Amazon lodges & hotels

General information for Explorama lodge

Guides
All of Explorama´´s guides are local people, raised in the Peruvian Rainforest, with an extensive and sensitive knowledge of the ecology and culture of the Amazon. Our guides have an average of 8 to 14 years experience with the company, and while many of them have only completed a few years of formal schooling, all have worked closely with the most prominent scientists in rainforest ecology and conservation. Their expertise is utilized in rainforest workshops, Earthwatch projects, and to assist doctoral students in all areas of rainforest studies.
Explorama guides are able to explain the rainforest on a scientific level, while also expressing a love for the place that only comes from having grown up within it. When traveling with Explorama you can be assured of a warm welcome from the villagers as you learn about their daily life. You will never feel intrusive accompanied by our guides because they share a common background with those who live there.

Explorama has also sought to be an integral partner in the life of the local villages we visit by initiating and supporting educational programs for village school children and their teachers. This enables village children in sponsored schools to have access to education that might not be otherwise possible. Please ask about the "Adopt-A-School" and "Environmental Education for Rural Teachers" programs!

Contribution to the local community
Explorama has also sought to be an integral partner in the life of the local villages visited, by initiating and supporting educational programs for village school children and their teachers. This enables village children in sponsored schools to have access to education that might not be otherwise possible. Ask about the Adopt-A-School and Environmental Education for Rural Teachers programs.

Climate
A unique feature of the rainforest surrounding Iquitos is its lack of a specific rainy or dry season. There is a high water period from December through May which is caused by the melting of snow as the Andean summer begins and from the rainy season in the upper jungle. The low water period begins in June and ends with the rising waters in November.
While the water level can fluctuate more then 45 feet, the warm and humid climate remains relatively constant throughout the year, giving this area its botanical category of "Everwet Tropical Forest". Normal daytime highs are 88° F and nighttime lows are 72°F.

Meals
All Explorama lodges offer a wide variety of foods, both local and international, cooked in a simple and appetizing style and served in tropical palm-thatched dining rooms. Buffets are frequent, so you can select what you want. Breakfast includes an entree, pastry selection, breads, peanut butter, local marmalades, fruit and local fruit juice. The lunch and dinner buffet includes an entree of chicken, beef, local fish or pasta and fresh salad, a variety of rice and bean dishes, hot vegetables, bread and butter, and a choice of desserts including local fruits such as papaya or pineapple or prepared desserts such as rice pudding or flan. Complementary coffee, tea and drinking water are available 24 hours a day. Bar service, including soft drinks, is also available at guest expense.

Getting there
Iquitos is the starting point for all of Explorama´s Peruvian Amazon adventures. Although no roads or railways connect Iquitos to the rest of Peru and the world, it is easily accessible by air, with daily flights from Lima on AeroContinente, Aviandina, TANS, and by one round-trip Saturday flight from Miami on AeroContinente.

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James Castner has written an informative guide to the lodges and surroundings. more...