PeruNorth's musings on events & destinations in Northern Peru, Amazonia ... and beyond. Detailed tour reviews.
These days, nearly all Amazon river cruises travel upstream from Iquitos to the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers, and the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. However, when I first took one of these cruises, in the year 2002, the Rio Amazonas took me and my group downstream to the tri-border with Colombia and Brazil. It remains a very interesting - albeit busier - river journey, which can be visited using local transport or by chartering your own vessel.
Iquitos is well-known as being the most remote city in the world, only accessible by air or river.
For those wanting to experience the latter, there are several ways of going about it.
Do you know which is the world’s 3rd highest waterfall? And the 5th? And the 16th? Well, depending on which source you read, they are all Gocta Falls, in the Department of Amazonas.
Whatever their official ranking, it is incredible that they have only recently come to general attention.
Peru is well known for its diversity, with the much-quoted triumvirate of Coast (Pacific), Mountains (Andes) and Jungle (Amazon) only providing a hint at the number of distinct eco-systems within her borders. To get an intense feel for this diversity, Peru North can recommend making the drive from Tarapoto in the department of San Martin, to Chiclayo in Lambayeque, on Peru's northern coast. And who better to have at the wheel for a journey as intensely spectacular as this, in the company of one's parents, than a driver called 'Elvis'. (This was not a nickname.)
