Finally we came to Iquitos in early afternoon. Iquitos is a big city in the hart of Amazonian jungle. It had grown with a increasing need for rubber during colonial times. Now it is a important port on the Amazon river and tourist centre for those who wants explore beauty of Selwa. Iquitos is almost cut off from the rest of the worl. There are no road connection. The only possibilities are a plane (about 80$) or a small boat or big cargo boat I had taken.

In the port a taxi driver caught me and offered a very cheap hostel and a tour to jungle. The price was 50$ for 5 days. So I decided to go with him to his agency. I don´t know why I could get tricked so easily. As we got there, a nice, old woman explained that 50$ is an average price for each day. A plan of the trip seemed to be reasonable, but I wanted to have an comparison.

I found out that agencies offer two kinds of lodges (a central point in jungle where you sleep and from which you can start your tours). One of them are just a fun centre, comfortable with hot water, swimming pools and cold beer. Others are closer to nature, quiet but it is possible that there is no electricity or water to wash at all. Choosing a lodge it is very important to check where it is located. If it is far away from national park you can forget to see real jungle and people living there.

As I have heard a good and cheap idea is to take a cargo boat from Iquitos to Laguna (on the way to Yurimaguas). In Laguna you can hire a guide for 80 S/. per day that is like half of the price. And Laguna is a small village close to the biggest national park in this area.

I wanted pure nature without theatre prepared just to make stupid tourist happy. I decided to go for 3 days with Carrusel Tapira for 40$ per day. Their lodge was 120km to the south from Iquitos, more or less close to the National park.

Sounds good - but I was a bit afraid and suspicious at the beginning. Now I know it was a right decision!