A crew of 11, including two captains and two naturalists, took very good care of the 15 of us on the tour, the only passengers on the boat. The boat has only 12 cabins, all with air conditioning, picture windows, two comfortable single beds, a desk, a personal supply of bottled water, 24 hour electricity, and warm water showers in a bathrobe supplied bathroom larger than the one in my home (which admittedly isn't saying much, but still, it was quite roomy). Laundry was available and included in the price. If our boots got dirty while trekking through the rain forest (heaven forbid!), we just put them outside our doors and they would magically be cleaned. Twice daily fresh towels would appear in our cabins, the first set appearing as wonderful origami creations of such things as a flower, a boat, a Nordic boot, or a dog (with your glasses and hat on it if available) .

Excellent meals were included and served buffet style in the floor to ceiling glassed in dining room on top deck. Dinners always included at least three choices of main course, and always included local specialties. Desserts always included ice cream, often flavored by local fruits. And we had cloth napkins, no less. The front of that deck was open air and covered, with fans turned on when the boat was stopped while we sat at the table sipping a cold beer from the bar while listening to crew members play Peruvian music on Pan Pipes, Charango, and Guitar (quite good), and sing local songs (which got better with the amount of beer I consumed...).

Contrast this with where we were. After 1 hour out of Iquitos, a major port city of the upper Amazon, I saw evidence of electricity off of boats only twice in the 400 miles we covered in a week. We would pass by and occasionally visit Individual houses on stilts and tiny villages, all subsisting on fishing and farming tiny plots carved only a short distance into the forest. (All farming is done by hand. No tractors.) The rest was raw, undeveloped rain forest containing thick green vegetation with lots of animals, some dangerous, and with about 70% of the land under water for half of the year (which is why there are almost no roads - too expensive, or impossible to build). We explored mostly via a small, fast skiff that could carry about 20 people max, which took us up side creeks and sloughs, to remote trailheads where we ventured inland on foot (once over a 4 suspension bridge canopy walk), and to small villages and individual homes for visits. The weather was often hot. But no problem. Just about the time we would get a bit uncomfortable, face cloths that had been moistened with water and frozen would come out of a cooler, and cold bottled water would be provided from a jug. Ahh! And of course, a shower and a cold beer, along with air conditioning, would be waiting for us upon our return to our boat "home".

I could get used to this.

A typical experience: We stepped out of our air conditioned river boat onto a trail headed deep into the hot, humid rain forest. Stepping cautiously past dangerously spiked trees (never lean against a tree in the rain forest - the thorns hurt like hell), we cautiously approached a swamp surrounded by quicksand and overseen by twenty large and noisy Hoatzin, the most primitive bird in the forest. They seemed to be waiting for a tourist to make a mistake and die. (I know, they are vegetarian - but they sure look scary.)

Surviving that experience, upon our return, a local family living in a house on stilts offered to sell us hand made necklaces. I bought one made from snake bones, tiny hardened local fruits, plastic beads (presumably local...), and the teeth of a Piranha partially covered by a large, hard scale of the huge (6 foot) Paiche fish. Then I bought a pretty, less dangerous looking one for my S.O. Our comfortable river boat welcomed us back with cold towels and an icy beer.

Yes... this is the way to see a jungle.

Actually, that is about the extent of the development of tourism in the area. Toward the end of a land activity we would find a few families having set up tables with a few hand made baskets or pieces of jewelry they would shyly offer to us for very little money. No hotels, no restaurants, no taxis (no roads), no phones, no intent,nothing. Very peaceful, and very "real".

The Amazon, including its longest tributary (Rio Ucatali) is about 4,500 miles long. Guides in Ecuador will tell you that the Amazon originates in that country, because its river, Rio Naipo, starts there. But the much longer Rio Ucatali feeds the Amazon with water all the way from Machupichu, so guides from Peru will tell you the Amazon originates there. Apparently the source of the river is a matter of national pride, so be sure you know where the person with whom you are speaking came from before discussing this.

