Iquitos: the Amazon River gateway

Iquitos, the largest Peruvian city in the tropical rainforest, was the hub of the 19^th century rubber boom, which brought glamour and wealth to the city. This historic time is shown on its splendid mansions and public buildings, including the Iron House, designed by Gustave Eiffel, and the Hotel Palace, built in Art Nouveau style. Fitzcarraldo, the movie about the life of rubber baron Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald who was obsessed in building an opera venue in the middle of the jungle, portrays the grotesque contrast between the impoverished suburbs and the nouveaux-riches rubber barons’ sumptuous and extravagant lives on those days in Iquitos.

 

Nowadays, Iquitos is the gateway for eco-adventures through the Amazon River and other waterways that include stays at eco-friendly resorts in the rainforest. Visitors can sail on exclusive river cruises through virgin jungle, such as throughout the flooded rainforest of Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, a natural place teeming with flora and wildlife that protects more than two million hectares (over 5 million acres) of jungle and wetlands.