San Francisco on the Amazon River, Peru: The other San Franciso

By Louise Southerden
Updated June 27 2016 - 11:13am, first published June 25 2016 - 12:15am
Man and monkey – the orphaned capuchin monkey rescued from the rainforest, now  a pet. Photo: Louise Southerden
Man and monkey – the orphaned capuchin monkey rescued from the rainforest, now a pet. Photo: Louise Southerden
Delfin II.
Delfin II.
Children at a cut-out window next to kung fu drawings. Photo: Louise Southerden
Children at a cut-out window next to kung fu drawings. Photo: Louise Southerden
Young capuchin monkey orphaned by poachers and now a pet. Photo: Louise Southerden
Young capuchin monkey orphaned by poachers and now a pet. Photo: Louise Southerden

The Amazon's animal and plant life is legendary, but who knew the famous river and its catchment also has more than 20 million human inhabitants? There are Amazonian cities with more than a million souls, such as Belem​ and Manaus in Brazil; even Iquitos​ in Peru, where my 10-day Upper Amazon river cruise had started, has a population of half a million. More common however are riverside villages, some with rather familiar names.

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