Now it is possible to travel up and down the river on public transportation in considerably less comfort than I experienced. The "ferries" had open air decks, wooden benches for seats, and no air conditioning. Bring your own hammock. No side trips. No naturalists. Authentic and cheap. (But I think I prefer my way.) There are a few lodges a few hours boat ride from Iquitos, but they aren't anywhere near the reserve. In Iquitos you can hire private guides to take you into the reserve, but you will be camping. I kind of got used to my air conditioning, thank you.

River traffic is mostly flat bottomed canoes, mostly hand paddled, occasionally powered by ancient outboard motors. Occasional rafts would be seen floating down the river, carrying bananas and other harvested crops, wood, and the people who would sell them in Iquitos. The trip takes many days. The people sleep on the rafts and cook over open fires. Upon arrival in Iquitos, the goods and the wood making up the raft are sold. The families keep only the rudder, and maybe an outboard motor, and then would return by ferry.

There are no navigational aids on this part of the river. No lights, no buoys, nothing. Yet our captains still navigated at night, using a spotlight to see the shoreline. Only fog would stop them. They always knew exactly where they were, as if they had G.P.S. hardwired into their brains. It was like the days must have been in the 19th century when Samuel Clemmons (Mark Twain) piloted river boats on the Mississippi.

Our two naturalist guides were simply outstanding. They are former hunters, aged in their 30's, who have lived in the area all of their lives. One of them had studied to be a shaman for half a year. They knew every plant and every animal species living in the rain forest by name. Had it not been for them, we would have passed by 90% of the wildlife we saw without ever knowing it was there. (Never visit a rain forest without a naturalist guide. Without that guide you would miss most everything interesting there is to see.) They knew the people we visited, the history of the area, and the current political problems it suffers. Their knowledge was absolutely phenomenal.

We saw birds, a big Iguana, birds, 2 and 3 toed sloths, birds, monkeys (Squirrel, Saddleback Tamarín, and Pigmy Marmoset, the smallest of all monkeys), huge ugly beetles, beautifully colored beetles, Piranhas, birds, White Necked Herons, a zillion species of insects, Parakeets, Dolphins (both Pink and Grey), a deer, bats, more birds, a huge tarantula, Blue and Gold Macaws, wasps nests (1 huge), and on and on. Of course the forest was thick with a zillion species of green plants and trees, many of which have not yet been identified or categorized or evaluated for usefulness by outsiders. (Only the Shamans know which ones are medicinal, but researchers from pharmaceutical companies are now asking them about this.)

Did I mention birds? The birders among us "got" 139 species in 5 days. If you are a birder, you know what that means. If not, you don't care.

Some interesting stuff seen and learned:

• The Walking Palm tree "walks" 2 ft/year towards the sun. It does this by putting out new roots from its trunk.
• If you burn a termite nest, the smoke repels mosquitoes. If you soak it in water and then bathe in that water, your human smell is masked to forest mammals. (You smell like wood.) Useful to anyone seeking animals.
• The Tree Climbing Frog leaves its tadpoles in water in large leaves in the canopy of the forest. The frog is poisonous because it eats fire ants and then processes them to make an even better poison.
• The Yellow Rum Cacique (a very pretty bird with a bright yellow bottom, a yellow patch on each of its wings, a white beak, and otherwise black) makes its home near a wasp nest. It has made peace with the wasps (I wish I knew how), and the wasps protect it from its predators (who would otherwise eat its eggs). Once one of these birds finds a suitable wasp nest, it calls others to nest nearby, forming a large community.
• When Africa and South America were the same Continent, the Amazon River flowed east to west, starting in Africa and ending in the Pacific Ocean. (Yes, the African part has been found, dry). The formation of the Andes and the separation of the two continents caused the flow of the river to reverse and cut off the Pacific. There was a big lake for a time, in which animals were trapped. They either evolved (e.g., the Pink Dolphin), adapted (e.g., the turtles), or died. Then the river broke through to the Atlantic, allowing species from there to migrate up the river and adapt (e.g. the Grey Dolphin).
• Dry and wet seasons are defined by the level of the river, not the amount of rainfall. The later is pretty constant (250 days per year of rain, often quite spectacular, with continuous thunder and lightning and rain so thick you would think you could drown in it). (Yeh, I wrote that during one of those storms.) Dry season is June - December. Not many mosquitoes then, but the tour can't get as far into the rain forest. Wet is the other months. Lots of mosquitoes, but the skiff can get farther into the forest.
• People plant crops on the exposed river beds when the river is low 6 months of the year. Mostly rice, and some vegetables. The birds love the rice, so we saw many colorful scarecrows.
• The region has its particular dangers. Recently before we arrived a child was bitten by a poisonous snake. Knowing he had only a few hours to live, he was rushed by boat to a local small clinic in a nearby village for anti venom. But the clinic did not have the anti venom. There not nearly enough time to evacuate the child to Iquitos. He died. (Our river boat carried anti venom, just in case one of us were to get bitten.)
• Mosquitoes are more abundant in the woods, especially if you aren't moving much. Said one woman after what was apparently her first pee in the woods: "Now I know why all of the early explorers were men."

