Iquitos
Iquitos is in the Amazonas region of Peru.
There are numerous flights to Iquitos from the capital Lima. There are no road connections. LAN offers daily flights from Lima for around 80 USD. TACA, TANS and other airlines offer lower prices.
Iquitos can be reached by boat from any navigable port on the Amazon River.
Wildlife Amazon Adventures, email: robertvaca@wildlifeamazon.com, [2]. Guides a trip from Francisco de Orellana-(Coca), Ecuador to Iquitos over 8 days. The first five days are around the Yasuni National Park in the lagoon of Jatuncocha. It then leaves on an adventure from Nuevo Rocafuerte heading towards Iquitos. This expedition goes 1,140 km along the Napo River and Amazon River. The Napo River is one of the most important tributaries of the mighty Amazon River. The source of the Napo comes from small streams flowing from the Cotopaxi and Antisana volcanoes.
Yurimaguas has daily cargo ship trips to Iquitos that take 2-2.5 days to arrive. Getting to Yurimaguas is non trivial, because its airport no longer has flights. It takes around 4 days to get to Yurimaguas from Quito
The most common way to move around town is by motocarro, a motorcycle with a small passenger cabin in the back. Taxis are available too, but the heat makes it advisable to take a motocarro. Most places you will want to go within the city cost about 1.5 soles but more far places (for example, from the airport to Plaza de Armas) would cost about 3 soles or more. The drivers usually make their money by kickbacks from the hotels they take you to.
Many motocarristas (those who drive the motocarros) make excellent guides of the city. Of course, you should take the same types of precautions one would take with any type of travel, but if you can befriend a motocarrista, you might have the opportunity to experience Iquitos in a unique, real-life sort of way.
When you exit the airport you will be approached very aggressively by the taxi drivers. Take the first one who offers to drive you for 2 soles and follow them quickly to escape the rottweiler-like pursuit of the others.
Iquitos is hot and humid (90 percent) year round. The population is very diverse: there were many periods of big wealth in Iquitos (mainly two with rubber and oil) that brought people from around the world and made it the most important fluvial port in the Peruvian Amazon. The city still keeps lots of houses built during that age. 'Iquiteños' (or 'Iquitinos') are usually very friendly and like to party very much.
Geographic and Climatic Data for Iquitos Peru
This data for Iquitos Peru is from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Research Center.
Latitude: Minus 3.75 degrees south of the equator.
The elevation above sea level is approximately 106 meters or 351 feet.
The Coordinated Universal Time of Peru is UTC-5, the same as Florida and New York, Eastern Standard Time.
The time difference between the longest day and the shortest day is only 18 minutes.
The temperature measured by ° F averaged from 22 years of data per month:
(Jan. 82.09) (Feb. 81.86) (Mar. 82.60) (Apr. 82.06) (May 82.42) (June 82.20)
(July 82.04) (Aug 83.55) (Sept. 85.78) (Oct. 86.59) (Nov. 84.88) (Dec. 82.87)
The average rainfall at the Iquitos Port is 103 inches per year. March and April have slightly more rain on a 10 year average, and July and August have slightly less than average, but contrary to popular belief there is very little difference in month to month precipitation in Iquitos.
