Thinking about visiting the jungle? Peru has two options: The purely Amazonian jungle, located in the north of the country, in the Department of Iquitos, and another in Puerto Maldonado, southeast of the country.
Although both have spaces of virgin forest, each has something different to offer.
IQUITOS
Traveling to Iquitos to visit the jungle is an adventure. This city is only accessible by air or fluvial and has two distinctly different seasons: The rainy season, from late November to March, and the dry season, from April to mid-November.
Iquitos offers the opportunity to navigate the majestic Amazon and many of its well-known tributaries. Here you will find the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
Both, in the city and in islands close to it, is possible to visit several Non-Governmental Organizations ventures that seek to rescue wild animals from illegal sale and reinsert them into their natural habitat. These include:
-CREA, the Amazonian Rescue Center.
Located in the same city and a few minutes from the Port of Nauta, CREA offers the opportunity to know closely the situation that live dozens of species commercialized illegally either for consumption or as pets.
In their facilities, they rest and recover waiting to be released, the famous Charapas turtles, spider monkeys, tigrillos and manatees.
-Monkey Island.
The island, located 30km from Iquitos, houses for more than 20 years a rescue center that keeps the monkeys free, waiting for them to reach the age needed to be reinserted in the jungle. Many of the monkeys that inhabit it have been rescued from houses and markets. They were captured very small, separated from their mothers, to be adopted as pets. On the island they check them daily, help them learn to get food for themselves, to manage themselves while keeping them healthy. Once they reach sexual maturity and their behavior becomes aggressive, they are returned to the jungle to continue their life in absolute freedom.
In Iquitos it is also possible to visit several native communities that share with the visitor their worldview and teach them that to live from nature and respect it at the same time is possible.
In Iquitos inhabit the famous pink dolphin, otorongos, jaguars, turtles, sloths, the black lizard, manatees. Watching them is not that simple. Special trips to the virgin forest must be organized in many cases.
The lodging offer is basically based on eco lodges designed to mimic the environment and offer the visitor a different experience, connecting with their surroundings.
The city offers several alternatives of accommodation, although none of luxury (there´s only 1 5* hotel).
Here It is also possible to board several luxury cruises that offer packages of up to 7 days to tour the Amazon.
Recommended minimum stay 3d/2n
Suitable for traveling with children
Low difficulty level
PUERTO MALDONADO
Like Iquitos, Puerto Maldonado has very well defined the rainy and dry seasons. Here are several natural reserves: Tambopata and the Manu are the best known. Within Tambopata, in addition, is the National Park Bahuaja and Sandoval Lake, making the observation of wild animals easier than in Iquitos as the action of nan on nature is widely controlled.
Giant Otters, black lizards, Charapitas, tapirs, Colpas, monkeys of various species, giant anteaters, jaguars, are some of the species that can be seen in the tours offered by most lodges.
Here, the accommodation options operate under the All Inclusive mode: from transfers to and from the airport, to tours and food.
There are categories of accommodation for all tastes and pockets.
The Inkaterra chain has opted for luxury accommodation without breaking the environment, building lodges with cabins that blend in perfectly with the surrounding rainforest.
There are also lodges for those looking for an experience more similar to Iquitos: few luxuries and lots of nature. One of the best known is the Sandoval Lake Lodge, the only located on the shores of the beautiful lake of the same name.
Recommended minimum stay 3d/2n
Suitable for traveling with children
Low difficulty level