The Amazon Basin Sights

Shopping Nightlife

1. Museo de Culturas Indígenas

This small museum housed in a pale-blue building on the Malecón Tarapacá has an impressive collection of colorful headdresses made from the feathers of jungle birds and an array of other traditional handiwork by the main Amazonian tribes. If you're interested in indigenous cultures, you won't want to miss it. The displays include a wealth of information about the lives of the Amazon Basin's native peoples and an array of artifacts collected in Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and the Guianas over the course of decades. Items range from the quotidian (clothing, paddles, woven bags) to the ceremonial (musical instruments, headdresses, necklaces with the teeth of jungle animals). Among the more striking items are the jewelry, embroidered cloths and cushmas (tunics), painted ceramic wares, blow guns, spears, bows and arrows, and ceremonial headdresses.

2. Brazilian Consulate

3. Casa de Fierro

The most interesting structure on the Plaza de Armas is this “Iron House,” which was originally the home of a rubber baron but now houses a pharmacy and a restaurant, on the second floor. The building was forged in Europe and shipped across the Atlantic and up the Amazon River in sections to be assembled at this spot. According to locals, it was designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame), but a Peruvian historian who has studied Eiffel’s contribution to South American architecture disputes the claim.

4. Centro de Rescate Amazónico

At this animal-rescue center, a short trip south of town, you can get a close look at one of the region's rarest, and most threatened, species: the manatee. Despite being protected by Peruvian law, manatees continue to be hunted for their meat. The center, a collaboration of the Dallas World Aquarium and Zoo and two Peruvian institutions, raises orphaned manatees and nurses injured ones back to health for eventual release in the wild. It also serves as an environmental education center to raise awareness of the gentle creature's plight.

5. Distrito de Belén

Iquitos's most fascinating neighborhood lies along, and floats upon, the Itaya River. During high-water season (December–May), tiny houses on balsa-wood rafts float placidly on this Amazon tributary's calm waters. This slummy area has been called the Venice of the Amazon (a diplomatic euphemism), but navigating between its floating homes is really a kick. During the low-water season (June–November), those houses sit in the mud, and the area should simply be avoided. During high-water season, you can visit the floating houses with an Iquitos tour operator. Tours of Belén usually include a visit to the local market, Mercado Belén, where you may see bushmeat, suris (palm grubs), love potions, and other goodies for sale. Do not visit the Mercado de Belén or the surrounding area alone—muggings are frequent and pickpockets and bag slashers work the market with impunity. Only visit on a tour with a reputable company.

6. Hotel Palacio

Iquitos enjoyed its heyday as a port during the rubber boom a century ago. Some of the wealth of that time can still be detected in the imported azulejos (tiles) that cover many of its older buildings. A notable example is the former Hotel Palacio, on the Malecón Tarapacá. The hotel was the city's best when it opened for business in 1908. It has since been converted into a police station and is now looking a little worn, but remains a stately building nonetheless.

7. Malecón Tarapacá

This pleasant waterfront walk between Brasil and Pevas is a good place for an evening stroll. During high-water season, the Itaya River reaches the cement, but during the dry months (May–November), it recedes into the distance. You'll find some lovely rubber-boom-era architecture here, such as the Hotel Palacio, now a police station. There are also a few bars and restaurants on the malecón's northern end, near the Plaza de Armas. Its southern end gets less traffic, and muggings have been reported there at night, so stick to the three northernmost blocks after 6 pm.

8. Museo Amazónico

This "museum" has a few faded paintings and "bronzed" fiberglass statues of local indigenous people. One room holds temporary exhibitions by local artists, sometimes indigenous painters. Although the exhibits are less than enthralling, it's worth popping into this former town hall, constructed in 1863, to admire the ornately carved hardwoods and courtyard garden.

9. Museo de Barcos Históricos

The Ayapua, a 33-meter (108-foot) boat built in Hamburg, Germany, in 1906, navigated the Brazilian Amazon for much of the rubber boom and was brought to Iquitos by the nonprofit Fundamazonia in 2005 to be renovated and turned into a museum. It is now moored next to Plaza Ramón Castilla, on the Itaya River, and contains displays about the rubber boom and historic photos of the region from that era. The bridge has been refurbished, and there is a small bar where you can have a beer or soft drink.

10. Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm

A 20-minute boat ride from the port of Bellavista Nanay and a short (15-minute) walk or a tuk-tuk ride in dry season will bring you to Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm, which raises some 42 butterfly species and serves as home for wild animals that have been confiscated from hunters and wildlife traffickers. It has macaws, a jaguar, a manatee, monkeys (some free roaming), and other animals. During wet season, the boat may take you the whole way. A private boat to and from Padre Cocha should cost 60 soles, depending on the type of motor. Some boat operators may try to take you to a smaller butterfly farm, so insist on Pilpintuwasi; ask for Gudrun.

11. Port Bellavista Nanay

About 3 km (1½ miles) north of downtown Iquitos, at the end of Avenida La Marina, is this muddy beehive of activity with a large open-air market where vendors sell everything from jungle fruits to grilled suri (palm grubs). Boats of all shapes and sizes populate the riverbank and seedy bars are perched over the water on wooden posts. You can hire a boat to take you to the Bora and Yagua Indian villages, near San Andrés, or the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm.