Iquitos
Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, the fifth largest city of Peru, and the capital city of the Loreto Region. The city is surrounded with Amazon, Nanay and Itaya rivers, and its name in Iquito language translates to The People. It is an island, so the only connection is by boat or airplane.
The main town square has San Juan Bautista church, an iron house, and the memorial to the pacific war in the 1870’s. That war was between Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Chili won and took away the land bridge Bolivia had to the pacific, making it essentially land locked. It also took over a chunk of Peru who was supporting Bolivia. We saw the pacific war memorial, the iron house (bought in Paris by a wealthy rubber baron family and shipped to Iquitos) and an excellent preserved building from the rubber baron time with tiled external walls (tiles from Spain) that was gorgeous.
Here we were introduced to tuk-tuk, which are a three wheeled motorized vehicle that seems to be the main mode of transportation in town both as taxis and small trucks.
During our tour we visited a school. The school has 1000 students, and 1/2 day classes (so 500 students at a time). There are 18 classrooms and the school teaches from elementary to high school. There are 70 people on the staff and over ½ (42) are teachers. It has a garden funded by International Expeditions (our tour company). Apparently many of the children have never been to the jungle, so this allows them to see some of the plants, turtles and fish and work to grow and raise them. The garden is broken up into a medical/herbal and ornamental sections. Often this is their only exposure to the jungle which ironically surrounds the city.
Read MoreThe main town square has San Juan Bautista church, an iron house, and the memorial to the pacific war in the 1870’s. That war was between Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Chili won and took away the land bridge Bolivia had to the pacific, making it essentially land locked. It also took over a chunk of Peru who was supporting Bolivia. We saw the pacific war memorial, the iron house (bought in Paris by a wealthy rubber baron family and shipped to Iquitos) and an excellent preserved building from the rubber baron time with tiled external walls (tiles from Spain) that was gorgeous.
Here we were introduced to tuk-tuk, which are a three wheeled motorized vehicle that seems to be the main mode of transportation in town both as taxis and small trucks.
During our tour we visited a school. The school has 1000 students, and 1/2 day classes (so 500 students at a time). There are 18 classrooms and the school teaches from elementary to high school. There are 70 people on the staff and over ½ (42) are teachers. It has a garden funded by International Expeditions (our tour company). Apparently many of the children have never been to the jungle, so this allows them to see some of the plants, turtles and fish and work to grow and raise them. The garden is broken up into a medical/herbal and ornamental sections. Often this is their only exposure to the jungle which ironically surrounds the city.
