Introduction to Amazon Basin – New York Times

Nearly two-thirds of Peru is Amazon rainforest, which thrives with some of the richest biodiversity on the planet. Covering 6,475,000 sq. km (2,525,250 sq. miles), the Amazon basin represents 54% of all remaining rainforest
on the planet. This vast, largely impenetrable region, with the smallest human population in the country and few towns of any size, clearly is not the Peru of great pre-Columbian civilizations and Inca ruins. For the traveler,
it stands in stunning contrast to rugged Andean peaks and arid desert coasts. The humid frontier towns of the jungle, well past stages of oil and rubber boom and now hell-bent on eco-tourism, are worlds apart from the historic
cities Cusco and Arequipa, and the modern madness of Lima.

Many naturalists and biologists believe that Peru’s Amazon rainforest holds the greatest diversity in the world. It teems with a staggering roster of life: 400 species of mammals, 2,000 species of fish, 300 reptiles, 1,700
birds, and more than 50,000 plants. Recent studies have shown that a region just south of Iquitos has the highest concentration of mammals anywhere in the world.

Not surprisingly, jungle eco-tourism has exploded in Peru, as it has in several other Latin American countries. Peru’s jungle regions are now much more accessible than they once were — which is both a good and a bad thing,
of course — and there are more lodges and eco-options than ever. Still, accessibility is a crucial factor in jungle trips: The more remote a lodge or camping trek is, and the more pristine and unspoiled the environment
is, the more it’s going to cost you to get there in terms of time and money. Rivers define life in the jungle even more than do the forests; for both locals and visitors, almost all transport along the vast river system
that stretches across the whole of eastern Peru is by dugout canoe, motorboat, or large riverboats (lanchas).

The southern Amazon region, which extends to the Bolivian and Brazilian borders, is concentrated in the Madre de Dios department, the least populated area in Peru. Although it is accessible by land from Cusco, it is an exceedingly
difficult route. Most travelers fly to Puerto Maldonado (the gateway to the Tambopata Nature Reserve) and travel overland to the Manu Biosphere Reserve, returning by small aircraft.

The gateway to the northern Amazon basin is Iquitos. As an example of how huge the Amazon is, Iquitos lies nearly 3,220km (2,000 miles) from the mouth of the great Río Amazonas, the second-longest river in the world. Other
than an arduous journey by boat, the only way to get to Iquitos is by airplane (usually from Lima). The northern Amazon reaches all the way to Peru’s borders with Colombia and Brazil.

The best time to visit the Amazon is during the dry season, May through November. During the rainy season in the southern Amazon, parts of the jungle are flooded and impassable. The northern jungle does not have a rainy season,
per se, and travel there is less restricted during the winter; many lodges remain open year-round. However, water levels can rise from 7.5m (25 ft.) to more than 15m (50 ft.) from December to May, and some jungle villages
become flooded. Many naturalists find high-water months best for wildlife observation.