Shopping in Iquitos

There are plenty of craft shops in the centre, especially on Jr. Prospero, selling crafts made by the native communities around Iquitos. These include ceramics, textiles and jewellery made from seeds and plants of the area.

Supermarkets

The Supermercado Los Portales at Calle Morona 185 has a decent selection of products. The Supermercado Real is at Jr. Arica 330.

Markets

The main food market is at the corner of Jr. Yavari and Jr. Condamine. The Belen market is also very colourful.

Shopping centres and clothes stores

There are no shopping centres, although there are some clothing stores on Jr. Prospero, which is the main shopping street.

Photography

There are plenty of photo shops on Jr. Prospero selling a good selection of Kodak film. Fuji film is harder to find.

Best of Iquitos

The massive river system around Iquitos offers some of the best access to Indian villages, lodges and primary rainforest in the entire Amazon. If you want to go it alone, colectivo boats run more or less daily up and down the Rio Amazonas, and although you won’t get deep into the forest without a guide or the facilities offered by the lodge and tour companies, you can visit some of the larger riverine settlements.

A long day’s ride (130km) upstream from Iquitos lies Nauta , at the mouth of the Rio Maranon; from here, Bagazan is another couple of hours (40km) further up the Rio Amazonas, after which it’s slightly longer again (50km) to Requena , at the mouth of the Rio Tapiche. A recently finished road from Iquitos to Nauta has considerably shortened the journey and opened up tourism on the Rio Tigre and even into the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, though this is accessed mainly from Lagunas. The upper Rio Tigre is also excellent for its access to wildlife, but it’s at least three days away by boat. There are excellent organized tours to be had from LAGUNAS , three days upstream (USD 10-25 depending on whether you take hammock space or a shared cabin).

The first day takes you to the “start” of the Rio Amazonas, where the Ucayali and the Maranon rivers merge; the second day carries you along the Maranon towards Lagunas, where you arrive on the third day. It’s also some twelve hours downstream from Yurimaguas and accessible from there by boat colectivo (USD 5). There are a couple of hostals in Lagunas: the Hostal Montalban (USD 5-10), on the Plaza de Armas, is basic and small but suffices, as does the slightly cheaper Hostal La Sombra (up to USD 5) at Jiron Vasquez 1121.

Lagunas is the main starting-point for trips into the huge Pacaya Samiria National Reserve , comprising around 2,080,000 hectares of virgin rainforest leading up to the confluence between the Maranon and the Huallaga rivers, two of the largest Amazon headwaters. The reserve is a swampland during the rainy season (Dec-March), when the streams and rivers all rise, arguably comparable to the Pantanal Swamps of southwestern Brazil in the density of astonishingly visible wildlife.

It’s possible to arrange the guides here (about USD 10 a day per person, less if you’re in a group) and to spend as long as you like in the national reserve. You should of course be well prepared with mosquito nets, hammocks, insect repellent and all the necessary food and medicines. Officially you should obtain permission from the national parks authority, INRENA to get into the Reserve, but not everyone does. (more…)

Nightlife in Iquitos

The nicest place for a drink is in one of the many bars or cafes on Malecon Maldonado alongside the river. The Arandu Bar is very pleasant, and the Fitzcarraldo and La Noche are also good places for a drink. The best club in town is Noa Noa (Fitzcarrald 298), which is popular with locals.

Folklore in Iquitos

The folkloric manifestations of the Amazonian forest, are the result of the mestization of races and foreign cultures and neighboring departments of the Country, that arrived at the forests furrowing the rivers, opening trails.

The musical folklore pronounces in the celebrations of festividades of the towns of the Amazonia with rates and melodias product of the mestization of races. The Amazonian region has received musical influence of the towns of San Martin, of the USD andes, the border coast and countries like Brazil with samba, Ecuador with the corridors and Colombia with cumbia, and other foreign influences.

The Sitaracuy
(name of an ant that bites). It is a dance that is characterized so that the pairs give to small jumps and races interchanging tiny amounts, men and women simulate the pain to the being bitten by the Sitaracuy ants.

The Changanacuy
Quechuas Changa (leg) Nacuy comes from the voices (caress) the dancers intercross the legs mutually being close and giving small jumps. Gang: This typical dance of the Amazonian forest is most popular and cheers, that is made around humisha in supervisory celebrations like San Juan and carnivals, the pairs follow the rate of the gang, put in with the rates of the two previous ones.

The Cajada
It is danced in veiled of the saints, has a smooth rate and his melodias is somewhat melancholic. The Chimaychi: He is own of the celebrations of natalicios in the small villages and riberenos towns, the steps are very similar to those of huayno of the mountain range.

Getting in Iquitos

Iquitos is only connected by water and air with the rest of the world and is indeed the largest town on the Amazon without road connections.

By Air

There are twice daily flights to Lima for USD 59 and also flights to Caballococha for USD 40.

By Boat

There are boats upstream to Pucallpa every two days or less, depending on the season, for around USD 25, taking between 3 and 7 days. Ask at Bellavista, Malecon Tarapaca 596.

Downstream you can go to Tabatinga in Brazil or to Islandia. nFrom Islandia you can get a boat to Manaus, but there don’t seem to be any direct boats from Iquitos.

