We feel we have been so lucky to meet and live with Gerlo, his wife Carina & daughter Hanna for 5 days at Iguana Lodge - just over 2.5 hours by speedboat upstream on the Amazon, south of Iquitos. We now consider them as good friends. We were treated with great respect, kindness and consideration by all involved. Special thanks to Gerlo, Carina, Roger, Diana, Julio and Amado. We were Gerlo's very first guests in January 2015, now he has his own business with the help of Carina his wife and friends. Gerlo speaks both Spanish and English well. Gerlo, along with family and friends always kept our safety and well-being in mind. They guided us in this very natural environment with enthusiasm and great knowledge and taught us many things. We were given suggestions as to what was available for us to do, but each day's itinerary was completely open to anything we preferred to do. We stayed at the lodge everynight, but Gerlo can happily teach jungle survival skills and take guests to varying degrees of camping, from living like a native indian building your own night shelter, to sleeping in modern tents. All is centered around you. However to have the best experience a guest must be fit enough to support the climate, walking in mud, getting in and out of canoes etc. Also not to expect luxury hotel comforts (except for the sauna of couse which comes naturally with the jungle!). As a reward, a break of a lifetime will be experienced! The lodge was very basic, with an intermittent (but mainly available) supply of water to a shower and toilet in our room. The roof leaked in places during heavy rain and we shared the room with cockroaches and a lizard, but Gerlo was quick to put anything right that we felt uneasy about! But this should not put anyone off a visit. It is part of an experience to enjoy and never forget. There was adequate solar panel lighting and during breakfast we could charge our camera batteries etc on a little generator running for about an hour. Of course, there was no phone signal or electric to worry about anything else. The homemade beds were comfortable and listening to the day and night sounds of the surrounding jungle away from our normal world was a fantastic experience. We felt we were "away from it all". We were guided on boat trips, jungle hikes, a night expedition, being shown and taught about snakes, insects, the largest water plant in the world, birds and animals. We caught and ate fish, held an Anaconda, held a Sloth, saw and heard many different varieties of wildlife, picked and ate fruits,vegetables and roots. We tried many different varieties of fish, fruits and vegetables - all collected or caught fresh at the lodge. On our last day Gerlo took us on a visit to the Miguel Grau village and tower. The tower gives a view of the start of the River Amazon, by name, where the Ucayali and Marañón join. It was a long journey by collective taxi and boat - probably best to be kept as an Iquitos day trip rather than part of a visit to Iguana Lodge in the short 5 days we were there. Gerlo knows Iquitos well and arranged a hotel for our last night before returning to the airport in the morning. We had a small evening tour in Iquitos, by the Amazon that evening and enjoyed a good restaurant dinner together, with his wife Carina and daughter. It is advisable to take insect repellent and long sleeved clothing and trousers for the jungle and for night expeditions a head flashlight is very useful. Waterproof clothing, such as a plastic poncho is worth taking. Gerlo provides the boots and lifejackets. It is a good gesture, but not expected, to bring unwanted practical clothes, educational material, medicines - anything that may be useful. They can be left with Gerlo, who will share them amongst appreciative villagers that Gerlo helps in the area. From simple guided city tours of Iquitos, to research expeditions for many weeks into the deep rainforest, I am confident that Gerlo will meet and exceed your expectations. He certainly did ours. My wife and I were given a fantastic Amazon experience that we will never forget! Thank you Gerlo, Carina, Roger, Diana, Julio, Amado and all family members who helped us. Our opinion: We recommend without reservation.