I went in depth about my visit to the Belen in my blog post but this is the best place to visit in Iquitos. For anyone wanting to experience what real life is like in the Amazon region of Peru you must go here. The Amazon region is the most diverse place on earth and the stuff in these markets will shock you.

My recommendation is to hire an honest tuk tuk driver to take you around the area, most guides online will overcharge you and you will be in a big group, limiting the potential for an authentic experience.

I paid around 60 soles for an hour tour from a local driver I met the night before, going with a local guide is essential, as I touched on in my post, this area is very poor and famous for pickpocketing and robberies. Go in the morning with a guide.

La Casa de Ferrio was built by Gustave Eiffel, ring a bell? Yeah, the guy who built the Eiffel tower, he built it during the rubber boom to celebrate the cities large amounts of prosperity. Now, its the site of a fantastic restaurant with the same name.

The restaurant is pricey by Peruvian standards (I paid 100 soles for a meal and a drink) but the historical significance of the place is unmatched as well as the view of the Plaza de Armas. This was the best way to end my amazon journey and grasp heading back home

Ayahuasca is a staple of this region, as a tourist, I was often stopped by people trying to sell me an Ayahuasca experience. Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic drug used for therapeutic purposes The “Psychotria Viridis” plant and the stem of the “Banisteriopsis Caapi” vine are used to make ayahuasca. The combination is consumed after cooking it until just a strong concentration is left.

Iquitos and the road to Nauta are full of Ayahuasca retreats. I have never tried Ayahuasca so I cannot recommend it or provide any experience but if this type of tourism is your thing, this is the place to do it

The week I spent camping in the Pacaya Samiria national reserve was one of the best experiences of my life. You can’t enter Pacaya Samira without a guide, I went with Amazon Experience . Pacaya Samiria is the second largest national reserve in Peru and is fantastic for seeing all sorts of Amazonian wildlife.

Animals like the Black Caiman, Amazon Pink River Dolphin, and various types of monkeys and tropical birds. I love animals, but camping in the Amazon was the highlight for me. It felt like a scene out of a movie, it was a real adventure. I will touch more on this trip in a seperate, detailed blog post but I highly reccomend this trip.

You must go with a guide to this national reserve, and I cannot recommend Amazon Experience enough. My week long camping expedition was accompanied by Lisser, my main guide who was extremely knowledgable about the jungle we were living in. The whole crew is from the area and had ties to the tribe we stayed with for two nights. Their Pacaya Samiria tours range from 3 days to over 10 days and they also have a lodge outside of Iquitos for you to stay in if camping is not your thing

Iquitos and the Amazon region have some great street foods you won’t find anywhere else. Alongside the exotic meats of Belen, Iquitos boasts some top tier food for great prices

Juane is some of the most unique meals I have ever had. Juana is cooked in banana leaf but underneath there is a ball of rice, chicken, olives, and eggs. I was originally attracted to this food due to its unique look but it was also delicious. 5 soles

Smoked Meat is very popular in this region. In the states its a rarity to find anything smoked but in this region it’s popular to smoke meat. This is due to the increased preservation length of the meat, and it still maintains its flavor. Try this food out.

Jungle Spaghetti is one of the many unique foods I ate while camping in the Amazon. Jungle Spaghetti is made out of the shredded up heart of a palm tree usually combined with other vegetables .

The foods I ate here completely shifted my perspective on what food was, every fruit, meat, or carbohydrate was something completely different than what I ate even in Lima. Even the foods that were familiar like avocado had a completely different flavor profile, imagine an avocado or a tomato that tasted like candy. And you wonder why these people are so healthy, theres no need for excess sugar and fat

Iquitos was definitely the city I was most worried about during my trip. I heard horror stories of pickpocketing in Belen and Ayahuasca retreats turned into stories of robbery and sexual assault. In reality, nothing bad happened to me but there were situations where It could have been bad if I was not prepared.

Iquitos definitely had the most scams out of any city I was in. The Plaza de Armas often has a number of men who aggressively approach you trying to sell you Ayahuasca or Jungle tours, do not go with these people.

Both of these tours require equal amounts of preparation and respect that should not be sold on the middle of the treat. Sustainable tourism is so important in such a special region like this, many of these “Jungle” tours take you to local parks that have animals tied up for photo ops, which could not be farther from the tour I did with Amazon Experience.

Ayahuasca Tours sold to you on the street should be equally avoided, Ayahuasca is an extremely powerful medicine that can change your life for better or for worse.

The medicine takes weeks to prepare for, requiring a special diet and abstinence from alcohol, sex, and medication. I can not confirm on the legitimacy of these street tours but I can guess that this is not how Ayahuasca is meant to be consumed and this is how robberies occur.

There were definitely instances of me overpaying for tuk tuk drivers in the city, but that was my own lack of knowledge on fair pricing etc. All in all, if you maintain basic self awareness of knowing what seems to be a scam and how to walk away, you will do just fine in Iquitos. As for Belen, I touched on the safety in my blog post linked here, in short, go in the morning, go with a guide, and keep your valuables at home

Wet Season: October-May

This may come as a surprise to you but Iquitos is in the rainforest, which means it rains alot. In fact, coming into my trip to Peru in general I was expecting it to rain 24/7 throughout my trip, luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. It still rained every day, but the rain was only for a few minutes and usually at night. Don’t let the chance of rain be a deciding factor on when you go.

I would say the biggest factor on when you go is the type of animals you want to see. For example, in the Wet season, the river is about 10 feet higher so more birds and monkeys will be near the river and easier for you to see from the boat.

Dry Season : May-September

The dry season is a great time to go if you love seeing the largest predators the Amazon has. Because the river is much lower, Caimans and Anacondas migrate towards the many lakes inland of the Pacaya Samiria.

When I went, most of these big predators were underwater and difficult to see due to the higher amount of the river. Coming to the Pacaya Samiria during the dry season is the best way to see the massive reptiles that the Amazon has.

There is truly no where as special as the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon is the lifeblood of all things on this earth and any traveller who appreciates nature and culture knows how unique this place is. When you visit Peru, visit Machu Picchu and Cusco but please do not forget about what else this amazing country has to offer, an hour flight from Lima offers the most biodiverse place on this planet that you cannot skip.

Camping in the Amazon river without any technology for a week was exactly what my mind needed after a busy semester as a student in the West. The rainforest has power that can only be explained once you are there and I highly recommend you visit.

Iquitos as a city also made this place my favorite in Peru. It’s unlike any city I had previously travelled before In this Country, showing how diverse this place truly is. The hoarde of mototaxis, the debris in you face, the unbearable humidity still puts a smile on my face.

Given I leave for South East Asia in a week, I can only imagine this will what it will feel like. Although the real magic is in the Amazon rainforest surrounding the city, do not miss spending time in this city, go to Belen, go eat street food, go take a selfie infront of the longest river on earth. There is so much magic in the people and the culture that surrounds this place, take your time here.