The beautiful Amazon - my Peruvian highlight

Visiting the mystical Machu Picchu was a magnificent experience I shall never forget but for me the true highlight of Peru came from veering off the tourist trail.

In the north east of this fascinating country lies Iquitos, a chaotic, head-banger city  carved deep into the Amazon basin.

Arriving from the relative serenity of Cusco was like landing in a different world - from stepping from the plane onto the sweltering tarmac, through the equally stifling ‘airport’ which was little more than a concrete structure with luggage belt surrounded by squabbling locals, before driving into the city.

My first glimpse of this wondrous place came about an hour before, from my seat on the plane I watched the view transform from arid, brown Andes mountains to miles and miles of lush green rain forest.

The Amazon basin covers more than a million square miles but until I watched the bright green canopy disappear over the horizon I didn’t get just how colossal it is.

An endless landscape of green tree tops broken only by the winding Amazon River and its tortuous snaking brown tributaries, and the odd puff of smoke from the tribal communities in the forest.

I have dreamed about visiting the Amazon since I was a child, my desire to see the rainforest fueled by a deep fascination and respect for nature and wildlife.

My first dream-like glimpse of this precious and astonishing place assured me it would not only be the highlight of my trip, but be a life-changing experience that would touch me deeply.

Iquitos is not part of the Peru tourist trail so I would advise anyone who visits to do so with patience.

The heat and humidity are extreme, there is no air conditioning in any public place, and you will have to learn a few words of Spanish as English is not understood anywhere - even in the handful of hotels.

It is an assault on the senses from the moment of leaving the airport, onto the frenzied and chaotic roads swarming with tuk tuk-like motorcars, streets lined with stalls overflowing with bananas, pineapples and exotic fruits the likes of which I have never seen.


Locals watch you in fascination before running up offering to take you on a tour into the jungle or exchange soles, the local currency, for dollars.

There is also the smell, a heady mix of tropical damp, petrol fumes and smoke from the food-vendors who sit charring meat and churros at the side of the street.

This is real travel, away from the crowds, tourist shops, fast-food joints and organised tours and deep in the heart of what is one of the most fascinating and endearing countries I have ever visited.

Many who venture to Iquitos opt for a week-long Amazon tour which entails taking a boat along the river deep into the jungle, a kaleidoscopic teeming mass of flowers, trees, animals insects and fruits.

But you do not need to go that far to appreciate the wildlife of the Amazon because it is all around you as soon as you leave the airport.

Moments after setting off for a walk around the city a humming bird fluttered past me before delving into a nectar-rich hibiscus bush at the side of the road.

Look up to the sky and you can see vultures circling overhead, looking for food in the surrounding jungle. 

Butterflies flutter all around like delicate fragments of technicoloured confetti- It’s like mother nature has not realised we have arrived yet, it just carries on all around.

I walked past a small school only to spot an army of thumb-sized leaf cutter ants marching across my path up the trunk of a tree at the side of the road.

Seeing these fascinating animals scurrying across the pavement carrying lumps of leaf made it hit home that I was  standing in the middle of a rainforest, albeit a part cleared for human inhabitation.

A day in this place could wear out the hardiest of travelers, it is intense has thankfully been largely untouched by the tourist industry.

Walk into a cafe and say “coffee please” and you will me bet by a blank stare followed by “no Inglese”.

Book into the ‘best hotel’ expecting luxury and you will be disappointed - it’s luke-warm water and cockroaches scurrying under the bed when you switch on the light with little sympathy from staff if you haven’t bothered to pick up few words of Spanish.

Iquitos is situated deep in the Amazon basin, where Peru meets Columbia, Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia.

After summer it is a slightly cooler 35C (95F) although it hits 40C-plus (104F) at the peak of the season with humidity upwards of 110 per cent.

Anyone not up for the full-on week-long jungle tour can do what we did and choose a one-day option.

You won’t get to see a fraction of what this beautiful world wonder holds but you will see the forest, the river and some of the tribal people who live along its banks.

If you are very lucky you may get to hold a baby woolly monkey at one of the reserves, for me this was one of the most touching experiences I have ever had.

The argument for or against tourism is one I put to our guide, Percy, curious to know whether he thought the Amazon should be open season for westerners come to take a look.

He assured me if done responsibly it helps preserve the forest and supports the local people, and that it is de-forestation by the oil industry which is the threat.

I hope he is right, but I also hope this place never becomes more commercialised and that Iquitos, which can only be reached by air, is never linked to the rest of the world by motorway or rail line.

Peru is an amazing country, and a must for any traveller who wants to experience the mountainous wonders of Cusco and Machu Picchu, the chaos of the capital Lima and the splendour of the Amazon.