Iquitos: The World’s Largest City Without Road Access

After the Amazon jungle, we decided to relax in Iquitos for a few days ahead of our next adventures in Cusco. Iquitos is the largest city in the world which is only accessible by plane or boat so there are very few cars – instead, there are predominantly moto-cars: 3-wheeled motorbikes with a 2-3 person carriage attached to the back, similar to tuk tuks in Thailand. Sundays are particularly unique as there is a parade held every week at 9am, where policemen, marines, army personnel, nurses, teachers, retirees, school-children, almost anyone in a profession that has a uniform, march around the Plaza de Armas to the military band. Iquitos locals might not be so wealthy but they are certainly proud to be professional and contributing to society.

We had observed monkeys in the wild but were keen to have a play so we visited Monkey island (La Isla de los monos). Monkey Island is a rehabilitation center for orphaned monkeys of people who have often raised them as pets; the volunteers take great care of the monkeys to eventually re-release them into the wild, and they are free to roam on the island. The cheeky monkeys particularly loved climbing onto Rob (alpha male) and in contrast used me as a shortcut to climbing onto one of our travel companions. For Rob, this was a welcome contrast to our usual interactions with dogs and cats who normally like cuddling me instead :p

Cheeky monkey using me as a platform to reach our travel companion

The maze to get down to the Puerto de Productores (Producers Port), to take a boat to Monkey Island

Belen market is also a must-see and we decided to visit the market with a local guide as it is massive, crowded and a haven for pick-pockets. You can buy everything there from local fruits, medicinal herbs, raw fish and cayman, live grubs and various types of live meat being butchered (some to our dismay such as turtles). Belen is a much poorer part of Iquitos yet it was an essential part to see. In high season, much of the market is flooded and can only be visited by canoe!