Pink River Dolphin
Inia geoffrensis
Habitat: Slow-moving rivers and flooded forest (várzea)
Where to see: Pacaya River, Marañón/Ucayali confluence
Welcome to Iquitos
The largest city in the world with no road access — reachable only by river or by air, deep in the Peruvian Amazon. Iquitos sits on the Amazon River in the Loreto region, and is the real starting point for jungle lodges, river expeditions, wildlife-watching, and Amazonian culture found nowhere else.
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A few of the species you may encounter on a real Amazon Adventure experience.
Saddle-back Tamarin
Leontocebus fuscicollis
Habitat: Riverine forest
Where to see: Monkey Island (Isla de los Monos)
Black Caiman
Melanosuchus niger
Habitat: Rivers and lakes; the largest Amazon basin predator, mostly nocturnal
Where to see: Night-boat tours, Pacaya Samiria
Açaí Palm
Euterpe oleracea
Habitat: Várzea floodplain
Where to see: Widely grown throughout the Loreto region
Giant Amazon Water Lily
Victoria amazonica
Habitat: Still backwaters and oxbow lakes
Where to see: Lake tours; leaves up to 3m across, flowers shift white to pink overnight
Aguaje (Moriche Palm)
Mauritia flexuosa
Habitat: Aguajales -- palm swamps and seasonally flooded lowland forest
Where to see: Widely harvested throughout Loreto; the fruit is a staple in Iquitos markets
Camu Camu
Myrciaria dubia
Habitat: Riverbank shrubland, flooded during high water
Where to see: Grown along the Amazon's tributaries; among the highest natural vitamin C sources known
Sacha Inchi
Plukenetia volubilis
Habitat: Forest-edge vine, cultivated in clearings
Where to see: Grown across the Peruvian Amazon, including Loreto
Lowland Paca (Majaz)
Cuniculus paca
Habitat: Dense forest near rivers and streams
Where to see: Nocturnal; most often seen or heard on night walks
Paiche
Arapaima gigas
Habitat: Oxygen-poor oxbow lakes and slow river channels; surfaces to breathe air
Where to see: One of the largest freshwater fish in the world; farmed conservation programs near Iquitos
Jaguar
Panthera onca
Habitat: Primary rainforest, wide territory range
Where to see: Rarely seen directly; a conservation-priority species across the Amazon basin
Where Your Bodega Products Come From
Iquitos has no road connection to the rest of Peru, so everyday goods -- not just souvenirs -- arrive the same way visitors do: by river or by air.
Coca-Cola
Corporación Lindley S.A. (Arca Continental group)
Origin: Bottled under license on Peru's coast (Lima and other coastal plants) -- there is no bottling plant in Iquitos or anywhere in Loreto
Route to Iquitos: No road reaches Iquitos, so cased product travels by river cargo boat (often transshipped through Pucallpa or Yurimaguas, the nearest river ports with highway links to the coast) or by air freight, then through Iquitos wholesale distributors to individual bodegas
Inca Kola
Corporación Lindley S.A. (Arca Continental group)
Origin: Peru's own soda, created in Lima in 1935 by the Lindley family; The Coca-Cola Company acquired a significant stake in the brand in 1999, and Arca Continental took majority control of Corporación Lindley -- the bottler -- in 2015
Route to Iquitos: Same coastal bottling and river/air route into Iquitos as Coca-Cola -- both brands share the same bottler and distribution network
Gloria Evaporated Milk
Grupo Gloria S.A.
Origin: Peru's best-known evaporated milk brand since the 1940s, made by a conglomerate founded in Arequipa in 1941; main dairy plants are concentrated in Arequipa and Lima (Huachipa) -- there is no dairy processing, or significant dairy farming, in the Amazon basin
Route to Iquitos: Cased product makes the same river-or-air journey into Iquitos as the sodas above, arriving via river port or air cargo before reaching bodegas through local wholesalers
Gloria Yogurt
Grupo Gloria S.A.
Origin: Made in the same coastal/highland dairy plants as Gloria's evaporated milk -- Grupo Gloria has since diversified far beyond dairy (sugar, cement, paper) but dairy remains its flagship business
Route to Iquitos: Distributed to Iquitos through the same river/air supply chain as the rest of this list