Iquitos Amazon: 3-Day Wild Jungle Immersion at Heliconia Lodge

Heliconia lodge in Amazon jungle is a great place to visit. Rooms are simple, but very good. They only have fans because the power comes from Solar. The food is simple but good. They serve some local jungle cuisines daily to give a taste of what locals eat. We had great time exploring the jungle with Manual, a very experienced guide. His ability to spot birds and sloths is simply amazing. We had the opportunity to see grey and pink dolphins, so many bird types and various herbal plants. The visit to the local tribe was a great experience as well. We highly recommend that you visit this lodge.

This trip was amazing - so much fun! Our guide, Manuel, was awesome. He was full of information, very funny, and we loved every outing. Our boat driver, Kenny, was also great and had quite the eye for spotting sloths up in the trees! The food was great, as was all the support staff. The pace of activities was perfect with enough downtime to enjoy the pool or just watch the world go by overlooking the Amazon. It greatly exceeded every expectation and was the highlight of the entire trip all across Peru. We did have some concerns going into it that all proved to be unfounded. The website says there will only be certain hours with power, but power and strong WiFi were available 24/7. Plenty of drinking water, with water coolers all around for re-filling bottles. Website also said 10 kg of luggage max, which was a concern as we had 2 week’s worth of stuff, including warm clothes for the Andes. We were able to leave a couple bags at our hotel in Iquitos, but it really wasn’t that big of deal. You can bring a backpack with you to fit under the boat seat, and your other luggage went in a different boat. Nothing got weighed or anything like that - I’d say just be reasonable and don’t bring too much. Website also says to wear long pants and long sleeves, which we did the first day and nearly burned up in the heat, while the guides were all wearing t-shirts. The rest of the trip, we just wore shorts and t-shirts along with some bug spray, and we were fine. We never really even saw mosquitos or had any problems with bugs - maybe just the bug spray working. There are some reeds along the jungle walk that can slice bare skin, but we were just careful to avoid - no issues with shorts and t-shirts, but one should probably have something long just in case. So again, all our concerns ended up being non-issues. Everything was great, well organized, and we had a wonderful time. It was like being at camp - you meet other guests, gather for meals in the dining hall, etc. The accommodations are nice and comfortable. With the screens and the ceiling fan, we all slept great (we were awoken early one morning by a monkey fight just outside the back screened porch, but that’s the jungle for you!). Enjoy - you will not be disappointed.

Wonderful experience tour was amazing the food and the excursions during the days were excellent .Amazing

What a trip. There is wifi, food is amazing, staff are friendly and you'll see things that you only see on national geographic. The amount of different species you get to see of spiders, plants, birds and animals... Mind blowing. I hate the heat and insects but it was honestly worth it. Just the stars at night is worth the trip. It'll definitely make you love your life more when you return home. Our group was very lucky, we saw pink and grey dolphins, snakes, frogs, anacondas, sloths, and much more.

The staff were very helpful, especially our guide Manuel, who was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Our only disappointment was we didn’t get to see many animals but to be fair to do this you need to do a multi day trek deeper into the jungle which we weren’t prepared to do.

A whirlwind 3-day tour to experience what the Amazon jungle has to offer in just three short days. We had an amazing time during this adventure. They kept us busy with activities before, in between and after meal times. This tour was definitely a highlight of our Peruvian adventure. Loved the dolphin-finding-mission, jungle walks, piranha-fishing, star gazing, bird watching and much more! Meals were interesting with many different types of fruit juices I have never seen anywhere else. Rooms were comfortable and swimming pool was a very welcome cooling-down mechanism.

We stayed at the Heliconia Lodge near Iquitos for three days. It was a unique and truly magnificent experience. The tour operators really know how to efficiently schedule the various activities, so on day one I was immediately surprised by how much we were able to get done and still not feel dead-drop tired. Our guide, Freddie, deserves special recognition for his spirit of service and immense knowledge of the region. I could not think of a single time where I had a question that he could not answer. He also made the tour feel very personal, as if we were visiting an old friend. He went out of his way to play his guitar everytime we had a meal and that was truly memorable! Some of the activities included a magical nighttime boat ride in the Amazon, a fun excursion to La Isla La Des Los Monos, a stroll through the Amazon (safe and with boots provided), and a visit to a local village. Obviously, the quality of the lodge and service will not change the fact that you are in the Amazon, so be ready for limited (but in my opinion enough) WiFi time mosquitoes when leaving the lodge. Electricity is also provided most of the day, but with breaks. I did not feel like that affected my experience in a negative way. The boat ride from Iquitos to the lodge is around two hours, but chances are you'll fall asleep for most of the ride. Overall I'm very satisfied with the experience and would definitely recommend it.

