Machu Picchu and Incan ruins may be the most famous attractions in Peru, but it's the Amazon Basis that lays claim to most of Peru's land. Much of the Peruvian Amazon Basin is untouched, but tourism is beginning to carve out a spot for itself here.

Take a traditional canoe with an outboard motor through the winding tributaries to the Napo and Amazon Rivers. Here, toucans and squirrel monkeys can be seen directly overhead and, if you’re lucky, pink river dolphins, caiman, giant otters and much much more.

There are several different tour options: the main choice is between river tours where you travel for several days in a row and stop to camp out or sleep with indigenous communities, and multi-day stays in jungle lodges which range in quality from rustic to positively hotel-like. Most Peruvian Amazon tour companies are located in Iquitos.

Iquitos, on the banks of a mile-wide river in the Amazon, features a floating markets and restaurants, some interesting architecture and some crafts markets. Iquitos is close to some highlights in the Peruvian Amazon Basin like Lake Quistococha and protected nature reserves including one of the largest protected areas in Peru, the Reserva Nacional Pacaya-Samiria which features, among other many things freshwater dolphins, turtles, and monkeys.

The Peruvian Amazon is also where you will find the Manu Biosphere Reserve, one of the largest and most important nature reserves in the world. Approximately the size of New Hampshire, the biosphere is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, the most spectacular of which are monkeys, jaguars, caimans, macaws and giant otters. It is also a birdwatcher's paradise: according to some estimates there may be more than 1,000 species of bird in the region.