August, 2015
In the morning, I leave with my host to Quistochocha, the zoological park, nature park, botanic garden, and lake, on the carretera just beyond the airport out of Iquitos. It’s very beautiful, with big old trees, green ponds, and a large beach. However, the animals are mostly in cages: some large, some too small; a few animal exhibits are closed at the time of visit — the pink dolphin, for example.
The Puma and Jaguar are majestic but pace back and forth nervously…one Puma has a tiny cage without a tree or any natural habitat. The elegant Trigrillos do a little better, but their cages are still too small. These are like apartments in Lima, I joke. How can we not feel bad about this?
Several monkey types live here, including the black spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, choro, and maquizapa.
The Roncoco, a large rodent similar to capybara, are well represented too. The Lobo del Rio (river otter), with his awesome cry, swims around for the tourists. There is a girl walking around with a Boa ready for photos, while an Anaconda moves slowly in a nearby enclosure.
After the animals, we walk further into the woods where the botanic garden is, with traditional medicine herbs of Amazonia. There is one very old tree to hug back here. Back at the cocha (lake or lagoon) we eat juane d’arroz, drink sweet wine, and swim to 80’s pop music and salsa until the rains come.
music soundtrack:
“Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora (((this song is very popular in Iquitos)))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0n9Dv6XnY
arianna's creative travels 
