This post contains final photos taken in the Iquitos area after my three-month deep-immersion retreat. Some were taken by me, and some were inherited from my friend Kit, who took a large number of photos in Iquitos’s “Belen” Market. I thought those photos were fascinating, so I decided to include them in a post.
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
The Belen Market
Iquitos has a large market beginning about ten blocks from the center of the “Plaza de Armas”. Translated to English, the name would be “Bethlehem Market”.
As mentioned above, the following photos were taken by my friend Kit. I didn’t take a great number of photos in the huge market myself. I won’t give too much detail in writing, because most of these photos are self explanatory.
Chickens (foreground), olives (in barrels), and lots of miscellaneous stuff.
In this part of the world, people put dry goods and sauces etc into plastic bags and sell them in the market.
Looking down at the floating neighborhood of “Belen”. All of the homes down below are on the river. The raise and lower with the water level.
Potatoes (foreground) – Peru has a huge number of different varieties of potatoes and sweet potatoes. In the background, the shelves are filled to the max with misc. packaged goods.
The market is quite unsanitary, with many areas having dirt floors, wet with rain water or meat juices. Trash piles like this one are scattered here and there.
One of the local buses that takes people from here-to-there around Iquitos.
Transportation of goods is usually done with three-wheeled mototaxis. This one is filled up with eggs.
Chickens with all their parts.
Green Veggies …
And street food, sold right in the market.
Not really sure what type of meat this is … but it is not refrigerated.
This one either … chicken with all the parts?
And even snake …
This woman is selling jungle medicines, including Ayahuasca.
More jungle medicines for sale.
Looking down the plant medicine aisle at the market.
Fish
… and more fish.
Some kind of animal claws
Mapacho (organic jungle tobacco) is widely used in Shamanic ceremonies.
And even turtles.
On the hardware side …
Final Iquitos Ceremony of the Season
On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, April 20, I took another trip out into the jungle to participate in one final jungle ceremony with my friend Jan.
I was shocked by how high the water levels have risen. The following photos are on the Nanay river, but the level changes are throughout all bodies of water in the region.
This first photo is looking back from my boat toward the home of the boat operator. When I took this same boat for the last time on January 1, 2014, the water level was around 15 or 20 feet lower. From the house down to the river, there was a steep muddy slope, and the bank of the river was at least 40 feet away from the home. Now, the water is lapping at the house itself, just a few feet below their back porch. I had to walk through their house to get onto the boat.
Another view along the river. I wish I had identical photos from four months earlier, showing the water level at the exact same spot.
This lumber yard is right by the boat operator’s house. The area below those huge logs used to be huge piles of orangish-yellow sawdust and wood chips. Now the water is about to float the logs away.
The local people here are used to the water going up and down. Right now is near the end of the rainy season, and the levels are peaking. I am told that the levels have been several feet higher than they are now.
In a previous photo post, I had a picture of some boys playing at the bottom end of this large sunken boat. Now the boat is nearly covered.
These homes are nearly underwater now.
This is a photo taken in December, 2013. It is not the exact same spot, but is similar. Imagine that the water level is now up to the top of the stilts supporting these homes. This gives a good idea of how far the water has risen. It looks like at least 15 feet.
Now back to April 20 … a so-so self portrait.
Another sunken ship along the shoreline.
Just some beautiful cloud effects above the river.
The river is MUCH wider now than it was in December. As the water climbs, it fills in all the lower terrain.
People are still living in these homes … the river way of life.
A low-riding motorized canoe.
Another self-portrait on the river.
The river is so much wider here…
I love these flowering trees across the river.
You cannot tell from the photo, but the current here is also much stronger than it was several months ago. That is the nose of the boat in the bottom right of the image.
Another interesting home, isolated along the shoreline.
We take a shortcut through an area that did not used to be a river.
And another shortcut. I am told this little path takes about five minutes off the journey. The main river took a huge loop around to the left. This little path, that is now filled with water, bypasses the huge loop and skips to the other side, landing us just above the retreat center. When we slipped back out into the Nanay river, I was surprised by how swiftly the current whisked us back downstream.
Coming out the other side of the shortcut, back into the Nanay river. This is a narrower spot where the current was very strong.
Of all these photos, this is one that surprised me the most. When I was here at the “Amaru Spirit” retreat center in December, there was a hill here, and the boat stopped about 100 feet away from the gate (center). Now, the water is right up to the bottom of the fence.
This is a photo taken on January 1, 2014. I was standing by the gate in the previous photo, looking down at the boat on the shore, far below. Today (April 21) the boat is right where I am standing.
And this was also taken on January 1, standing by the boat, looking back up at the fence and open gate — the same gate from two photos ago.
This photo really surprised me too, because when I was at Amaru Spirit on New Years eve, it was up on a hill that seemed way above the river. Now, the river water is approaching the bottom of the ceremonial maloca (building in photo).
The other side of the maloca also has water under it … yes that is river water.
Looking at the maloca from a different angle.
One of the private housing units (tambo) on the property now needs a bridge to get to it. Hopefully, the water won’t go up much further.
Farewell Iquitos
I spent my final eight days in Iquitos resting, typing up the rest of my handwritten journal, and preparing photo posts.
On April 29, 2014 when the time finally felt right to move on, I boarded an early morning plane headed for Lima, where I had a four hour layover before catching another flight for Cusco.
Photos of Cusco will follow at a later date … probably after I finish my blog writing about my three months in deep immersion.
Copyright © 2014 by Brenda Larsen, All Rights Reserved