The 10 days with Lou seemed to fly by. Just like a new pair of shoes, a bit uncomfortable at first but after a little wear your best friend, Iquitos grew on Lou. She fell in love with the same street kids that I have grown to love, Ruth, Shadow, Victoria, Anthony, Johnny and Adriana. Surprisingly she also fell in love with riding our motorcycle through the streets, dodging motokars, people, dogs and trash. Who would have thought I would even get Lou on the back of a motorcycle? More than once we were caught in a tropical downpour as the rain drenched us and reminded us of how we used to play in the rain as kids. The adventures to Poppy’s house to visit the girls or sitting on the corner talking to the expats, Lou fit right into the Iquitos shoe.
We started some new adventures as we worked to document the historical buildings of Iquitos from the rubber baron era and worked to get Ruth into school. Both are works in progress that I will be blogging about in the future, but first we are headed for a new adventure, Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, a bucket list item for me.
We started our new adventure in Green fashion as we landed in Lima. Our lodging was a little short of glamorous, a hostel called the Dragon Fly. A tiny room with two beds crammed in, on a roof top; no air, no fan and a shared bathroom. My favorite part was that it was in the heart of Mira Flores only $20 a night.We did a bit of antique shopping and mixed roughing it with a little luxury by going back to Astrid Gaston; probably the nicest restaurant in Lima and famous around the world for their cerviche. Lou concurred it is the best she has ever had. It was a one night spark for our next 10 days as we traverse South America headed for Rio.