Written by:Claire Dean
Published: 26-10-2022
Peru's Amazon Rainforest offers one of the best areas of the Amazon to visit. With the second-highest rainforest after Brazil, the Peruvian Amazon also boasts more clay licks than anywhere else in South America, offering opportunities to spot various bird species. Along with Ecuador, Peru's rainforest is located in western Amazonia, which provides the most wildlife due to the nearby Andean Mountains. With these things in mind, the Peruvian rainforest is an incredible place to visit. Enjoy beautiful scenery, relaxing cruises, adventure tours, and fantastic wildlife, but where do you visit in the vast Peruvian jungle?
Amazon Tribe
There are two main gateways for the Peruvian Amazon. These are Iquitos as a port of the Amazon River in Peru's north and Puerto Maldonado in the south. Puerto Maldonado provides access to the incredible Tambopata National Reserve and Manu lowlands.
Amazon Stilted Houses
Puerto Maldonado
The southern Peruvian Amazon offers more clay licks than anywhere in South America. This is the rainforest accessed from Peru's gateway town of Puerto Maldonado. From here, you can enjoy visiting the licks to see hundreds of colorful birds. The parrots and macaws visit these areas to eat clay. This is thought to provide essential salts and help neutralize toxins in the birds' unripe fruits and seeds diet. You can experience the clay licks from one of the many lodges. These offer guided tours to Tambopata's clay licks. And two recommendations are the Posada Amazonas and Refugio Amazonas Lodge. In addition to the clay licks, within the Peruvian Amazon, you can find beautiful lakes home to lake-living wildlife. Some of these are even home to endangered giant river otters.
Parrots on a Claylick
Iquitos
In Peru's northern territory, from Iquitos, you can enjoy fantastic cruises to enjoy the Amazon River. There are also jungle lodges for guided expeditions of the Iquitos rainforest. If you're interested in an Amazon River cruise, then Iquitos will be your choice as different high-class cruises depart from the port city of Iquitos. As the largest destination in the Amazon, the city offers a unique look at "city life" amidst the rainforest. Wander through wild markets selling exotic fruits, deadly catches, and herbal drinks claimed to deliver all sorts of effects. Dine at innovative restaurants in old colonial buildings on the water's edge, where the man-made jungle meets the untameable natural jungle. To make the most of Peru's Amazon Rainforest, you can see a list of Valencia Travels tours here.
Riverboat Cruise, Iquitos
Wherever you decide to enter The Peruvian Amazon, you can be sure of the adventure of a lifetime with Valencia Travel's Jungle Experiences.
