Third Day: Up River

June 29

This morning we drove up the only road out of Iquitos to Nauta, up the Amazon river, about an hour and a half by bus where the road ends. Nauta is just above where two rivers join to become the mighty Amazon. There we boarded an historic steamboat, the Ayapua, and continued traveling upriver. Over one hundred years ago, this area was known for its wild rubber trees, which were tapped for their sticky sap, the sap heated and made into large balls of rubber, then shipped downriver to the US and Europe where it was much in demand for tires on that new invention, the automobile. Some people became very rich, and built beautiful boats like this one to collect and carry the rubber out of the rainforest. 

Just before we board the Ayapuya in Nauta and begin our expedition.

The Maranon River which joins the Ucayali River and forms the Amazon.

A young local boy plays with old video tape as our group (with backpacks) wait to get on board.

A small ball of natural rubber

The dining room on the Ayapuya

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I have a small cabin onboard where I sleep, and we all eat together in the dining room, or listen to Richard, the scientist who is in charge of our expedition, talk about the animals found here and the research we will be helping with. We are making slow progress upstream against the river current, and won't reach our destination, deep in the heart of the rainforest, until the end of the day tomorrow.