Peru Day 3

Peru Day 3: Last night we stayed at a “hotel” in a small town called Puerto Bermudez.  Puerto Bermudez is located along the Peches River which feeds into the Ucayali River which is one of the two rivers that forms the Amazon River.  I use the term “hotel” very loosely in this situation.  Mom, you would never stay at a place like this.  There is no hot water, there is no a/c, the mattresses are not really mattresses, the electricity is known to go out for days, and there are bugs everywhere.

After eating breakfast (freshly scrambled eggs with fresh squeezed pineapple juice), we hit the river.  The journey ahead looked something like this: 17 miles down the Peches River and 30 miles up the Anacayali River, deep water, shallow water (in which we’d have to get out and push the boat), snakes and waterfalls.  It has taken us two days to get to this point and as soon as we hit the river, we were finally in Asheninka territory.  The entire boat ride was filled with beautiful views of Asheninka villages overlooking cliffs/hills above the river.  From this point on, there is no more electricty (minus a generator in one village).  If there was any question before, it cannot be disputed now.  The adventure has officially begun!

At the end of the day, when it was all said and done, we had traveled almost 7 hours by boat, over 40 miles, and arrived at our first Asheninka village, Betania.  The goal was to make it all the way to our final destination, Madre De Dios, but that didn’t happen.  We’ll have to undertake that challenge on Day 4 (which would bring about a whole set of challenges none of us saw coming, including an epic battle with a deadly snake!).

Enjoy the footage from Day 3, and don’t forget to check back tomorrow for Day 4!

~ by Austin W. on May 23, 2009.