Monkey business: Jungle adventure to the Yarapa River

Right before Christmas, two of our friends, Leo and Adrian, brought Elin and I on a jungle adventure on the Yarapa river, about five hours from Iquitos. Our friend Adrian spent a good deal of his childhood here, so he was able to show us around. Highlights included feeding wild monkeys (video below); a hike through the forest, with lots of medical plants and beautiful flowers; our friend called Mr. Tarantula; and learning Peruvian cooking over open fire.

Arriving at the Yarapa River.

Elin and I with Miguel, who is in charge of "the dophins's corner," the lodge where we stayed.

In the living room, there was a large collection of tropical snakes and skulls. I had a little mediation session in front of one of the bottles with a snake in it to cure my fear..

Lush jungle.. Leo, our other friend, peaking back from the tip of the boat.

One afternoon, we brought with us bananas, peanuts, and crackers, and took the boat down the river in search of monkeys. Though the monkeys are wild, there are a few hotels along the river, so when we found a pack of monkeys and started holding out bananas, they were not shy.. Crawling all over us and into the boat, they did not leave until all the food was gone. So much fun!

Elin holding out a handful of peanuts. They disappeared pretty quickly...

I have not laughed so much in a long time, with monkeys crawling all over me, and reaching into my pockets to get their hands on the crackers.

Adrian, another one of our friends, who spent a few years of his childhood in this area, showed us around.

I walked into the bathroom one morning, and to my surprise found a decently sized tarantula spider hanging out by the mirror (see right above Elin´s forehead). I asked the boys if they thought he was dangerous, but they shrugged it off and said it only attacks when it feels threatned. He was a quiet little guy (he stayed by the mirror the whole time we were there, moving only a few centimeters from day to day), so we learned to love him! :)