I have a few questions for people who have taken the trip between Pucallpa and Iquitos via boat and would love to hear stories.
This May Im planning on taking a bus from Lima to Pucallpa (with maybe a day or two spent in Huanuco). Then hopping on a boat to Iquitos. My understanding is that it is about a 5 day boat ride. Either small cabin or hammock on the deck. (If you get a cabin can you hang a hammock too?????) Questionable quality of food (should i plan instead to bring prepackaged foods instead of eating the food from the boat? Is prepackaged food available in Pucallpa?), Ill need to bring my own water (Is there somewhere in Pucallpa where I can buy safe bottled water???), my own hammock, toiletpaper, bugspray, and stuff to do when bored (books? suggestions?).
Will I need a mosquito net?
Is there anything else I need?
How cold does it get at night in May? How hot during the day?
Can anyone give me an idea of what kind of conditions I will be facing in bathrooms?
Does anyone feel strongly that getting a cabin is a good/bad idea instead of just hanging a hammock?
At the end of my boat ride, i will likely be spending a few days in Iquitos before flying back to Lima. How long in advance should I book this flight? Can I just show up at the airport and get on the next flight to Lima? How often to they have flights to Lima from Iquitos?
Reply to this Hi,
I am an american artist who has lived in Peru for about a year now. I just came back from a trip to Cuzco, Puno, and Arequipa. I have also been wanting to travel to Pucallpa from Lima and I searched google and found your post. Are you traveling alone? I will be traveling alone and wouldn't mind teaming up if it will increase our odds of finding the best/cheapest travel arrangements. I am a member of the South American Explorers club and they are helping to arrange my trip and I speak spanish. Would you be interested in joining forces? Please contact me.
Reply to this Hello Harrison 😊
You could also put a post in the Looking for Travel Companions forum to find somebody to join you, if you want.
Mel
Reply to this Thanks Mel,
It is all up in the air right now. But if need be I will do so. Thank you,
H
Reply to this Hii i did this trip one year ago..i took a flight Lima-Pucallpa--in Pucallpa i got early to separed my cabin..because there 2 ways to travel..the first , u are in a cabin for 2 person and private bathroon, and the another is travel with ur hammock(u need to hanging that-)..but u share the bathroon with 50 person..
they give u food, three times per day, por example in the morning chicken, rice and potato, in the afternnon, rice, patato and chicken, and in the night: patato, chicken and rice, jajajajja, really is like this..
is preferend u carry ur fruits and some food ..the water is essential!!u carry a lot of bottles of water..
traveling around Amazon river is 4 days long..!!
when u arrived to Iquitos u need to be carefull with ur things--
in the cabin i slept wiht a mosquito net..the fligth Iquitos -Lima u can buy the ticket before u go to Pucallpa is better ...
in the boat , all the day u can read or heae music, and carry u good camara, i will need that.
if u need more question, write me😊))
Reply to this From Yurimaguas is only 2 days on the boat.I did this trip.The Pucallpa trip is just a bit 2 long.The cabins sound like the way to go but they are sweat boxes.The hammock is best but buy your hammock before you leave Lima.In Yurimaguas or Pucallpa they charge a fortune.
I LOVED THIS TRIP.I tell everyone they should do this.To do the Yurimaguas-Iquitos trip you get the bus from Lima to Moyabamba.Here you stay at "Country Club Hotel" .They will orgonise a Colectivo for you to Tarapoto then on to Yurimaguas.Just getting here is an adventure along mountainous dirt roads through the Amazon Jungle.You then get on the ferry up the Maranon and AMAZON rivers to Iquitos.The 2nd deck is half the price of top deck PAY THE EXTRA you will see why when you get on board.This trip is exactly as you are imagining with villages of grass shacks and Indians in dugout canoes paddling out to meet the ferry.The food was just as Leonor described but it is good and filling I think the name is "Galleo de Pollo" and is a very popular dish in Peru
.After 2 nights in a hammock I got a nice hotel in Iquitos and the flight back to Lima was $105.Apart from this hotel and airfare this whole 10day ADVENTURE was cheaper than day trip from Cuzco to Machu Picchu.Freinds of mine have continued on ,on other ferries, to Colombia and Brazil but they had all the time in the world.
