Linked to the outside world by air and by river only, Iquitos is the world’s largest city that cannot be reached by road. The majority of people fly directly from Lima, however, visitors can also fly in from Cusco, since a few months.
Iquitos makes a fantastic base to explore the Amazon Rainforest. After your arrival, the hot and humid air will greet you as you walk out the door.
The Plaza de Armas will no doubt be your reference point. This is where you can find different restaurants and bars. It’s a great place to relax and people-watch. Across the plaza, you can see the Iron House, which was shipped from Paris by a rubber baron during the rubber boom. The city grew in prosperity and rubber barons would decorate the city with the finest mansions, which can still be seen while walking the city’s streets. Many mansions are now used by the Peruvian military, a few turned into hotels and others simply unoccupied and in varying degrees of disrepair.
At night, walk onto the Malecón Tarapacá, the elegant boardwalk with a grand panorama of the swampy Amazon. You’ll find a lot of street vendors and small entertainments (be carefull with your belongings). It’s a very nice atmosphere.
I do recommend visiting 2 small museums that really talk about the Amazon Rainforest, the rubber boom and the Indigenous people that have suffered.
- Culturas Indegenas Amazonas: small museum on Indigenous people and different tribes from the Rainforest, really interesting. Malecón Tarapacá 332, Mon-Sun 8am-7:30pm. Entrance 15 soles (if you go to the Ayapua museum, you can ask for a 20% coupon)
- Museo de Barcos Historicos Ayapua: museum in a boat, explaining the rubber boom and exploration of the Rainforest. calle Raimondi, Entrance 10 soles including a boat ride if the river is high enough
If you want to grab a bite, search up the new restaurants because a lot of them close and open every week. But I do recommend these:
- Al Frio y Al Fuego: upscale floating restaurant which can be reached only by skiff. It’s a bit of a budget but the place is incredible! Bring your swimsuit to enjoy the pool after eating (no extra charge).
- Amazon bistro: Belgian restaurant, really nice atmosphere and beer
- Fitzcarraldo terrasse: I don’t recommend the food, but the juices are quite nice, and the location of the terrasse is perfect to enjoy the afternoon of sunset.
Belén Market
The giant jungle souk is best visited early in the morning and with a guide, to fend off pickpockets and to explain the strange. I have to insist on the guide, the market is not the safest place! Some of the products are recognizable but others are very mysterious such as jungle fruits you’ve never seen before. There are also some disturbing products such as turtles scraped out of their shells and tossed in a heap beneath the table. You’ll also find miserable live toucans and monkeys sold for 50 soles. A lot of these products are illegally sold, but the police don’t seem to care unfortunately…
Several alleys, such as Pasaje Paquito (the most famous one), sell medicinal jungle plants for every conceivable human malady, from creams to cure rheumatoid arthritis to dolphin sperm for attracting love and liquids to cure cancer or diabetes. The products are sold dried or in strange brown liquid compounds. If you’re looking for something, ask your guide to translate in the native language. I brought back a few products and, I have to admit, some of them really work!
Just meets World 