Epilogue-2

After our return things related to our journey continued to happen.

First, there was the accident with a crowded lancha similar to the one we took at Sarameriza. The motonave “Camila” capsized downstream of Iquitos on May 26, 2010; 24 people drowned; more than 20 people wounded; 10 tourists survived.

There were 260 people on board while its capacity was only 150. It appears that the boat was transporting drugs (24 kilo of PBC; pasta basica de cocaina) hidden in sacs with oranges.

 

Pictures from:  http://www.peru.com/buscador/index.aspx

Second, there are the e-mails from Eduardo Tapia telling us that the bi-national project “Eje Vial #4” of Ecuador and Peru continues to be financed and that the road from La Balsa to Parico will become paved (See Blog 17/2/2010 “From Zumba to Jaen”).

He also sent a map from the region between Bagua Grande and Santa Maria de Nieva, which he had photographed from the wall in a hotel in SmdNieva. It is becoming more clear how we drove from Imacita to SMdNieva on 19/2/2010. The distance as the crow flies was only 70 km; but it took us 7 hours!

Combination of four maps showing similar positions indicated by the red arrows: (A) Carta Hydrográfica (Rio Amazonas, Formadores y Afluentes; 2006 . Escala 1:1’000.000) in possession of Hilbert van der Meer. (B) Military map of Ecuador (Escala 1:1’000.000) in possession of Antoine Cleef. (C) Tourist map obtained by Eduardo Tapia. (D) Image obtained by Google Earth.

Third, there was the encounter on May 30 with Neil Safier at the railway station of Amersfoort, of all places….. During a short hour we exchanged our experiences with “La Condamine”. He told me that an american, Larrie D. Ferreiro, is writing a book about La Condamine, which will probably appear next year.

Since Neil is in Europe for some months we can perhaps meet again this summer.

With Neil Safier at the railway station of Amersfoort on May 30, 2010.