Popular destinations in Peru & Ecuador

The Amazon Jungle

The Amazon Jungle a dense mainly impenetrable region of Peru covering some two-thirds of the country, and is considered to have the greatest bio-diversity on earth, offering some 595 different species of birds, 1,200 types of butterflies, 2,000 species of fish, 300 reptiles, and more than 50,000 plants.

Stretching along the eastern border of Peru, the Amazon Jungle is split into two regions the north and the south, within which there are several important national reserves, two of which Manu National Reserve and Tambopata National Reserve are located in the south. Tambopata National Reserve is popular and accessible region for eco-tourists and covers an area of some 275,000 hectares (680,000 acres). The proximity to Cusco, and accessibility by air make this reserve an excellent choice for visitors wanting to experience the Amazon without too much difficulty.

Iquitos founded on the rubber boom of the late 1860s, in the Loreto district, accessible only by plane is the gateway to the northern Amazon. Connecting further north with the Columbian and Brazilian borders this large expanse of the Amazon is nearly the same size as the country of Germany. Eco-tourism has been active in here for over 50 years, and some of the best established eco-lodges and Amazon River Cruises can be found here.

At 782,880 KM SQ the Peruvian Amazon is the second largest jungle after that of the Brazilian Amazon, and represents some 16.2% of the whole Amazon basin. Although it is the largest region of Peru, the Peruvian Amazon is the least populated. It is home to approximately 11 percent of the country's population. Large numbers of indigenous people inhabit the jungle, some in total isolation from the rest of the world.