So I finally left Coca, to head to the border of Peru and take a jungle boat down to Iquitos... I figured that I would have to have some really bad luck to need to wait any more than a few days in Pantoja, Peru for one of the two boats a month that make the trip. I got on the canoe downstream to Rocafuerte, and did my 9 hours. Once there, I found out that no one would help me contact people in Pantoja and find out about the boat... So I decided to head down the next day (since there was no water in Rocafuerte... ya know..) to Pantoja and find out for myself. After negotiating a price the next morning for myself and two other backpackers in town, we set out downstream in a small canoe.
It took about 3 hours to get there, and after checking in with the local military post, the imigration officer laughed as he told us we missed the boat by two days, and that the next one would (maybe) come in 2 weeks. With this in mind, I looked around the little village the size of a city block and decided that this journey was gonna have to wait for another day. I hopped in a canoe of students who had cruised into town an hour after ours and made my way back to Rocafuerte for the night. I planned to take the normal canoe back to Coca the next day, but the students assured me that they had arranged a "fast boat" to Coca and I could join them for the same price.
The next morning, I skeptically looked at the canoe that looked no faster than any others (especially since it had a smaller moter than most of the others) but joined the group anyhow, wanting to get back to Coca and on the road as soon as possible. Sure enough, my instincts and basic logical deductions proved true and our 7 hour journey actually took 12 hours, with the last hour or so on the river without any light (since the captain forgot to pack one) trying to dodge the numerous trees and sandbars that litter the river. It was in interesting evening, and I was glad when we finally pulled into port. Late, but alive.
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| My ticket downstream to Rocafuerte, on the Ecuador-Peru border. |
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| The man in my boat was wearing a Las Vegas hat... its funny how small the world is sometimes! |
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| Leaving Coca under ominous skies |
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| Vanessa, an engineer workingon the construction of a new Mellinium School in Rocafuerte, taking a nap after describing the difficulties of building in the Amazon. She later gave me a tour of the site. |
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| Nothing screams professionalism for your police force than having their logo apparently hand drawn by a small child... |
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| The fine center of naval activity in Rocafuerte |
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| Plowing up the mighty Coca on this gray morning |
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| In case you were curious what a $15 dollar ticket gets ya... a seat between a box of chickens and a large stack of eggs... |
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| About to head downriver to Pantoja with our new capitan after our arranged capitan never showed up... |
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| A family headed upstream in the early morning heat |
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| Small canoes and big rivers, our canoe headed to Pantoja |
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| I always wonder if Coca Cola knows its got signs in places like this... |
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| The soldier who greeted us in Pantoja, surrouded by a swarm of butterflies on a sweltering afternoon on the Coca river |
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| Welcome to Pantoja, Peru |
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| A beautiful Pantoja afternoon, with the Peruvian flag flapping in the breeze |
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| The small canoe I caught back from Pantoja for $5... it was hot and crowded with students from Quito, but better than $60 or waiting narly 2 weeks for the boat to Iquitos. |
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| The sunset over Rocafuerte as we cruised back into town from Pantoja |
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| A giant yellow tree of life on the side of the river |
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| A mother and daughter making their way upstream in a tiny canoe |
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| Some of the river traffic coming back to Coca |
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| The fire from petroleum operations illuminating the river for us as we went up the river without any lights |
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| The bridge lights as we dock in Coca |
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