When one lands in Iquitos, Peru, everything immediately acquires a foggy film of some sort; airplane windows, camera lenses, glasses, body, mind and soul.  It’s a bit hot and sticky here.  Iquitos sulks on the banks of the Amazon River smack dab in the middle of the largest equatorial rain forest on the planet.  The city´s tourist propaganda claims she is the largest city in the world that one can not drive to.  One must fly in, or take a boat 2,400 miles up the Amazon.

 We flew.

The city has its distinct ambience.  When we got into town and walked around a bit, well, we knew we´d gone someplace.  Colorful three wheeled moto-taxis are everywhere.  In a sprawling city of 400,000 there are 6,000 of these things we´ve been told, but it seems like more.  Like the locals, we use them when ever we need to go more than a handful of blocks.  The noise they make blasting around town, like thunderous mechanized herds, is at first disconcerting, but we got used to it fairly quickly.  Not only are they inexpensive, about sixty cents for short rides for two or three people, but they have the added beneift of creating a little artificial breeze for the riders.  Did I mention it´s a bit hot and sticky down here?

The locals tell us “Hace frio”, “It´s cold!”  (It is winter down here at the moment)  The folks of Iquitos may know the jungle well and how to get by in an isolated city, but trust me, they don´t know much about “cold.”