Willa and I wanted to collaborate on our comments and we’ve taken more time than we intended to catch up with each other.

Our trip to Muyuna Lodge was quite an adventure.  We started out being about 3 hours late due to a delay in our flight out of Cusco.  There was no one in Iquitos to meet us.  We finally found someone in the airport who reached Muyuna’s local office (our cell phones had no service) and they agreed to pay for a taxi to bring us to their location.  (We ended up with one of the little local moto-taxis, which was quite a fun trip in itself.)  Mario and the ladies in the Iquitos office were very lovely once we got there and even brought us sandwiches as we had missed lunch by several hours.  Since the boat to the Lodge had left long ago, Kuoda arranged for a private boat to take us upriver, for which we were very grateful.  When we got to the tributary to take us to the Lodge, we had to change from the boat that brought us from Iquitos.  We were met in a small boat by Boris (the Lodge manager) and a boat driver.  The river was very low on the day we arrived and we got badly stuck in the mud trying to get up the tributary.  Boris, the boat driver, and a local who was passing by jumped into the river and pushed and pulled to get us unstuck.  It was quite the effort….luckily it was successful and we were on our way.
We were the only Americans at the Lodge during our stay, and we enjoyed meeting other guests from all over the world.  There were only 10 of us staying there, so it was a small and congenial group.  Our cabin was quite rustic, but comfortable, and the staff were all very pleasant.  Some highlights while we were there were piranha fishing and visiting the local village.  We also enjoyed the jungle walks and the evening boat excursion.  We saw lots of beautiful birds, but were a little disappointed that there were not many animals, other than a small number of monkeys.  We did not realize that when the water level is low, it is more difficult to see animals since the boats can’t get back into the jungle where many of the animals stay.  While we had a good time and enjoyed what we saw, a better wildlife viewing time of year might be at the end of the rainy season when the water is still high and boats can navigate further back in the jungle.
Overall, we had a wonderful stay in Peru.  We very much appreciated meeting you, Mery, as well as Edson and Victoria.  We especially liked being able to customize our trip and to have the personal attention that all of you provided.  And, our guide, Pilar, was a pleasure in every way, as was our driver, Marco.  All of you made it a very special trip and we are happy to recommend you to anyone who hopes to visit your lovely country.

Thanks again to all of you.