The Pink Dolphins and the Brown Water

On the Río Marañón

Christmas and the New Year were getting closer. Bimbino and Bambina had a plan to get till New Year's Eve to Cusco. They had to take a boat as soon as possible. Luckily the boats from Iquitos to Yurimaguas depart daily. The trip would take two and a half days, which was perfect. The monkeys would reach the land just at the right time to celebrate Chrismas in Tarapoto. They got to travel with a boat called Bruno.

The trip from Iquitos to Yurimaguas on the Bruno was quite different to the one with the Arabella-I on the Río Napo. Even that the two boats looked quite similar a lot of factors could not have been more contrary: space, food and hygiene.

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Welcome to the Jungle - Iquitos

Iquitos, Perú

With roughly 600.000 inhabitants Iquitos is one of the biggest Peruvian cities, nevertheless it is situated completely isolated in the Amazon basin, and only connected to the rest of the world by air and water.

Bimbino and Bambina arrived in Iquitos at a port on the Río Itaya, only a couple of hundred meters away of its confluence with the Río Amazon. It was shortly after midnight and still dark outside. Luckily they were able to stay longer on board so they left the Arabella-I only in the early morning hours when the sun was rising. They found ashore a busy harbor side. All cargo had already been landed during the night, not only from Arabella-I but also from a couple of other boats that lay side by side. The embankment seemed to consist from nothing else but plantains, life-stock and barkers looking for the nearest buyers to sell their goods. A scenario that reminded of old pirate movies, a picture that was only altered by the presence of cars and motor-taxis. Motor-taxis are the counterpart to the Tuk-Tuks of Bangkok and can easily be described as a bastard of a rickshaw and a motorbike.


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