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Let ikitos.com be your guide to the
Amazon Rainforest’s best kept secret! |
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T h e G a y P a g e s o f I q u i t o s |
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Iquitos, Peru,
adventure in the rainforest for gays
If
you would like to visit the primary Amazon rainforest, but worry about not
being able to do so as an openly gay person or couple, come to Iquitos, Peru. As an openly gay man, I was slightly
worried about being able to live the lifestyle I was used to, when I decided
to move to Iquitos and teach English here for a year. After all, Peru is a
conservative, mostly catholic country, on a continent that is hardly known
for its gay-friendly attitudes. So I was more than a bit surprised to find
that Iquitos is a progressive and open-minded city, with a thriving gay
community, several gay bars and clubs and many openly gay, lesbian and
transgender inhabitants. We just celebrated our fourth Gay
Pride Day with a parade through town that did not shy away from the rougher
parts of the city. It's no San Francisco, another town where I lived for several
years, and there were only a couple of hundred participants, but people
lining the streets cheered us on and everyone had a good time. Anti-gay violence is practically
non-existent here. Sure, people may occasionally laugh, whistle, and make fun
of obvious gays, but it never seems abusive, or unpleasant. While the older
generations still frown on homosexuality, the younger crowd is much more
accepting and gay-friendly. And as Iquitos is a university town, the average
age of its inhabitants must be somewhere around 25. It is quite easy to meet people and
make new friends here. Adventure travel is not for everyone, but Iquitos
offers all kinds of interesting things to see and do. A multiple-day
excursion into the jungle, or a choice of about a dozen different daytrips
destinations. The city has an interesting history, dating back to the
mid-1700s and some amazing architectural gems. In any case, I came to teach English
here for a year. That was four years ago and I am still here. The local gay
life is not the only reason, but it is an important one! Tourism is way
underdeveloped in Iquitos, so you won't run into many tourists. That makes it
a cheap place to visit and easy to experience the authentic jungle-city life,
meet the locals and find out what living in an isolated town like this is
like. People are friendly, hospitable, open-minded and real. The crime rate is extremely low. And
while shopping isn't great -you won't find a Macy's or Nordstrom's here-
there is very little you can't get here. With almost 400,000 inhabitants,
Iquitos is the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by road. You can take a look at the Spanish
language gay pages of ikitos.com here. Among other
things, you will find some articles about Gay Pride 2010, with some fun
photographs; an article about a public debate between a local gay leader and
a priest about gay marriage, and a list of local and national gay
organizations If you have any questions or comments,
feel free to contact me at mrgart @ ikitos.com Looking foward to seeing you in Iquitos! Mr. Gart |
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The Iquitos business directory with more than 130 categories and hundreds of businesses |
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