Iquitos

Iquitos is the capital of Loreto Province, the biggest city of the Peruvian Amazonas. I reached it by a long and special journey through the Rainforest. I was afraid that the weather would kill me here, but it wasn’t that bad at all. Singapore is way worse. Same for the mosquitos. Sure there are some, but an average summer evening in Hungary is worse. Many people told me that Iquitos is dangerous. Be careful. And I was careful but didn’t feel in danger at all.

Iquitos is a bit chaotic. The traffic is huge and loud thanks to all the Motokars (tuk tuks). Streets are dirty and most buildings aren’t well maintained. Some buildings from colonial times would deserve better care.

There are also nice parts though. The main park, the Plaza de Armas is well maintained, just like some of the streets near to the centre and the view to the bay is stunning.

Most tourists come here for Rainforest tours and to try Ayahuasca and of course locals build businesses on that, but talking to several tour guides I felt too much that this is just a business. They say that Rainforest is their passion, their love. Might be true but too big words to start with. They try to cheat, they try to force you to make quick decisions and they use all the ugly marketing tricks. In the end I decided not to do any tours. I’d rather see a bit less of the Forest than be part of this scam. I might be wrong. I don’t know, but I haven’t regretted my decision because I saw quite a lot on my little daily trips to Quistococha, Santa Clara and Loboyacu.