Discovering Peru

Staying in Iquitos

Last year I went to the Peruvian Amazon for 2 weeks out of my 6 weeks abroad. What an experience!! Iquitos has an amazing history and although now very touristic, still amazing. We stayed at a hotel for those two weeks, as the price was not bad (we negotiated with the owner) and were glad to have AC in the room plus amazing breakfast every morning.

What to do

We went on a day trip by boat into the middle of the jungle where we saw pink dolphins in their natural habitat, tarantulas and Dendobatidae frogs. We also saw amazing trees called Ceiba which made you feel like an ant beside it! Speaking of ants... don't lean on trees in the forest! I learned the hard way after getting a kind of fire ant on my t-shirt and getting bitten 3 times. 

TIP!: mosquito spray comes in very handy!

Local culture

Getting to know the local community was also incredible. We met a family that lived in a village nearby, where we stayed a couple of days. We were there for scientific reasons, so getting to know the people you are trying to help by improving their quality of life was just priceless. 

Where to go

I completely recommend going to Quistococha, as it's absolutely amazing. We also visited two animal shelters, the Manati shelter and a butterfly farm. All incredibly amazing. 

We then visited other parts of Peru like Cuzco and Macchupicchu, but if you want to know more about that just ask! We did the whole trip for a really low budget, doing 24h trips by bus, but it was completely worth it!

Best

Cristina