Iquitos, Peru - Amazon - Explorama Lodge - Part 1

[raybman]

We entered the Amazon Jungle through Iquitos, Peru. This city is a gateway to many Amazonian lodges and riverboat trips. I discovered the Explorama Lodge through recommendations and their web site. I was impressed with their prompt responses to my emails and their informative web site. There were a few other lodges that caught my eye, but Explorama had the options I was looking for and date flexibility I needed.

Our Explorama guide picked us up in the morning at our hostel in Iquitos. Being our first time heading to the Amazon, we were a bit apprehensive to give the guide our return plane tickets and passports. Earlier we found that Explorama was considered to be one of the best jungle lodges and had very good reputation, so we gave in. Two reasons why they wanted these items; one, so they could confirm our flights form Iquitos since there will not be any phones at the lodge, and two, as a security/safety issue. Passports would not be needed at the lodge and it was not uncommon for guests to misplace or accidentally destroy their documents. Coincidentally, two days before we arrived at the lodge, some guests lost their return tickets, so the Explorama people had to scramble around to help them get replacements. What I never did figure out was if this policy was just started when we arrived? Since they collect these documents, how did the guests lose them if Explorama collects them? Did Explorama lose them? Hmm…Well… all of this turned out to be a non-issue, and we found they had our best interests in mind.

The boat trip from Iquitos was nearly 2 hours to our final destination. Explorama owns several lodges; Cieba Tops, which is more like a 4 star hotel only 25 miles outside Iquitos; Explorama Lodge (were we stayed) is about 50 miles down river from Iquitos; ExploraNapo Lodge (Canopy Walk location) which is about 100 miles down river. Explorama owns other facilities, which you can read about on their web site. All offer trip experiences that you can customize depending on your own desires. This aspect I thought was wonderful because we were able to go and see what we wanted and not be dragged down by other less motivated visitors.

Segundo was our guide for our entire stay at the lodge. Since we visited in May, the lodge wasn’t very busy. I arranged this trip myself so we did not have to follow a tour group’s schedule. This also meant that it was just the 3 of us, and our guide.

The Explorama lodge accommodations are simple and a bit rustic. Rooms are lined up in a long house with a thatched roof. The rooms are separated by a wall/partition but there isn’t a ceiling. All beds come with mosquito netting and light linens. A washbasin is in the room, but cold-water showers are located in a separate building. They do keep filtered drinking water outside the rooms and put no limitations on its use. Covered paths connected all buildings, which is great if it rains, otherwise you would be always sliding around in mud. There is a separate dining area connected to the kitchen and a hammock area to relax in. And of course separate outhouse type of huts for restrooms. A little rustic, but the sleeping quarters are not much different than the jungle homes we saw all around. If you must have a flushing toilet and air conditioning, stay in Cieba Tops.

See Part 2 posting to continue…