How much does an Amazon jungle tour from Iquitos cost?

With Amazon Wildlife Expeditions it is $150 per person per day on your own, $130 per day for two to four people, and $120 per day for five or more. A four-day trip for two people is $520 each. Everything from the Iquitos airport onwards is included, and there is no deposit.

What is not included in the price of an Iquitos jungle tour?

Flights to Iquitos, your hotel night in Iquitos before the trip starts, drinks and shopping in town, tips, and travel insurance. Everything from the airport pick-up onwards is included.

Do I have to pay a deposit?

No. You pay in cash in Iquitos when you arrive. Nothing is paid in advance, so if your plans change there is nothing to refund and no fee.

Is it cheaper in low water season?

No, the price is the same all year. The water level changes what the trip is like, not what it costs.

Money

What it costs.

Most operators in Iquitos make you write in to find out. Here are the numbers, what they include, and an honest answer to why you can find a cheaper trip online.

The prices

Per person, in US dollars. The rate drops as the group grows, because the boat and the guide cost the same whether there is one of you or six.

Trip	On your own $150/day	2 to 4 people $130/day	5 or more $120/day
1 day	$150	$130	$120
2 days	$300	$260	$240
3 days	$450	$390	$360
4 days	$600	$520	$480
5 days	$750	$650	$600

Four days is what most people pick. One day is really an overnight: out in the morning, back the next.

The seventeen-day expedition to the Matsés villages is priced on its own, not by the day, because it carries costs the camp trips do not: the riverboat cabin, the Matsés guides, and the flight back from Angamos. Read what it involves and write to ask.

What is in the price

Included

Collected at Iquitos airport, whatever time you land
Both ways to the reserve — the road to Nauta and the boat up the Yarapa
A bed and a mosquito net, every night
Three meals a day, cooked fresh
Rubber boots in your size
Every excursion — night walk, fishing, dolphins, the long walks inland
Your guide, the whole time, not shared with another group

Not included

Flights to Iquitos. There is no road; everyone flies, usually via Lima
Your night in Iquitos before. Pick-up is 8:30, so come in the day before
Drinks and anything you buy in town
Tips, if you want to leave them
Travel insurance, which you should have

Past Nauta there is nothing to spend money on, so what you bring is for the trip itself and for Iquitos. The full packing list is here.

Why you can find a cheaper trip online.

You can book a three-day tour out of Iquitos for under $300 on the big booking sites. Those are real trips and for some travellers they are the right one. This is the honest version of the difference.

What the extra buys

You are not pooled with strangers on a fixed departure
Ruber guides you himself — twenty years on this river, not a junior guide on a rota
The plan bends to the water, the weather and what you want to see that morning
No commission in the middle. The booking sites take a cut, and the operator makes it back by cutting something else
Nothing to pay on top once you are there

What you give up

No instant online booking. You message, you talk to a person, you agree a date
No card payment. It is cash, in Iquitos, when you arrive
No large company behind it. You are booking a guide and his family
No refund policy to invoke, because you will not have paid anything in advance

If what you want is the cheapest possible night in the jungle, book one of the cheap ones, honestly. If you want the river explained to you by someone who grew up on it, this is what that costs.

No deposit, and why

You pay Ruber in cash when you get to Iquitos. Nothing before that, not a holding fee, not a percentage.

It is how he has always worked, and it is the right way round: you are not wiring money to a stranger ten thousand kilometres away before you have met him. If your plans change, tell us early and that is the end of it. There is nothing to refund and no fee.

Bring dollars or soles. There is no card machine past Nauta and no ATM in the reserve. Change money in Iquitos before you leave, and keep it in a dry bag.

Common questions about the money

Is the price per person or for the group?

Per person. A four-day trip for two people is $520 each, $1,040 in total.

Do children pay the same?

Ask. It depends on their age and what they will actually do, and Ruber would rather talk about it than quote a rule.

Can I pay in euros?

Change them in Iquitos. Dollars and soles are what everyone uses, and the rate you get for euros out in the reserve will be a bad one.

What if I want to stay an extra day once I am there?

Usually possible, at the same daily rate. Say so early rather than on the last morning, because the boat back has to be arranged.

Is it cheaper in low season?

No. The price is the same all year. The season changes the trip, not the cost.

Want a number for your own trip?

Tell us how many days and how many of you, and you will get the total back, not a brochure.

Ask on WhatsApp Or email hello@amazonwildlifeexpeditions.com · See the trips and prices