On the way to the rescue center.
The window to the Amazon.
Tico or Moto
Touring Belen
By Andrea
Upon arriving into a much different climate in Iquitos, we were welcomed by our fans in our rooms as we whined about the percentage of humidity. We had met a tour guide the evening before, and we agreed to go on a half-day tour from 8:45 am to 1:00pm. We began our day with a van ride to the Manatee Rescue Center, approx. 14 kilometers outside of the city. Manatees are the largest mammals that live in the Amazon river and they are unfortunately endangered. Manatee mothers are often illegally captured and killed and their babies sold to the black market. So this rescue center works closely with the Dallas Aquarium Center. The center will receive calls from the police department whenever there is a manatee in need of help. The center will rehabilitate manatees for two years before releasing them into protected national parks/lands. The center also rehabilitates parrots, sloths, otters, monkeys, and tortoises. It was an incredible sight for us all, and we proceeded on finishing up the tour with a pit stop at a local fresh fruit stand on the street. We were able to taste a variety of tropical Peruvian fruit - they were definitely new to our taste buds!! We kept on asking for more!
After a few minutes of driving, we found ourselves in downtown and bumped into two friendly police officers who took a liking to us. We decided that we would go to Belen, a floating shantytown a few minutes out of downtown, so we took ticos (city motorcycle taxis) to the port. The police officers decided to follow us and took the boat tour with us! I guess we were well-liked and well-protected. The boat tour took 40 minutes and we had two groups on two boats paddling among the floating houses. The people may live in poverty, but they certainly are real happy. We were glad that we took this opportunity to learn about cultural values and differences. We wrapped up the day at a simple restaurants where we all ordered extra large frozen lemonade drinks!
