My trip to Peru was fantastic – a royal adventure, even dangerous at times. Fortunately, my son and I had trustworthy and competent guides who advised us well every step of the way, plus provided us with wonderful food, good water, comfortable accommodations and lots of exploration and adventures. We were often the only Gringos around, as it was off-season, and the river we went up to their camp was extraordinarily low, plus, we arrived in the dead of night, Ruber using a flashlight to watch for trees in the river that we could get hung up on. But each time I was uncertain, I simply had to look at the faces of Ruber, or his father, or Christian to know we were fine, that they knew what to do, were prepared for almost anything, and that we could rely on them over and over.
Ruber and his family tailored our trip to our needs, giving us access to a remarkable shaman, as well as shuttling us around Iquitos at the beginning and end of the trip, letting us explore its finer points and attractions and experience life in the tropics, including ingesting giant worms cooked on sticks – amazingly tasty.
The most amazing was being cut off from all communications, conveniences and normal things one relies on. We bathed in the river, fished for and ate piranha, drank delicious water from vines fresh cut in the jungle. We were treated special but also as family – it was share and share alike. My son and I both found the trip, its adventures, its moments that shone light into our darkest regions, as life-changing and a vantage point from which to re-assess our lives back in so-called civilization. We also came away with enormous respect for Ruber and his family – our guides and cooks, and their friend from the Jaguar people who also guided us and taught us things about his peoples.
The trip was worth every penny and we found ourselves wishing we could afford to be even more generous. To go into the wild, to have an extreme expedition, you need guides you can trust, who know the territory, who care about your experience, and whom give you the freedom to make your own discoveries. Ruber and his family provided exactly that and we came away satisfied, with many stories to tell, and refreshed, renewed and changed, ready to re-enter our lives but with new eyes and senses.