So, it’s been exactly a year since I last updated this blog. The title of this post might have you thinking it’s because I disappeared into the jungle for a year and didn’t have internet access, but that’s not true. I’ve just spent nearly a year living in the middle of a city in the middle of the jungle. The city of Iquitos to be precise.

I’ve said before I’ve never been a prolific writer and can easily lose the motivation for it although I’ve been telling myself almost every week for a year “I must update my blog again soon!”. So why now? Hard to say, I guess I’ve finally become inspired to write again, and I’ve also got a much better work life balance sorted out that is affording me a lot more free time than ever before.

So where were we?

Well I finished my last post by stating:

“Now I’m starting to feel like I might be about to take another leap into the unknown. In just over a weeks time I’m going to start travelling to Iquitos, a city in the middle of the Amazon jungle in northern Peru. At this moment I don’t have any plans to stay there for more than a few weeks; however, I’m starting to get a strong intuition that I will stay there a lot longer than a few weeks. I get this weird feeling that universal cogs are turning and that my life is about to take a whole new direction.”

Prophetic words indeed!

So what’s happened since?

Well I don’t think I can accurately sum up a year in a single blog post, but needless to say that I did end up staying in Iquitos for more than a few weeks, although it’s not really a year because I returned back to the UK for 3 months over the summer to catch up with friends and family who I hadn’t seen for over 18 months.

Nothing really dramatic has happened. I started a relationship with a local girl which lasted about 6 months. Lovely girl (sometimes!) but a little too crazy for me I think, but we’re still good friends although she’s living in Lima now so I haven’t seen her for awhile.

I’ve met quite a few shaman and taken ayahuasca a bunch of times and I’ll say more about that in a future post. I’ve been into the jungle a few times and stayed at a couple of villages with the locals.

I’ve made some great new friends.

I’ve taken part in the world longest raft race down the Amazon River!

It’s been a great adventure and I’ve had a blast.

Iquitos is hot and sweaty and dirty and noisy and completely unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. And I love it! It’s the largest city in the world that can’t be reached by road. There are only two ways to arrive in Iquitos – by river or by air, but despite that it’s somehow grown into a jungle metropolis with a population of well over 350,000 people! I will definitely write more about Iquitos in a future post with some photos.

So do I miss Cusco? Definitely! Cusco has a lot more variety than Iquitos and a lot more things to do. Cusco generally has much better restaurants, bars,clubs,  shops and more places to visit in the surrounding area. And it has mountains, oh how I miss those beautiful mountains! I’m hoping to revisit Cusco soon for a few weeks, for the first time since I left, and I’m really excited about that, I just need to get a bit more money together to afford the airfares.

Anyway, I’m so relieved I’ve finally updated you again, and I really regret letting this blog slide into the abyss for so long! Once I start writing I actually enjoy it.

Expect more blogging soon – I promise!