The city of Iquitos is the only interesting jungle city in Peru, and it is worth spending a day wandering round exploring it. The Boulevard (**) along Malecón Maldonado is a lovely pedestrian area alongside the river, with many bars, cafes and restaurants, often with live music at weekends. There are beautiful views across the Amazon River, although the river is quite far away in the low water period.
Iquitos has many wonderful tiled houses from its high period around the end of the 19th century. Among the finest of these is the former Hotel Palace (**), now army barracks, on the corner of Jr. Putumayo and Malecón Tarapacá. From the same boom period in Iquitos?s history is the Casa de Fierro (**) on the Plaza de Armas. This interesting, although not beautiful, iron structure was built by Gustav Eiffel, and was brought over from Paris at the end of the 19th century. The building now houses shops and restaurants. The Plaza de Armas itself is quite spacious and also has the Iglesia Matriz on it.
The Museo Amazónico (**) (entrance $1, open Monday to Friday 9am ? 1pm, 3pm ? 7pm) contains an interesting collection of statues of native tribes people from the surrounding jungle. It also contains interesting exhibitions on the native cultures of the area. The Museo Municipal (*) on the Plaza de Armas has a collection of stuffed fish and animals as well as some native art. Entry is free. The Biblioteca Amazónica (Malecón Tarapacá 345) contains a large collection of documents on the Amazon Basin.
Puerto Belén (**), a large shantytown by the edge of the Itaya River, is one of the most interesting districts of Iquitos. Many of the houses here are built on stilts because of the major changes in the river level between high and low water, and some houses are even built on rafts, so they float up when the river rises. The district is called the Venice of the Amazon as most people get around by boat on the river, although it is far more similar to a far-eastern river market. It is worth taking a trip around the port in a canoe, which will cost around $0.50 for a 15-minute ride. The market is also worth wandering around and has many wonderful fruits. Be careful with belongings, however, as the area is very poor. A mototaxi to the port costs about $0.60 from the centre.
2 kilometres west of the centre is the Lago Moronacocha, which has beautiful sunsets.
There are several spots close to Iquitos that make for good escapes from the city. One of the most popular is Quistococha (***) (open 8am ? 5pm, entrance $1) a park/zoo set on the shores of a beautiful jungle lake. The zoo contains many jungle animals, including pumas, jaguars, ocelots, tapir, river otters, monkeys, snakes and caiman, although the cages are often far too small. There are also several good walks on jungle trails. The lake itself is beautiful and there is a lovely white sandy beach from where it is possible to swim or hire a boat. There is a basic restaurant with limited choice, and it is better to bring a picnic. Combis for Quistococha leave from Belén market and from Parque 28 de Julio and charge $0.30. There are several other bathing spots close to Iquitos. The small port of Bellavista Nanay, 2km from Iquitos, has a good, sandy beach from June to November, and also has some Boras and Yaguas native communities nearby.
There are several native villages near Iquitos, including San Andrés, Santo Tomás and Santa Clara. These can be reached by taxi or by combi from the corner of Jr. Próspero and José Gálvez.
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