view along the main “Plaza de Armas”. The large building is a luxury hotel.
And yet-another view of the central town plaza.
A typical building construction site along a road near my apartment.
Another typical street near my apartment.
There are lots of little tourist places like this all over town, advertising their lodges and expeditions. This one takes you up the amazon river to the National Reserve of Pacaya Samiria.
This is the end of “Part one” of my Iquitos Photos. Part two will include 119 photos of a river trip I took to Tamshyacu (including a ceremonial center), and part three will include 111 photos from three other ceremonial centers I visited.
Copyright © 2014 by Brenda Larsen, All Rights Reserved