Lucky Old Sun

Peru 2013

On the riverboat Bruno 333 miles 2 days Yurimaguas to Nauta

We had been on the riverboat “Bruno” yesterday to survey the landscape and see that Walter, a local that Lon has known for years, had set up our hammocks and also to help anticipate the experience. We have cabins and hammocks on the upper deck (premium space).

After eating breakfast, we addressed the usual question: “is the boat leaving at the latest announced time, or will it be later?” We were told the boat would indeed leave a 10:00 so we loaded Nayda with gear bags and extra bicycles into a moto-taxi, hopped on our bikes and rode to the docks, all of a mile or two, but crowded with moto-taxis all seemingly in a rush and headed for the docks. Once at the boat we carried bikes, gear bags and other assorted bags up to the third deck and were ready for departure. 10:00 came and went and the boat was still loading. Finally the boat did leave right on time at 11:30 sharp. Of course I’m being factitious, but the rule is: the boat leaves no earlier than the last announced departure time and when all of the cargo is loaded.

While commonly referred to as an Amazon River cruise the river at Yurimaguas is the Rio Huallagua and it is joined by the Paranapura in Yurimaguas. The river carries lots of silt and as a consequence is muddy. There is also a lot of debris in the river, mostly trees and vegetation that has fallen into the river as a result of the banks falling in. The boat flows downstream with the current at 10-12 miles per hour. As we watch the scenery go by, we see some activity on the river, often a small peke-pekes carrying local people or harvested vegetation. The accommodations are somewhat rustic on the Bruno. The restrooms are on the second deck and flushed with river water. The overhead showers are in the same compartments as the toilets. Needless to say, some of us opted to remain au natural throughout the voyage. We are settling in, watching the jungle go by. An occasional settlement attracts attention, but otherwise we’re in hammocks reading and passing time. We will not be using the cabins except to securely stow our gear bags. Then the rain began. As the storm increased in intensity and the wind blew across the deck, our hammocks were no longer comfortable and we sought shelter in our cabins. The cabins have a double bunk and about 24 inches of space from the door to the back of the cabin to access the bunks. We crawled into the bunks and stowed our gear bags under the lower bunk. The rain on the roof was enjoyable because we were no longer getting wet.
The boat we are on makes frequent stops in the middle third of its journey with either end of the route served by smaller boats delivering harvests and supplies to nearby villages. Our first stop was at 3:15 in the morning after nearly 15 hours of travel in Lagunas. The village is the site of a world famous wild-life preserve. People and cargo embarked and disembarked as the boat grounded itself on the shoreline. Meeting the boat is a big deal in the villages and seemingly everyone turns out.

We delivered school books to children in jungle villages along the way. We would hop off the boat when it docked, ask the captain how much time we had, ascertain the location of the school and find the principal of the school, explain what we wanted to do, be introduced in a classroom, and pass out books individually to children, inevitably to great appreciation with wide smiles. For one delivery the captain let us take the speed boat. We hoped into the speedboat and sped ahead to the village. We delivered the books, collected the smiles and appreciation of the principal and teachers, ran back to the speed boat and caught up with the Bruno and embarked “on the fly”. For some locales, this is how the locals connect with the Bruno, pulling up alongside and loading or unloading cargo or passengers.