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Peru Independence Day, July 28th

July 28th of each year starts one of the biggest holidays of the year commemorating Peru’s independence from Spain followed on July 29th honoring the armed forces and it turns into a long weekend of celebration known as Fiestas Patrias Peruanas.

I’m hanging out with half a dozen of my ex-pat buddies on the corner of the boulevard and Nauta, at the Dawn on the Amazon Café. They are drinking beer. I just enjoyed a delicious lunch of cecina fajita, with a glass of white wine. We have our Peruvian Flags flying.

Some other interesting gringos are eating and drinking at the next tables. Amy is a linguist working on the Bora Indigenous dictionary, Dr. Dennis McKenna, an ethno-botanist, has a three year grant to catalog all of the species of medicinal plants at the Iquitos Herbarium. The conversation is interesting, there is no trouble, the neighborhood is quiet, I feel fine.

Two of our guests just arrived in Iquitos today for a four day cruise into Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve, day after tomorrow. They are staying at La Casa Fitzcarraldo. They are joining our day trip tomorrow to the Belen Market and the Butterfly Farm. Marmelita spent most of this morning at the market purchasing supplies for the cruise. Now she is going to visit her mom and family for a few hours.

We aren’t taking the day off to celebrate, but we are enjoying Independence Day in our own way.

Peru Independence Day July 28th

Bill Grimes

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Relapse Into Poor Health And My Recent Recovery

I don’t want to bore you with my health problems so this will be brief. I’m not complaining or feeling sorry for myself. Just reporting in to let you know. I am much better today. Remember last year I came down with that unnamed, poorly understood virus, and was sick for months; Here Is What Happened To Me. I had a relapse for the last couple of weeks. I’m lucky. So many people in the world are in pain and misery. My symptoms were to sleep 20 hours per day, pain free. Sleeping is not the worst way to spend time, although at some point it becomes a waste of time. I have so much to do and so little time to do it in.

I’m not completely up to speed but today is the first day in three weeks I’ve felt this good. My glass is half full. I’m very proud of how Marmelita and our crew kept our businesses going. They did a great job. The biggest left over problem is my email correspondence is way behind and must be dealt with today and tomorrow. Now you know why you haven’t heard from me lately.

Relapse Into Poor Health And My Recent Recovery

Bill Grimes

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Marmelita and Bill are happily married on June 26th, 2010.

Father Raymundo blessing Bill at the San Martin Catholic Church, Iquitos Peru

What a special week this has been, what a special day. I’m the luckiest, humblest man in the world. How do I get to be so lucky?

Marmelita is blessed by Father Raymundo at the San Martin Catholic Church, Iqutios Peru

Marmelita had a dream of how our marriage could be. We could have a church wedding. She could be a princess for a day. Nothing is more important to me than her happiness. I would have done anything, including confessing my sins.

Marmelita and Bill being showered in rose petals at the San Martin Catholic Church, Iquitos Peru

Imagine being a priest and hearing, “Bless me Father my last confession was 1967. I’ve done a lot since then…” It took a while. Father Raymundo is a wonderful man. We had several meetings and discussions before the wedding. I don’t know if I could have confessed to anyone else. I felt forgiven. I left lighter, better…

Flower girls at Bill and Marmelitas wedding, San Martin Catholic Church, Iquitos Peru

Thanks to the 200 plus relatives, friends, peers, and guests who attended our wedding and reception. We felt your love.

Marmelita and Bill entering the reception hall

We particularly appreciate Doug Dawson, who traveled all the way from my home town in Crawfordsville Indiana, to be my best man. We could not have had a better best man. Doug was pro-active in every way imaginable, including at the reception where he never said no when all of the women asked him to dance.

My best friend and best man Doug Dawson, looking sharp in his custom tailor made suit

It was a pleasure to have Dr. Noelia Raffo as our Maid of Honor. She was valuable in too many ways to mention here. Noelia and Marmelita have been friends for many years.

Marmelita, Bill, Noelia, and Doug toasting our marriage

Marvin Zimmerman wins the prize for traveling the farthest. All the way from Canada. Just like he said he would. Thanks for being a good friend Marvin.

A group of friends at the reception

A few highlights from the reception were when Marmelita sang a love song to me. She sang so beautiful and I was touched.

Marmelita singing Bill a love song, Eres

I have never been so loved, nor loved so much. It’s a wonderful feeling.

Marmelita hugging Bill after singing her romantic love song

I was supposed to entertain the crowd by taking off Marmelita’s garter, with my teeth. Ha, ha, ja, ja, he, je, hi, ji, jijijijiji…

Bill removing Marmelita's garter belt with his teeth

Marmelita’s brother Lupa and sister Merita, sang a duet expressing their friendship and love for us that stopped the show.

Marmelitas sister Merita and brother Lupa sang great together. The song was so emotional we all cried

I don’t think there was a dry eye in the building. Certainly not mine…

Noelia, Doug, Marmelita and Bill enjoying the meal

The food was a notch better than most reception meals, and the service was good.

The Iquitos String Orchestra played during the meal

One of the highlights of the evening for me was the Iquitos String Orchestra playing during the meal. I was drinking champagne, eating good food with the woman I love, on one of the most special days of my life, and classical musicians were performing wonderful music for us. I was euphoric.

The reception turned into a real party pretty early with the hot Latino Band Miel de Abeja cranking out merengue, salsa, and pop rock. They had the entire crowd dancing till next morning. We went through 5 cases of champagne, a bunch of wine and pisco from Ica, and 28 cases of beer.

