The Peruvian jungle is an ideal place to visit the rainforest
Peru is proud to have the source of the mighty Amazon in the remote highlands of the east. Below the glacial melt-waters streams collect as they pass through the cloud-forest, home to the spectacled bear, rare orchids and hummingbirds.
Iquitos, situated at the Amazon headwaters to the north, is the point of entry for northern Amazon, while the southern regions are best accessed from either Cuzco or Puerto Maldonado. We can arrange exclusive Amazon cruises aboard boats with luxurious interiors and gourmet cuisine.
For the more adventurous, we suggest Manu, which is one of the most remote of Peru’s national parks. This reserve is home to a huge diversity of wildlife, including ocelots, caiman, otters and about a thousand species of birds. An excellent way to see the park is via the Manu River, skirting ox-bow lakes that are home to the rare giant otter and other reclusive creatures such as the jaguar and tapir. Either travel overland or if on a tight schedule fly from Cuzco.
More accessible is the Tambopata River (flying to Puerto Maldonado). We recommend the Tambopata Research Centre which is close to a clay lick used by the forest’s parrots and macaws. As the morning sun clears one of the world’s most dazzling wildlife gatherings happens. The steep river bank becomes a pulsing palette of red, blue, yellow and green as more than a thousand parrots squabble over perches to grab a beak full of clay, a vital part of their diet (to help counter-act toxins ingested).
The source of the Amazon
When to go: April to November