The River Launcher

August 9, 2000

To get out to the jungle we took the public transportation which is called the "River Launcher" or "Collectivo".  The Collectivo is a 3 story shell of a metal ship, that looked like it MIGHT float long enough to get us where we were going...  

Being one of the only modes of transport up and down the amazon for most locals, they load everything they need:  food, pets, chickens, pigs, fish, clothes, crates and barrels of produce and staples like flour, rice, fire water, beer and Inca Cola. 

With a fair amount of trepidation, and much assurances from our guides, we scuttled down the muddy, trash covered slope, and up the narrow, sagging gang-plank and up onto the launcher deck.  Onboard, (amongst many curious stares at 2 tiny white women and two super tall white guys all with huge packs) we made our way to the passenger deck.  There are no seats on a river launcher, just empty space and structural poles. The options on the passenger deck are to sit, stand, lie on the floor or hang a hammok.  It was going to be a 10 hour journey, ending halfway through the night, so our guides found us spots and helped us hang our hammoks.  

The Port

The Passenger Deck

Our Guide Oscar

The Amazon from the River Launcher deck (squee - I'm on the Amazon!)

Hanging on the Launcher

August 10, 3am (ish)

After 10 dubious hours on the launcher, and one false alarm, our guide woke us up at 3 am and informed us that our stop was coming up...we pulled down and packed up our hammocks, and hauled all of our supplies to the prow of the ship.  

There we stood, straining our eyes for some sign of a port, eventually we realized that the ship was aiming for a faint flicker of light on the shore that looked like a fire fly.  Turns out it was a group of villagers standing on the shore with candles hoping the boat would stop and they could earn a few Soles (Peruvian dollars) by helping carry someone's stuff.  *blink, blink*

Without their desire for a couple of Soles getting them out of bed, there would have been no light marking "our stop" on the shore at all.  As it was, they sort of ran the boat aground and we jumped off (into knee deep water and mud), they threw the rest of our stuff over the side to/at us and we paid a few of the villagers to help us carry our stuff.  

We followed the villagers that now had all of our belongings, and did not speak our language, 30 minutes thru the jungle (keep in mind it is 3:30 am).  Eventually we came to a clearing in the jungle, at the edge of the Yarapa river. There we loaded into small motor boats our guide had rented and were transported to our "compound" about 45 minutes up river from there.