A week on a cargo boat on the Ucayali & Amazon River: adventure or regret?

August 12, 18:24

We just had dinner, and now we’re making coffee on the deck. Mike brought his little stove and French press with him, so we have the luxury of being able to make coffee whenever we want. We’re looking at the beautiful sunset colors, and at this moment, I am actually happy. The rest of the day has been hard.

We arrived on the boat around 04:00 in the night and left the harbor about 4,5 hours later (they said it was gonna leave at 05:00). But ever since then, we barely moved - the boat is now stuck for the second time. One floor is filled with chickens. Even on our floor, where the people sleep, they packed some chickens. This resulted in people needing to move their hammocks, so now, we’re all cramped up together, even more than before. When we entered the boat, people were sleeping under our hammocks, literally under us. During the day, they did move back a little bit, but only a little. And this little to no personal space is hard for me. Also, people keep staring at you. I mean, I get it, they don’t see a lot of tourists on these boats, but at least try to hide it a little or say hello or something. I’m hoping it gets easier as we go.

These moments of making our coffee and enjoying the sunset make it at least a little bit better.

man staring outside on hammock, amazon boat, peru — *Man looking outside on a hammock, Amazon boat, Peru.*

August 13, 10:38

I’m looking at a small monkey sitting and screaming next to me. He’s tied up with a rope to bags of wood chips. He belongs to one of the children here on the boat. I know this because I actually made friends with the children. They were super curious about us and kept asking questions, really cute.

So right now, I am sitting in the fresh, moving air. FINALLY. Cause after about 17 hours of being stuck, we are finally moving! We left yesterday around 8:30 in the morning, and 26 hours later, we only got 30 km further. And it was getting annoying. It was getting warmer and warmer, and the smell of the chicken living on this boat only got worse. Even though the sides of the boat are open, you’d think the wind would blow through, but that doesn’t happen. So, really, really happy that we’re finally moving.

baby monkey on amazon boat, peru — *Baby monkey on the Amazon boat, Peru.*

August 14, 18:31

We are off the boat! Only for a little while cause we stopped in this town Contamana for the night. So we’re now hunting down some food to bring back on the boat. And it’s soooo nice to walk in the fresh air with space around you.

Ohh and we saw a couple of river dolphins, so cool! I also walked around to make some photos and the kids LOVED the camera so we did a whole photoshoot. Oh and almost forgot, we also saw a big tarantula walking around on the boat. I had never seen one in the wild but they are way less scary than I thought, he even looked kinda cuddly with his hairy body. We named him Wilfred.

August 15, 12:34

People are filthy and gross and have no respect for boundaries and personal space. This place is what I imagine hell must be like. The bathrooms are disgusting. The food is just rice, pasta noodles and a little bit of chicken. No vegetables or anything nutritious whatsoever. People keep bumping into my hammock cause they made a camping spot right under here. The smell of the chickens is becoming worse by the minute. Babies are crying and just like them, I don’t want to be here. Fuck this ‘adventure’.

14:36

Okay, I might have overreacted. Hell is a strong word to describe this place. It comes close, but too strong of a word. Also, when writing that, they stopped the boat again to load even more stuff on here. Now, after four hours, we are moving again, and everything is just a lot more bearable when you’re moving forward. Looking at the map, we did maybe 1/4 of the journey, but at least we’re going somewhere. They said we should arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday (today is Tuesday), so that’s obviously not gonna happen. I am just hoping that from now on, we keep moving.

18:07

It’s actually really nice. Some people have gathered on the deck to watch the sunset. And it’s just so beautiful. From all the shades of blue to a purple and pink glow to a line of soft yellow transitioning to orange. The boat is still moving and at this moment I am really happy that we’re able to experience this.

sunset colors on amazon river, peru — *Sunset colors on Amazon river, Peru.*

August 16, 20:44

5 days on the River: 1 book finished, two books halfway finished, and six podcasts further, and we are not even halfway there. They keep saying that tomorrow we’ll arrive in Raquena and the day after at our destination: Iquitos. But looking at the map and the speed we’re going, it can hardly be true. In Raquena, they are gonna unload all the chickens, which I can’t wait for. The smell is insanely bad. Also, some of these chickens keep dying here, and a woman was just plucking one of them right next to our hammocks. Just please do that in the kitchen or anywhere else but here, where we sleep. This whole place grosses me out.

August 17, 07:03

The mornings are both the hardest of the day and the most beautiful. The hardest cause I remember where I am. And the most beautiful cause the sunrise and the colors are very pretty. The people here all wake up naturally around sunrise. And I do have to say, they do take care of themselves and the way they look. They get themselves ready for the day. Even if that day is on this cargo boat. They also try to keep the ‘living’ area clean and regularly wash their clothes. And the kids all help. The kids also all play with each other and keep themselves entertained, no iPads or phones or anything. I guess for them, it’s just normal life that goes on, and it doesn’t matter if that is on or off the boat.

16:54

More chickens died. The kids I made friends with, a brother and a sister of 9 and 7 years old, just walked past my hammock together with their mom. Waving with one hand and holding a dead chicken with the other. ‘Hola, hola,’ super happy and completely unbothered. It’s great that the people immediately go to work to prepare the chicken and make sure it doesn’t go to waste. And all the people here, kids included, at least know where their food is coming from.

August 18, 20:07

Another boat day and this day was like all the other days. We wake up around sunrise, and from the hammocks, we watch the rest of the people on the boat do their morning ritual. When the kitchen announces breakfast is ready, I take my own breakfast (bread with avocado) down to the front of the boat. There, I can enjoy the morning in silence, just looking out on the river and listening to all the birds waking up in the Amazon rainforest. Then, when the sun gets too strong, I return to the hammock and spend the rest of the day doing the following things: reading a book, listening to a podcast, and staring at the water to try and spot wildlife. Sometimes, we make a cup of coffee, mostly to have something to do. We have lunch around 12 and dinner around 6. Every day consists of rice and noodles with chicken for lunch and rice or noodles with chicken soup for dinner. Then, after dinner, we watch the sunset, and when the mosquitoes get too annoying, we return to the hammocks and watch a movie. And then we go to sleep around 9 or 10, cause, you know, this busy life gets you tired.

Oh and yesterday was the first time the boat kept going through the night. So we took this opportunity to go stargazing at the front of the boat. (When the boat is not moving the mosquitoes get too bad). We could see the whole milky way and just so many stars. Amazing!