Iquitos holds the distinction of being the world's most inland seaport and is accessible only by land or by water. In addition to being the fourth largest city in Peru, it is the third largest along the Amazon. Founded in the 1750's as a Jesuit mission, Iquitos boomed during the rubber days, and today is an oil center and the staging spot for tourism. Enjoy these Iquitos River Scenes

While there, you'll see some of the buildings erected during the rubber boom which still retain a bit of faded splendor.

Guides will point out the Casa de Hierro, Iron House, designed by the same Gustave Eiffel who built a tower for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889. This building has no resemblance to the tower, but it is a reminder of Iquitos' early days. If you stroll through the market, you'll see local produce - fruits and vegetables, plus dried fish, piranha teeth, and other oddities. The floating houses of Belén are built on stilts to withstand the river tides, but if you walk the Tarapacá promenade, don't expect to see the river. This balcony was once a river view, but the river has since changed course.

From Iquitos, you can made a sidetrip to the Laguna Quistacochoa where there's a fish hatchery, and a small zoo where you'll see otorongo , Amazon jaguar, the ocelote or small tiger, the sachavaca an animal similar to a tapir, and a great variety of monkeys and different species of reptiles. You can also take a boat to Pucallpa on the Ucayali River, one of the main Amazon tributaries.

From here you can drive to Lima or visit the lake at Yarinacocha. This is a scenic spot, where you can go canoeing, see wildlife and shop for local handicrafts in Puerto Callao.

You might take one of the little boats put-putting along. These are called peque-peque for the sound they make, and they'll take you up and down the river and around the lake to the Shipibos Indian village of San Francisco. The Shipibo are well-known for their artisanry. Tour boats take you also to the Tahuayo, Ucayali and Maranon Rivers and the Pucate Nature Area and Samiria Reserve.

These are sidetrips, all worthy of seeing, but usually secondary to the main purpose visitors come to the Peruvian Amazon. Most visitors stay at one of the all-inclusive lodges, participate in lodge-sponsored activities such as excursions into the jungle, visits to native villages, such as the Yaguana Indians who are famed blowgun hunters, birding, nightime caiman hunting and more activies led by trained guides who may be naturalists.

Other travelers arrange their river excursions themselves, on site, which may be on boats with little or no amenities, where cramped deck space and monotonous meals based on fish and rice are the norm,or they may be on new, air-conditioned boats with private cabins and hot showers. Naturally, the price varies.