The e-mail message I received was in a similar vein. During the upcoming spring semester, Hardy would be teaching a course called "Natural History of the Amazon" (BOT 499Z/599Z). Nineteen undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled. A major component of the course would be a week-long field trip arranged by Expeditions International (One Environs Park, Helena AL 35080) to the rainforest northeast of Iquitos in Departamento de Loreto, Peru. Hardy wanted to know if I would be willing to participate in the field trip as an instructor. All expenses would be covered and I would receive an honorarium of $1000.
Well, I guess you know my answer. I am not one to turn down a free trip! However, I expressed concern to Hardy that I really did not know the Amazonian flora that well, and feared I would not be much help. After all, my sole experience in that part of the world had been in 1992 when I accompanied a group of Field Museum members on a 17-day cruise from Manaus to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hardy replied that with this class, he was more interested with identifications to the level of family. That seemed more in line with my own level of knowledge and I quickly accepted his offer.
As with my previous visit to the Amazon, certain health precautions were recommended. I right away telephoned my doctor and got a prescription for LariamŽ (mefloquine), a malaria prophylaxis. My records showed that my last diphtheria-tetanus immunization had been in 1986 (when I went on my first foreign field trip, to the Juan Fernández Islands), so I arranged for a booster shot. It turned out that I didn't have to worry about yellow fever, as the vaccination I had received in 1992 was still effective.
The class was scheduled to fly to Peru from Miami, Florida, on the afternoon of Saturday, 7 March. In order for me to join them, Expeditions International booked me a seat on a Pan American Airlines flight to Miami that morning. However, a week prior to departure, that airline ceased operations due to financial troubles! I contacted Expeditions International at once, to make alternative arrangements. However, early March is the start of the Spring Break travel season, and it seemed that every college kid in America was trying to fly to Florida. The best that could be done at that late date was to fly me to Miami the night before and put me up in a hotel.
So, on Friday, 6 March, my wife Diane and son Michael dropped me off at O'Hare International Airport. I boarded an American Airlines flight about 8:30 PM CST and arrived at Miami International Airport at 1 AM EST on Saturday, 7 March. Within the hour, I had caught the shuttle van from Days Inn West, and checked into the room reserved for me there.
I awoke about 9:30 AM, showered and dressed. I had breakfast at "The Spirit Restaurant", a coffee shop adjacent to the hotel, which was decorated with a great deal of Eastern Airlines memorabilia. I checked out at 11 AM and caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport. The sky was clear blue, and the air pleasantly warm, with a refreshing breeze. A very nice change from March in Chicago!
We would be flying to Iquitos with the Peruvian national airline, Aeroperu. When I arrived at the airport 45 minutes later, I found their ticket counter was not yet open. I really didn't want to schlep my bag all over the airport with me, and looked for a luggage locker to stash it in. I recalled doing just that when I had passed through en route to Chile in 1986. But the world being what it is today, Miami's coin-operated self-service lockers have been replaced by a full-service baggage check room, where each piece can be x-rayed prior to acceptance. Of course, this added security increased the expense substantially: it was $5 to hold my large suitcase, compared to the 25˘ or 50˘ the lockers had cost.
About 2 PM, I reclaimed my bag and checked in at the Aeroperu counter. I was met by Expeditions International's local representative, Willy Maurer, who gave me my boarding pass and some good news: we instructors would be upgraded to first class! Apparently, if Aeroperu does not sell all such tickets on a flight, the remainder are given to Expeditions International. I had not enjoyed that boon since my trip to Europe in 1987, when I'd been upgraded as part of compensation for voluntarily surrendering a seat on an overbooked flight.
As I was waiting to check my bag, Dr. R. James Hickey came up and greeted me. Jim is also a professor in the Department of Botany at Miami, and, like me, had been invited by Hardy to come along as an instructor for the field trip. He indicated that Hardy and several of the students had already checked in and were having drinks in the airport cocktail lounge nearby. Once I had checked my bag, I joined Jim and Hardy. As we enjoyed a couple beers, more and more of the students arrived. Some had flown down, but others had driven. One particular group of the latter was particularly late arriving, which caused Hardy some concern.
Four of the grad students I already knew well. Julie Barcelona had spent the summer of 1994 at Field Museum in the Advanced Training Program in the Conservation of Biodiversity, prior to beginning graduate studies at Miami. Ethan Fried, Robert Rhode, and Matt Unwin I had run into frequently at various professional meetings. The remaining students (some of whom I had also met previously) were Sandy Cesarov, Mary Edelen, Stacy Edmonds, Bryan Endress, Tara Fletcher, Perry Hendrix, Laurel Leong, Jennifer Lilly, Tara Martz, Jeremy Moynihan, Scott Namestnik, Maren Petersen, Laurel Richey, TaraLyn Riordan, and Shannon Sommer. In addition, the group included five students from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, accompanied by their professor, ecologist Larry Wilson.
It was past 5:30 PM when boarding began; we First Class passengers embarked first, of course! Champaign was served while we waited for coach to load. The aircraft, a Boeing 757, backed away from the gate about 6 PM, but then taxied for 20 minutes before becoming airborne. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres were served once we levelled off. At 7:30 PM, the stewardesses began serving dinner. In first class, this is a major event, occupying much of our flying time. Salad and rolls were served first, then the main course: beef tenderloin with rice, potatoes, and vegetables. Next was a cheese and fruit course, followed by ice cream sundaes for dessert. Plenty of good wine was served throughout. It was 9 PM before we finished dining.
An hour later, we began our descent, and at 10:20 PM we landed at Aeropuerto Internacional "Crnl. Fap Francisco Secada V." in Iquitos, Peru. There were no jetways; passengers descended a pair of mobile stairways directly to the tarmac and walked the short distance to the terminal. The terminal building was not terribly large, only a little larger perhaps than the one back home at the Burlington (Iowa) Municipal Airport. Though it was several hours past sunset, the air was still very warm and muggy; quite a change from March in Chicago!
Iquitos is a city of over 600,000 people, lying just four degrees south of the equator at an elevation of less than 400 feet above sea level. Though founded by Jesuits between 1754 and 1764, and a prosperous rubber center in the late Nineteenth Century, most of its population growth has occurred in the last 20 years or so, due to migration from surrounding rural areas. Amazingly, there are no road links to the outside world. The only way to reach Iquitos is to fly in, as we had done, or to navigate the Amazon. The major export is lumber, particularly two species of the Mahogany Family (Meliaceae), andiroba (Carapa guianensis) and Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata). Also exported are jute fiber and tropical fish for the pet trade. The region is rich in crude oil, and a trans-Andean pipeline under construction will no doubt contribute further to the region's economic development.
I passed without problem through Immigration. My suitcase was among the first to arrive, and the Customs officer gave it only a perfunctory search. As we cleared Customs, we were met by representatives of Explorama Tours (Box 446, Iquitos, Peru), the local ecotourism operator whose various facilities would be our home base during the coming week. The Explorama representatives took our bags and escorted us out of the terminal to a waiting bus. This bus was rather like a school bus, but with a brightly painted old-fashion wood body that was not unattractive.
As we waited for the remainder of our group to clear Immigration and Customs, a crowd of children, mostly boys, gathered around, asking for candy or money. I don't think they got much. Once everyone was aboard, we were introduced to Roldan Hidalgo and three of his Explorama associates, who would serve as our guides the entire week. That done, we drove into the city to the Eldorado, a three-star hotel, where we would spend the night. It was quite nice: private bath, hot water, air conditioning. Hardy and I shared a room, as we would the rest of the week. It was after midnight before we managed to quit gabbing and get to sleep.
| Return to Title Page | Sunday |