Friday - 19 April 2024 - Leaving Lima and headed to the Amazon!!
Mom in front of the Country Club hotel - which was a very nice hotel in the Miraflores district of Peru.
Upon arriving in Iquitos we were taken to the "Iron House" for lunch.
Rubber baron Anselmo del Aguila
bought it at the International Exposition of Paris in 1889. Once dismantled, it was brought in pieces to Iquitos (the
metal sheets were carried by hundreds of men through the jungle), and assembled here in 1890.
The inside wall of the Iron House - iron sheets weathered from the humidity.
Cute little napkin rings - napkin rings would become a driving need in the days ahead.
The Cathedral of San Juan Bautista is characterized by its Gothic Revival style and Swiss clock.
The
construction of the cathedral began in 1911, after the demolition of the old church.
There are no roads into Iquitos, so smaller taxis or "Tuk Tuks" are easier to come by, far more affordable, and are
everywhere.
Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes. It is the largest city
in the world that is unreachable by road and not on an island, it is only accessible by river and air.
Our first look at the Amazon. Iquitos is a major port.
In the late 19th century, during the Amazon rubber
boom, the city became the center of export from the rubber productions in the Amazon Basin.
The former Hotel Palace built from 1908 to 1912 by Samuel Young Mass, located just off the main square.
The tile work on the Hotel Palace. All the elements for the building were transported across the Atlantic. The tiles
were brought from Malaga.
The hotel building currently serves as the office of the Fifth Military Region
of Peru.
Balcony on the second floor of the Hotel Palace.
The only skyscraper is undergoing renovations.
A street vendor with a barbecue grill on wheels.
Area of Iquitos where the homes are on stilts to avoid flooding during the rainy season.