Iquitos and the rainforest in seven days

The city, a nearby lodge or Nauta: three different things

This programme does not name a lodge: none has been visited or checked by us. It describes what a three-night stay allows, and what you need to ask.

Day by day

Days 1 and 2: the rubber city, without embellishing it

On the first evening, the Malecón Tarapacá above the river is enough. On day 2, Belén market is visited in the morning: river fish, forest fruit such as aguaje, medicinal plants. The lower part of the neighbourhood, on stilts and with floating houses, is seen with a local guide who knows the residents. Then the Plaza de Armas, the Iglesia Matriz and the Casa de Fierro, a metal house that legend attributes to Eiffel without proof, and the malecón lined with houses covered in azulejo tiles.

These façades tell the story of the rubber boom, from 1880 to 1914, and its dark side: raids against Indigenous peoples to force them to collect latex, up to the Putumayo crimes denounced in 1913. See the rubber city.

At midday, Amazonian cooking: juane, rice and chicken cooked in a leaf, tacacho con cecina, plantain balls and dried pork, river fish. See the cooking of the Amazon.

Days 3 to 6: three nights in a lodge

The boat leaves in the morning; you arrive for lunch, and the first outing takes place in the late afternoon. Two full days follow, then a last outing at dawn before the return.

A typical day in the forest:

Depending on the season. The river rises and falls by several metres over the year. At high water, you travel by canoe between the trunks of the flooded forest; at low water, the trails and beaches reappear, and you walk more. No season is perfect: it rains all year round. See high and low water.

A community visit, if the lodge offers one: ask who organises it, who is paid, and what can be photographed. See meeting people.

On day 6, back to the city in the late morning. In the afternoon, Lake Quistococha and its park, or rest.

Day 7: a buffer before the flight

The night of day 6 in the city means the flight does not depend on the morning boat: a delay on the river does not make you miss the plane.

Health before you leave

The CDC recommends the yellow fever vaccine for Loreto, and malaria is present below 2,500 metres east of the Andes: see a travel medicine centre several weeks beforehand. Protect yourself from mosquitoes day and night. See health.

Budget: the items to add up

Pacaya Samiria variant, via Nauta

For the great flooded forest, the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve: S/ 30 a day for a foreign visitor (S/ 15 for a Peruvian adult); every day from 6:00 to 17:00; visits only with an authorised operator. You enter from Nauta, then by boat, from a few hours to two days depending on the sector; the most accessible, Yanayacu-Pucate, has around twenty lakes. SERNANP advises visiting from May to September.

Ask the operator about the sector, the boat times, the type of accommodation and what the price includes. See Pacaya Samiria.