Safari in the Iquitos Amazon

renowned for high quality small boat cruises

Set in the remote northeast of Peru, the town of Iquitos is the gateway to the Amazon River and the substantial Pacaya Samiria Reserve.

Most travellers fly from Lima or Cusco into Iquitos in order to undertake a three to four night cruise on one of several small boats that explore the areas upstream of the town.

Most of these boats are very luxurious, with lavish air-conditioned cabins and superb levels of hospitality.

Although Pacaya Samiria offers the best wildlife viewing in this area, finding the animals is very challenging, much more so than the Tambopata area to the south.

The focus here is much more about providing a romantic, atmospheric and relaxing jungle river experience, something that these boats do with aplomb.

If you are interested in a more edgy, active and wildlife-focused experience, then do take a look at the Tambopata area further south.

The best time to visit Iquitos is generally considered to be the Apr-Oct dry season.

Although this area is dominated by tropical rainforest (which is usually indicative of a pretty stable year round climate), Iquitos actually experiences quite a considerable seasonal range.

Temperatures are actually quite stable, with peak daytime temperatures typically rising to around 31C/88F (peaking around 37C/98F, with nighttime temperatures dropping to 17C/63F. Given the high year round humidities, conditions can be quite sticky and uncomfortable. During the Nov-Mar rainy season those nighttime temperatures can be a few degrees higher, which doesn’t help.

If you don’t enjoy high temperatures, then Jun-Jul is the best bet, since southerly winds can bring in slightly cooler fronts.

But the biggest seasonal difference is rainfall. During the Nov-Mar rainy season the precipitation rises to around 300mm/6” per month, which is pretty high. Downpours can be torrential and enduring. Whilst there is still a lot of sunny weather around, it is possible to have consecutive days of overcast weather.

During the converse dry season rainfall drops to around 75mm/3” per month, which means there are still regular showers, but they tend to be light and intermittent, with sunny weather prevailing.

Water levels

When it comes to river cruises in this area, another huge seasonal factor is water levels.

The period Jun-Nov is the low water season, which overlaps with the best weather period Apr-Oct. At this time the floods retract from large areas of the forest, increasing the options for hiking, but many of the smaller rivers become unnavigable and the boats cannot explore so widely.

The period Dec-May is the high water season, which overlaps with the more challenging weather period Nov-Mar. At this time water levels typically rise by around 7 metres (23’) and large parts of the forest become completely flooded. The areas which can be navigated by the boats expands considerably, enabling explorations of even more remote areas.

Most people choose to travel during the Apr-Oct period, since that is when conditions are best in the high Andes, so low water is the much more common experience.

Where to stay

There are several high quality liveaboard cruise boats operating on this stretch of the river, mostly offering 3 and 4 night explorations west to Pacaya Samiria.

Some have just four cabins, so are suitable for private charter, whilst others have up to twenty cabins.

Most of these boats offer a genuinely luxurious experience, suitable for combination with the very top-end lodges in the Cusco area.

There are also lots of lodges in this area, but we rarely recommend any of them since the Tambopata region to the south offers a massively better wildlife experience for that kind of trip.

fly in from Cusco or Lima, usually for four nights