Iquitos - Peru

Iquitos is the largest city in the rainforest of Peru. It is the capital of the Loreto Region and the Maynas Province. Located on the Amazon River, it is just 106 meters above sea level even though it is more than 3,000 kilometers from the mouth of the Amazon on the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated 125 km downstream of the confluence of Rio Ucayali and Rio Marañon, the two main headwaters of the Amazon River. Iquitos has long been a major port in the Amazon Basin. It is surrounded by three rivers: the Nanay, the Itaya, and the Amazon.


The city is generally considered the largest in the world that cannot be reached by road, only by airplane or boat - unless you're travelling from Nauta, a small town roughly 100km south. Most travel within the city itself is via bus, motorcycle or mototaxi (auto rickshaw). Transportation to nearby towns often requires a river trip via llevo-llevo, a small public boat.

The climate is hot and humid, with an average relative humidity of 85%. The wet season lasts from around November to May, with the river reaching its highest point in May. The river is at its lowest in October.

Iquitos has a growing reputation as a tourist community, especially as a jumping-off point for tours of the Amazon jungle and the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, and trips downriver to Manaus, Brazil - the other rubber-industry city in the interior of the Amazon basin - and finally the Atlantic Ocean, which is 3,360 kilometers away.

A boat tour of Belen is common tourist attraction. Belen is an area of Iquitos that can be accessed by foot in the dry season but is only accessible via boat in the wet season. Many of the homes in this area are tethered to large poles and float upon the rising waters every year, and some homes float year-round. Where the waters begin there are often a few men with their boats who tranport locals and tourists for a small fee.

There is also an open-air market in Belen (a part that doesn't flood). This too is a common tourist attraction. Most notable is the medicine lane, an entire block of the market, on both sides, lined with local plant (and animal) medicines (everything from copaiba to chuchuwasai).

During the 1990s, homosexuals fled the repressive police in other cities of Peru to live in this frontier town. Many now live in Belen.

It is served by the CRNL. FAP. Francisco Secada Vignetta International Airport.


Iquitos Pictures