Jorge (George) met with me at Hotel Victoria Regia to identify what I was looking for in a private tour. He and our adventure exceeded all expectations. His English was very good and his knowledge even better. Highly recommend!!! Muy Bueno!!’

I was first so surprised to see how well-maintained this lodge is. It is super clean, and the rooms are protected by bugs by double nets and seals under the door. You can walk on the wooden corridor with bare foot, and the pool area is also absolutely well maintained. The shower in the pool area does not smell like rust (water smelling like rust is standard in Amazon), which was amazing!! Different from less expensive lodges, this lodge supplies electricity three times a day, and especially in the evening from 6 to 11 p.m., which was great. The meals are great too, and I was impressed at the fish menu. Most importantly, I have to mention how hard-working the guides are at this lodge. Our guide, Anthony, was so helpful and so knowledgeable, so I learned from Anthony quite a lot about Amazon river, animals and insects in the jungle, and the life in Amazon. If your team is paired up with Anthony, you are lucky!

Our stay at Heliconia River Lodge was definitely a highlight of our Peru trip! We were quite nervous going into it because we are not that outdoorsy (we like hiking but are not campers, etc) and we were afraid of the bugs and critters that may be there. However, we had a great time and felt completely safe during our stay! We were with a small group (8 total) who we started the journey with and stayed with the entire time -- along with our experienced guide. After being picked up at our Iquitos hotel via van, we were taken to a dock to board a small boat. The boat ride is about 2 hours total, but they stop halfway at Mokey Island which is a local monkey rescue. We LOVED visiting this place - there were baby monkeys everywhere and they crawl on you (if you want) and love to snuggle with you. Do not wear bug spray before visiting Monkey Island because it is dangerous to the monkeys. After the rest of the boat ride, we arrived at the lodge. It is a beautiful place! Wear hiking sneakers on the boat because you will have to walk a bit to get to Monkey Island and there are stairs leading to and from each dock that you will need to navigate. I have had knee surgery and was a bit nervous about some of the stairs, but I felt very supported by the staff and guide while walking on them -- bringing hiking poles if your balance is not good (especially on the jungle hike because you will need to navigate uneven terrain). The lodge itself is magical. It is very simple but clean and comfortable. Each room is a little bungalow raised on stilts and you are surrounded by trees and nature. One of the walls in each room is made up of mosquito netting so you feel like you are in the outdoors even when you are in your room. Throughout our stay (2 nights and 3 days) we saw a few small beetles in the room but did not see any other bugs in our space the whole time. There is a clean bathroom with a shower (only cold water) and an overhead fan. They do limit electricity - you will have it in the morning, afternoon, and evening for a few hours each time. It is enough time to charge your devices but you will not be able to keep the ceiling fan on past 11 pm. It is extremely hot and humid in the jungle but it does cool down overnight. There is also NO cell service or WiFi there so be prepared to be unplugged. There are a lot of neat animals right at the lodge so keep an eye out! We had a sloth that visited in the early morning next to our room and there is a parrot that comes into the dining area around dinner each day for a snack. After checking into our rooms and the welcome drinks, you have some downtime before the next activity. We did about 4 activities each day (all well planned and included) but still felt like we had ample time to relax and rest in between each one. There are water filling stations throughout the lodge and food and non-alcoholic drinks are included in your stay. There is also a bar if you would like to purchase alcoholic drinks. The food was simple but incredibly delicious - all locally sourced and each meal is a bit different. In addition to the fish, fruit, rice, and sides they serve at each meal, they provide delicious freshly made juices. There is a tea/coffee station available 24/7 as well as a game area with a pool, board games, and more. Some of the activities we did were a 2-hour jungle hike (wear long sleeves and bug spray), a sunset boat ride, morning bird watching, fishing/dolphin watching, visiting a local sugar cane distillery, a nighttime hike, and visiting a local tribe to learn about native history. I felt very safe on the excursions and they provide tall rubber boots to wear whenever you go hiking. There is also a pool at the lodge for swimming. We were very nervous and bugs, etc but we felt very comfortable when we were there. My friend got extremely sick on our second day there (due to an unrelated infection) and the staff took wonderful care of us! I would definitely go back in a heartbeat!