Bill and Marmelita sharing a bite of wedding cake

First waltz

Marmelita and Bill are happily married on June 26th 2010

Bill and Marmelita Grimes

To learn how Bill and Marmelita got from the proposal to the wedding and beyond, please click the links below;

Our Last Full Day In Huaraz, I Proposed Marriage To Marmelita. Did She Accept?;

Marmelita And I Set The Wedding Date;

Marmelita And I Married, May 17th, 2010;

Wedding Of The Year;

How To Be Successfully Legally Married In Iquitos Peru In 20 Easy Steps;

Iquitos To Paracas, The Beginning Of Bill And Marmelita’s Peru Honeymoon;

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Wedding Of The Year

A guest post by Michael Collis

Bill and Marmelita Grimes, married June 26th, 2010, San Matin Catholic Church, Iquitos Peru

Mrs. Alice Marie Grimes of Crawfordsville, Indiana, USA, is very proud to announce the wedding of her eldest son William David Grimes to Miss Marmelita Flores Pua. Bill, as we know him, is the President of Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises and Marmelita is the Administration Manager of his company. Bill is also the founder of the Amazon Explorers Club and the Founding Member of the Amazon Golf Course.

On Saturday 26th June more than 200 guests attended the Roman Catholic marriage ceremony at the Church of San Martin de Porres here in Iquitos, and the solemn ceremony was conducted by Father Raymundo Portelly. The Best Man was Douglas Dawson, a lifelong friend of Bill also from Crawfordsville and the Matron of Honour was Dr. Noelia Raffo a longtime friend of Marmelita. The Bride and Groom were attended by 5 bridesmaids. Marmelita and the bridesmaids wore beautiful hand made gowns.

After the wedding the reception was held at Vista Amazonic Building on the Avenue de Marinas.

After a wonderful dinner, which was accompanied by the Iquitos String Orchestra, everyone danced into the early hours of Sunday to the music of Agrupacion Mil de Abeja, a wonderful time was enjoyed by all.

Early the next morning the happy couple left for a 10 day honeymoon visiting Paracas and the Pacific beaches south of Lima.

Wedding of the Year

A guest post by Michael Collis

To learn how Bill and Marmelita got from the proposal to the wedding and beyond, please click the links below;

Our Last Full Day In Huaraz, I Proposed Marriage To Marmelita. Did She Accept?;

Marmelita And I Set The Wedding Date;

Marmelita And I Married May 17th, 2010;

Marmelita And Bill Are Happily Married On June 26th 2010;

How To Be Successfully Legally Married In Iquitos Peru In 20 Easy Steps;

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Volunteering at Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm.

A guest post by Alberte Steffen

Volunteering At Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm

You probably heard about Pilpintuwasi, the Butterfly Farm, but are you aware that you’re able to volunteer? Before we weren’t… now we are – load with an extra mental backpack stuffed with knowledge and experiences of both the wonderful and tragic world of the Amazonian wildlife.

More than a month ago after reading brief information about the place in Lonely Planet we jumped on a boat to cross the Nanay River and visit “Pilpintuwasi – Butterfly Farm and Amazon Animal Orphanage”. A visit we thought would hold up a couple of hours of our time ended up as five weeks and most importantly as a special place in our hearts forever.
As every body who visits the Butterfly Farm, we went on a guided tour. We got enchanted with everything we learned, and when the tour was over, we simply didn’t feel like leaving. The place had swept our feet from under us – we were in love with the world of the butterflies, the animals and their histories, the visions and knowledge of the place and most importantly: the urge to discover more and help out where help is needed: Pilpintuwasi is very glad to take volunteers.

Gudrun Sperrer, a devoted woman with energy that seems to never run dry started the place almost twenty years ago. Besides breeding the beautiful Amazonian butterflies Pilpintuwasi takes care of animal orphans saved from a horrible faith. The animals that now live at Pilpintuwasi are either confiscated by the Eco-police or are saved by people who found them in poor condition. Pilpintuwasi is a warm place with great interests in the well being of all living creatures.

One of the main jobs as an English speaking volunteer at Pilpintuwasi is to guide tours around the place – in English of course. This is an important and very helpful task since Gudrun is the only other person who speaks English well enough to do this. Tour guiding is an excellent way to repeat and thereby remember everything we learn. Also it’s interesting to talk to different people every day and listen to their travel stories. What’s more the duty as a guide leaves one with a certain peace in mind after having enlightened a group of listeners about the terrible problems of daily hunts for endangered animals. To act as a messenger on the behalf of helpless animals is a precious mission.

When foreign tourists are not around waiting for a tour our job is to help out with anything else that needs to be done. Eggs have to be collected from the butterfly house, the vegetation maybe need cutting and of course: the animals need attention. Taking care of the animals includes of course feeding them but just as well keeping them company – practically all of the animals have terrifying backgrounds and need attention and love.

Volunteering At Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm

As a volunteer on Pilpintuwasi we are provided unforgettable experiences with the nature. Never before had we been taking an ocelot for a walk, canoeing in a small lake next to a caiman and a manatee, watching butterflies hatch, telling the story of a jaguar to an audience or feeding milk to a baby capuchin monkey. All of our days here are priceless to us. The knowledge we have gained by doing things ourselves made us far richer than anything we could’ve read in a book.

In short: we want to recommend this experience to any body who might be interested. Go on a boat and get out here if time is not an issue for you – you don’t get to know a person and certainly not a monkey in only a couple of days. Worth while experiences guaranteed. The only thing you need to provide is a normal respect for wildlife, a positive attitude and the will to help out. We can assure you that you are more than welcome.

Volunteering At Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm

Volunteering At Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm

A guest post by Alberte Steffen

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