In the evening, most volunteers stay at the jungle shelter in Cabo Lopez, a 30 minute boat ride down the Amazon and into the River Itaya. Along the way, we pass the floating houses of Belén, fisherman in carved out boats, and river dolphins. Not a bad commute!

When we dock, we climb a steep set of stairs to a is a four room house, wrapped in mosquito netting. No other home in this part of Cabo Lopz has electricity but the jungle shelter has a generator, a hot water heater, and other modern conveniences. As you might have guessed, there is no internet (these updates are posted from the clinic in the city of Iquitos).

The house sleeps seven in bunked beds and there is a veranda that wraps around the front of the house. Last night after dinner, we relaxed on the veranda with beer to chat and get to know one another. When we could no longer handle the mosquitos, we moved inside to a small living area with couches.

Next to the house is the maloca, a netted but open multi-use room where two tents are set up for extra guests. Behind the house is the dog shelter, which is divided into two parts. In the first part are four dogs who are in treatment, recupperating and not contagious but not ready to be adopted. The second section is a larger pen where 9 dogs live, these dogs are treated and ready to be adopted.

Additionally, there are the ‘veranda dogs’, the permanent but free roaming guests of Amazon CARES. These dogs roam during the day, but return to the jungle shelter and sleep outside the house in the evening. Depending on the day, there are four or five veranda dogs and I plan introduce each veranda dog in a later post.

To the left is Esteban. He is a sweet mutt and my favorite of the veranda dogs. Esteban was hit by one of the ubiquitous motors car in Iquitos and left to die in the street with a severe fracture in his leg. His life was saved but his back right leg had to be amputated.  Now, he happily hops around Cabo Lopez chasing chickens and looking for someone to rub his belly. I oblige whenever I can.