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Tourism in
Iquitos and Amazon River
Iquitos and Amazon River are an ideal places for lovers of the eco-tourism, and
for the ones who want to feel an intimate contact with the virgin nature of the Amazon
forests. From the city you will be able to go to jungle lodges, and for the most
adventurous and fearless you can arrive to parks and natural reservations, full and
plethoric with exuberant flora and fauna, with many undiscovered places, and many alive
species unknown by science.
Iquitos city is the capital of the department of Loreto, located in the
heart of the Peruvian rainforest, less than 4° south of Ecuador, and next to the left river
bank of the Amazon River. Iquitos is the world's largest city that cannot
reached by road.
Iquitos was a village inhabited by the wild tribe called the "Iquitos" from
whom the name was taken in the moment of its foundation in 1864. During the Spanish Colony
and the gold fever caused by the legends of "El Dorado" (The
Golden) and the "País de la Canela" (Country of the Cinnamon),
Iquitos never had historical figuration. In 1883 began in this city the era and peak of
the rubber, the exploitation of their latex and trade made that some reached immense
fortunes, it brought the prosperity of the city and the construction of splendid houses
began, some with tiles brought from Portugal.
In those days, Iquitos had better communications, with Europe, through the
Amazon
River, better than with the city of Lima. Part of the characteristic of this time was the
acquisition of a house built by Gustave Eiffel in Paris and today located in the Main Square of
Iquitos, the House of Iron. The end of the era of the rubber arrived in 1912.
From then on, Iquitos has always been the main fluvial mean and principal
Amazon port
of Peru; its economic activity has been centered in the commercialization of its natural
resources and lately the exploration and production of petroleum.
Near to Iquitos city exists a zoological park of the
Amazonian fauna, spas and resorts
in "cochas" (lagoons). Almost in the same city you will be able to visit
"Belen", the Peruvian Venice, or go for a walk by the pier and observe the
mightiest river in the world, the Amazon River.
The population of Iquitos in its great majority are natural descendants of regional
aborigines tribes and of the miscegenation. The people's temper is very noble and cheerful,
lover of the amusement. Iquitos is also famed by the quantity of men that arrived to the
city and lost their bachelorhood, because of the affection that women in this region give
to the visitors. The population has many myths and legends, some occult; there is a great
diffusion of the folkloric medicine and the faith to be cured with those medicines based
on the great quantity of medicinal plants that exist.
In the city you will be able to find crafts of the
native tribes, as well as enjoy an
excellent cuisine and typical drinks and beverages.
The typical public transportation in the city is the "mototaxi" or
"motocar", it is a motorized tricycle used for passenger transportation with a
very economic rate. There are also taxies in conventional cars that generally don't have
air-conditioning. In the city you can rent a motorcycle or an automobile.
Visiting Iquitos
and Amazon River
Pacaya Samiria
National Reserve: With 2 million hectares, it is the biggest National
Reserve of Peru, also it is the largest protected flooded forest of the world
and one of the richest places in biological wealth on the planet. Between its
biological diversity we find 449 of tropical bird species, 102 of mammals, 256
known species of freshwater fish, 69 of reptiles and more than 1000 varieties of
plants, as well as species in danger of extinction like the giant otter, the
black lizard, the manatee and the pink dolphin of the Amazon. The place's
beauty, as well as its biological wealth makes the reserve a particularly
important destination for scientific investigators, nature lovers and bird
watchers.
Eco-Tourism in the Amazon basin - Iquitos: The
Amazon basin is the natural reserve of more extensive and more variety life of the Earth.
Abundant botanical and zoological species, in lustful landscapes in those in which you can
go and be lodge for some time, or in the Parks and Natural Reservations. Or if you prefer
a cruise by the Amazon River, or a simple ride in a boat or canoe.
Iquitos City: The city has as axis
of its social and economic life in the Main Square, and around it, famous houses of the
era of the rubber as Iron House. The Main Square is very near the riverside called Tarapacá, its
commercial center in the Próspero Street, and the traditional neighborhood of Belén
with its floating houses on the river.
Municipal Museum located in the Távara Street block 2, small and
modest museum with handmade works of the natives, ethnographic and with regional fauna.
Iquitos city has a modern hotels and international
airport.
Around Iquitos: You will be able to visit the tourist
complex of Quistococha Zoo for a first
encounter with the regional fauna and flora, Santo Tomás a picturesque neighborhood. Also you can visit a native communities as Boras and
Yaguas at the Momon River.
"For all those are always dreaming of
escaping from their routine to distant adventures, all of those living in mass
consumer societies dream of escaping and discovering adventure in exotic lands,
Iquitos is an ideal place. If you want to have a close
encounter with paradisiacal place in the pristine jungle of the Amazonian, without any other
noise than the one the birds, monkeys or insects make, Iquitos is a great opportunity and
an excellent selection."
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