• I learned (actually re-learned) this the hard way: Cardinal, never to be forgotten rule of the Tropics: When it is dark outside, always turn off the lights before opening a door. When I opened the door after dark with a light on inside, a zillion phototropic bugs entered the room with me. And never forget to turn off all of the lights in a room before leaving it for the last time before dark. (If there is porch light available outside the door, though, there is not too much of a problem if you forget. Just turn it on, turn off the light inside, and open the door. Out go most of the bugs. Woosh!)
• Another lesson learned the hard way: Never buy jewelry with a shell on it without first sniffing the shell to see if the animal who was living in it is still inside (alive or otherwise). If it lives or died there, you will find out eventually. Better to do so before you buy the thing.

• We had our spirits cleansed by a Shaman. The guy with the most condescending and disrespectful look on his face got the longest treatment.
• We enjoyed wonderful lunch provided to us by a woman and her husband and their 5 1/2 children. (Yes, the government is promoting family planning, but the Catholic Church seemed to be winning in this household.) They were living in an open air 3 room wood home on stilts, protected from the rain by a bamboo thatched roof. (Typical housing on the river.) The house was tied together with vines. It had been hand constructed by the owner and his children. The family makes its living from fishing and a tiny farm surrounding the house. Chickens (with many chicks) and pigs roamed loose. The main course was a wonderful fish dish with spices, surrounded by a large local leaf, and barbecued. The 9 foot fish had been caught that morning. An outstanding sauce was made from unknown local ingredients. (U.S. chefs would pay dearly for the recipe,if they could find the ingredients.) A white, milky drink turned out to be a wonderfully sweet treat made from the Yuca root. This and lots of other stuff I didn't know the name of were served on a table consisting of 4 very large leaves laid out on the floor of the main room of the house.
• We visited a school of about 100 children in the village of San Francisco (a very different place than the one I know). The whole village turned out to meet us and to watch the kids perform songs and dances.
• We visited the two side by side villages of Por Venier and Nueva Esparanza. For reasons perhaps long forgotten, the original village decided to split in two. The total population of both is only about 200 people.
  • Por Venir has a K-12 school that included modern agricultural studies, an electric system with street lights (but the generator was broken), friendly pigs, and dirt paths. The pig enjoyed having its belly rubbed, and was named Ramon. (I'm not sure I could eat a pig whose name I knew and whose belly I had rubbed.)
  • In contrast, Nueva Exparanza has only an elementary school and no electricity, but had sidewalks, a septic sewer system, and a soccer field. It housed the major business there, a small sugar cane still producing rum, powered by local wood. (About half a liter of 80 proof rum cost us about US 66 cents - and tasted like it, according to the "experts" in our group.)

Note: You can get a $50 discount on your first trip with Overseas Adventure Travel and give me some referral credit towards my next trip with them by telling them that Gary Steiger, customer number 686610, referred you to them. Please tell me you have done this so I can keep track of any credits due me. Thanks.