Iquitos day 3

Yesterday was a bit rainy and cloudy and rainy. The internet was not working well. So no blog update was possible.

It was the second day in a row that I didn't have plans locked in for the day. Same as yesterday at breakfast, the topic always comes up, "What are you doing today". Luckily for me another guy was interested in going to the monkey rescue center.

The rescue center is located on an island called, "Isla de Monos" monkey island. We both had a few task to take care of first so we met about an hour later.

We caught a tuk-tuk for 10 soles (about $3 usd) and headed to Puerto de Productores to catch a local fast boat to Isla de Monos. No reservation is required at the rescue center as long as you arrive during business hours.

We boarded the boat and then started our wait until the boat filled up.

We waited close to an  hour before heading out onto the river. We cruised up the river about 30 minutes before being told this is our stop. Another girl had joined the boat to go the monkeys, so there were 3 of us. 

We were a bit confused, we all understood, it was only 1 boat ride to the isla. But, when we arrived we were approach by another boat driver that said we had to take another smaller boat, a peque peque, to the isla. We had no choice but to believe him, we were in the middle of the rainforest with no other options.

The peque peque was another 25 minute ride to reach the isla. By the time we arrived we were more at ease that he was telling us the truth. This peque peque boat would wait for us, the 1 1/2 hours that we would be at the rescue center to take us back to where we would again catch a fast boat back to Iquitos.

The rescue center is located on 450 hectares of land. Most of the monkeys roam freely in the forest, There are some monkey that are too big for the trees in the area are in quaranteen or are aggressive with people and other monkeys. They live in large cages. The rescue center is home to 7 different species of monkey. 

When we arrived we roamed around close the facility, with a guide who pointed out all the monkeys and told us there species and names. Yes, they have named all the monkeys.

The monkeys don't wander off, because they know this is were the food is.

Later we hike deeper into the rain forest to see other monkeys that were a bit more shy.

We were fortunate to also see a couple sloths.

When our tout was finished, be headed back to the peque peque for our ride back to catch a fast boat to Iquitos.

The peque peque forunately does not wait for the boat to fill. When new guest arrive to go to money island, we board and leave. He waits and takes us back.

That is not the same for the fast boat. So when we got back to meet a fast boat, we again had to wait over a half hour for the boat to fill before heading out. Just as we were ready to leave, another fast boat arrived and we had to switch boats. Once we were all re loaded, we headed back to Iquitos.

By the time we got back, it was after 5pm. We caught a tuk-tuk to head back to the hostel.