There’s no doubt- Iquitos is one of the best ways to see the Peruvian Amazon. Founded on the left bank of the Amazon River as a Jesuit mission catering to the Napeano and Iquito indigenous communities, Iquitos grew rapidly in the late 1800s and early 1900s, mostly due to a series of rubber and oil booms that made the city very diverse in population and gave it a strong Amazonian, European, and Bohemian feel- it’s even home to an isolated community of Sephardic Jews. Today, it’s still the major fluvial port and the cultural, urban, and commercial center of life in the Peruvian Amazon, even hosting the plaque commemorating the Amazon as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World (which belongs to all the countries boasting part of the Amazon). Despite of being the world’s largest inland city that is inaccessible by road, it has been steadily gaining a reputation as a party town.

Manu Biosphere Reserve is the preeminent reserve in the Peruvian Amazon, comprising 2 million hectares stretching between the departments of Cusco and Madre de Dios. Many travelers dream of visiting the tropical rainforest of the Amazon, and stopping by Manu is a great way to do it, as it’s believed to house the greatest biodiversity range on the planet, providing refuge for many endangered species, including the jaguar, river wolf, and the spectacled bear.