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Iquitos -Peru's tropical gateway City and door to the mysterious Amazon-pulses with the raw energy of a frontier outpost. Flying in, you'll be overwhelmed as the seemingly limitless expanse of unexplored green unrolls beneath you. About 2 kilometers wide near the city, the powerful Amazon courses by modern naval yard and petroleum installations, to pass native settlements clustered on its banks further downstream. To see the city itself, you may hire a motorcycle rickshaw ("taxi cholo") for a tour. Admire the richly tiled façades of many of the buildings, reminders of the era of the rubber boom. The iron building on the comer of the Main Square is said to have been designed by Eiffel. The jungle here is a benevolent wilderness that really begins about 50 Km downriver from Iquitos. Countless species of plant and animal life are still unclassified by modern science. The many lndian tribes of the Amazon region are perfectly adapted to their environment, successfully leading their lives long before "civilization" came to the area. Their folklore is some of the world's most fascinating and their folk medicine some of the most effective. The area is hot and rainy. |