Everyone goes to Macchu Picchu but how many people travel down the mighty AMAZON river Reply to this All the airlines have offices in Iquitos and flights are numerous Air Condor was the cheapest and was comfortable flight.The warmth is filling my stomach as I write about this trip.I am so excited for you.
Reply to this Thanks to you guys who shared your experiences and gave me tips. It is really helpful seeing that people have done this before.
I'm getting really excited since my trip is happening so soon.
I would love any more advice anyone might have.
Thanks!
Gill
Reply to this I did the trip from Pucallpa to Iquitos in Jan. I would definetly suggest getting a cabin if available as you have some privacy. The one most important thing I can say is to not drink or eat anything from the galley I say this from very sad experience. Dysentry is a very fast and unpleasant weight loss program.
Bring your own food and drink as well as a good stock of toilet paper. The food is usually included in the fare, but I found that there was no lack of people gratefull for the food i could not eat.
If you want to meet a decent guide in Pucallpa for I would suggest a chap by the name of Sydney Puga. He speeks a little english and was very reliable. He will assist you with the purchases neccessary for the trip and will help you with the boat tickets and side trips while you wait for the boat to leave. The departure times are subject to change at any time. They seldom leave as scheduled.
He can be reached at
. Reply to this sorry for the slight thread hijack but has anyone done the boat trip from Manaus to iquitos?
is that even possible considering its up stream? and for those that know anything about it do you know how long it takes, cost ect
cheers for any info 😊
Reply to this Is a really nice trip with full of adventure,but the trip from pucallpa to iquitos by boat is not comfortable but full of adventures and views.
Reply to this Hi Davidalva.. did you find the answer to your question... how to get to Iquitos from Columbia ?
Reply to this Sorry I didn't answer before I was back in Sth Am.
From Colombia I would probably travel down to Quito ,Ecuador, and from there you can fly to Iquitos.Or maybe consider going to Leticia ,Colombia, and taking the ferry into Brazil or upstream to Iquitos.
Reply to this Thanks for everybody's input. I ended up changing my plans due to advice from locals who suggested that the Pucallpa route was long, uncomfortable and had a high risk of being unsafe. An alternate route was suggested via Tarapoto to Yurimaguas to Iquitos. Unfortunately I arrived in Tarapoto the first day of a week long strike and protest which shut down the city. Road blocks were placed on routes into and out of town. All shops and restaurants were closed to support the strike. I stayed for one week at the Alojamiento July. I highly suggest this boarding house for anyone travelling in the area. Kind management, secure, beautiful rooftop patio. They were very helpful in aiding me in finding exciting things to do in my week there.
Eventually I flew to Iquitos out of the Tarapoto airport and ended up travelling with three english boys who had taken the boat from Yurimaguas to Iquitos the day before I had arrived in Tarapoto. They found the boat trip to be excellent. They paid a little bit extra money to be on the top deck. While this separated them from many of the locals who packed into the lower deck, they were very comfortable, well fed, and had very little concern about security since they were mostly with other tourists. They highly recommend the trip from Yurimaguas to Iquitos via one of the Henry series boats.
Reply to this For information you, contact iPeru, the Peruvian National Tourism Office, they give reliable information about all over Peru (registered tour companies and accommodation as well as their record of complaints, routes, destinations and so on) to <snip> or they 24-hour line <snip>. The official website of Peru is www.peru.travel
I hope you had a great time in Peru and South America.
<snip>
[Edited: 2011 Nov 11 14:40 - Mell:49612 ]
[Edited: 2011 Nov 11 14:41 - Mell:49612 - No contact details on the forums please. You can exchange them with those interested via the Private Messaging System. ]
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