Belen Market (Mercado de Belén) is a famous and bustling market located in the Peruvian Amazon city of Iquitos.
Belen Market
Carnival in Cajamarca
Carnival - the exuberant celebration that precedes the Christian observance of Lent - is most closely associated with Brazil, and especially Rio de Janeiro with its famous Sambodromo floats and dancers. Nonetheless, there are carnival festivities throughout Latin America, with Peru being no exception.
Arguably the best-known in Peru is the Carnaval de Cajamarca, a vibrant and colorful festival celebrated in the city of Cajamarca.
The Four Emblematic Dances of Peru
Dance is a fundamental part of Peruvian cultural expression and identity, taking pre-Columbian traditions and combining them with later Hispanic and African influences.
If you are lucky enough to witness one of Peru’s many festivals, you are sure to see locals expressing themselves and their region through dance, just as they have for centuries.
Brewster Sisters - Avatar Amazon Lodge Testimonial
Read the experiences - and see Images - of two twenty-something sisters from Scottsburg, Indiana at Avatar Amazon Lodge, near Iquitos, Peru.
6 Best Iquitos Attractions
It is said that ‘he who goes to Iquitos alone, returns a father’. The veracity of this saying has yet to be confirmed, but PeruNorth can verify that five days in the largest city in the world not connected to ‘civilization’ by road was nowhere near enough.
Dilwyn Jenkins - Defender of the Ashaninka
Remarkable life of British anthropologist, Dilwyn Jenkins.
Spent 40-years learning about & defending Ashaninka in Peruvian Amazon.
Instrumental in creation of Otishi National Park.
7 Tips for Visiting an Amazon River Village
Visiting local communities a fundamental element of Amazon cruise or lodge stay.
PeruNorth’s advice on how best to enjoy these visits.
Interaction is the keyword.
Many of PeruNorth’s clients are as fascinated by the human ecology of Peru’s Amazonia as the countless exotic species of flora and fauna found therein.
Reading List for Northern Peru ... and Beyond
At PeruNorth, we certainly see travel as a mind-broadening exercise, and many clients enjoy reading about the region they are visiting before, during and after their trip.
Here is a list of recommended reads that range from scholarly works investigating specific pre-Columbian ruins or Amazon tribes, to fictional books offering a more general feel for the atmosphere of Latin America.
Witchcraft in Northern Peru
Totora Reed - a Unique Resource
Matses Trek
PeruNorth is delighted to be able to announce the opportunity to visit the remote Matses National Reserve on a remarkable 12-day journey, during which adventurous clients will be able to catch a glimpse of the unique lifestyle of the private Matses indigenous people, as well as enjoy the bountiful flora and fauna of this unspoilt corner of Amazonia.
Visiting an 'Indigenous' Village - Good or Bad?
We recently received a comment from clients saying that 'a visit to an Indian community ... left us feeling rather uncomfortable: they performed a dance and then sold us trinkets, but we felt quite ambivalent about the whole set-up'. The community in question was that of an Amazonian tribe, the Yagua, visited as part of the Ceiba Tops - and many other Amazon lodge - itineraries.
In this blog, we examine the pros and cons of these visits.