Attractions in Iquitos

Atracctions surrounding areas

Pacaya Samiria National Reserve - Iquitos

Located in the area where the Maranon and Ucayali Rivers converge, this is the country’s largest reserve, with 2,080,000 ha. and the fourth in South America . It was established in 1982, to preserve the abundant and varied wildlife. Its countless lakes, swamps and aguajales (watering trough) serve as shelter to132 species of mammals, mainly rodents and monkeys; 330 species of birds; approximately 220 species of fish, main source of protein for the inhabitants of the Region, and approximately 150 species of reptiles and amphibious animals.

Prominent are the charapa turtles (podocnemis expansa), the paiche (or pirarucu - Arapaima gigas, the largest freshwater fish in the world), the Amazonian manatee or sea cow (trichechus inunguis), the red river dolphin and the black river dolphin, the otters and the black caiman (melanosuchus niger ), all of them presently endangered species. The Reserve can only be reached by river and it takes al least one week to visit it, including three days to access and exit the area.

Allpahuayo-Mishana Reserved Area - Iquitos

This area is located on the banks of the Nanay River , in the community of Mishana, in an area of approximately 57,667 ha. Established in 1999, to preserve eco-systems which are unique to the Peruvian Amazon Region, such as the varillal and chamisal brushwoods, which are home to endemic species of plants and animals, many of them still un reported or without description. It is easy to reach this area, as it is near the Iquitos - Nauta road, and ideal for scientific research on the essential ecological processes of the tropical rain forest.

San Juan - Iquitos

This is a native community situated south of Iquitos , where there is an important festival in commemoration of Saint John the Patron Saint, on June 24. Different typical dishes are offered, and it has a handcrafts market where one can find popular art objects from the different areas of the Region.

Santa Clara - Iquitos

This is a hamlet located on the banks of the Nanay River , 12 km from Iquitos . Its main attractions are its white sandy beaches, formed when the river ebbs, and its beautiful landscape. (more…)

Weather in Iquitos

The Region of Iquitos has a warm and humid climate throughout most of the year, with abundant rainfall between November and April.

The average temperature is 26°C, although it can reach 36°C.

Iquitos is accessible by air. There are daily flights from Lima (1 hr 45 min) and other less frequent flights from Tarapoto (50 min), Pucallpa (1 hr) and Yurimaguas (40 min).

Education in Iquitos

Iquitos is home to numerous research projects that cover the studies of ecology in relation to ornithology and herpetology. Cornell University in particular owns a field station dubbed the Cornell University Esbaran Amazon Field Laboratory. Founded in July of 2001 under the direction of Dr.

Eloy Rodriguez as a research facility dedicated to education, conservation, and the discovery of novel medicinal compounds from applied field chemoecology, the field laboratory strives to Survey and catalog the inventory of biological diversity found along the Yarapa River Basin while providing researchers with field experience in the broad range of disciplines necessary for this task. Another main goal is to explore potential value-added derivatives of biodiversity.

This includes both tangible returns in the form of new discoveries in the biomedical and related sciences, as well as the less tangible goods such as the promotion of ecotourism and an ecological aesthetic, and the corresponding benefits to the local communities, and to participating students and researchers.

History of Iquitos

Iquitos was established as a Jesuit mission in the 1750s, and in 1864 it started to grow when the Loreto Region was created and Iquitos became its capital. Iquitos was known for its rubber industry through the first decade of the 20th century, and there are still great mansions from the 1800s, including the Iron House, designed by Gustave Eiffel. The boom came to an end when rubber seeds were smuggled out of the country and planted elsewhere. The 1982 movie Fitzcarraldo, about the life of rubber baron Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, was filmed near Iquitos. There are also many floating houses on the Amazon and its tributaries.

IQUITOS began life in 1739 when Jesuit Jose Bahamonde established settlements at Santa Barbara de Nanay and Santa Maria de Iquitos on the Rio Mazan. It was a particularly daunting task, as the missionaries here faced the task of converting the fierce Iquito Indians, renowned as marksmen with their long poison-dart blowpipes. There are only one or two families of the Iquito tribe left, living way on the upper Rio Nanay, and these days the region is better known for the Yaguar, Bora and Witoto tribes, whose handicraft can be seen virtually everywhere you turn in the modern city.

The original town was founded in 1757 under the name of San Pablo de los Napeanos, but the present centre was established in 1864. By the end of the nineteenth century it was, along with Manaus in Brazil, one of the great rubber towns. From that era of grandeur a number of structures survive, but during this century Iquitos has vacillated between prosperity - as far back as 1938, the area was explored for oil - and the depths of depression. However, its strategic position on the Amazon, which makes it accessible to large ocean-going ships from the distant Atlantic, has ensured its importance. At present, still buoyed by the export of timber, petroleum, tobacco and Brazil nuts, and dabbling heavily in the trade of wild animals, tropical fish and birds, as well as an insecticide called barbasco, long used by natives as a fish poison, Iquitos is in a period of quite wealthy expansion.

One interesting environmental change that seems to be happening at Iquitos is that the river is so low that it has receded significantly from the main riverfront, which has necessitated moving the town’s downriver port away from its centre. Some locals blame downstream canalization for this shift, others point to a drop in rainfall along the Amazon’s headwaters in other parts; or it may be that increasing deforestation of the ceja de selva higher up means that, during the rainy season, rainwater simply runs off the surface, leaving none to gradually filter down during the dry season. Whatever the reason, the riverfront now stretches all the way from the old port and market of Belen , which the Amazon waters hardly reach anymore, to the newer floating port of Puerto Masusa , 3km downriver.
(more…)

Introducation of Iquitos

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 Maranon, 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.