The sun had only been up for 30 minutes. That’s how long I had been up, too. 30 minutes was just enough time to dress, brush my teeth, apply some sunscreen and mosquito repellent, and shove my hair under a baseball cap before joining the growing group of fellow explorers waiting to board skiffs for the first ride of the day. Mornings on the Amazon River are not glamorous, but they are absolutely active.
If you’re curious about what you might encounter when visiting the Amazon River, here’s a glimpse into the adventure that may be awaiting you.
Good Morning from the Jungle
I’m more an early bird than a night owl, a trait I was grateful for every time my alarm went off at an hour no sane person willingly chooses on vacation. On an Amazonian expedition, it’s best to never hit the snooze button; by the time our skiff turned into one of the river’s tributaries, it felt like joining a morning already in progress. So much of the Amazon is awake at dawn, making it one of the best times to see wildlife.
Most mornings started with a couple of hours dedicated to guided observation, introducing us to birds and mammals we had never seen in person. We boarded skiffs, which are narrow motorboats designed to take a small group deep into spaces larger ships can’t access. Led by a naturalist, we were often the only humans in any given area, which offered unparalleled access to explore the jungle from the water. Before the first morning was over, I was in total awe of how deftly our naturalists could locate a squirrel monkey sitting in a tree or identify a specific bird as it soared overhead. To my untrained eye, many birds had the same silhouettes against the grays and blues of the morning sky; guides could discern between a parakeet and a great jacamar before I could even process the length of the tail feathers.
We never knew what we might see during these early morning jungle visits. Birds were common, but many of us hoped for a mammal sighting and we were never disappointed. Several dozen species of monkeys call the Amazon home, and many of them were awake and enjoying breakfast as we sailed along the river. Howler monkeys were easy to hear and difficult to spot; their deep bellows echoed through the treetops as they called to one another. Squirrel monkeys were plentiful yet tricky to track without binoculars due to their tiny bodies, although some of them were kind enough (and curious enough) to come close to the water so we all could get a better look at each other. I loved watching the monk sakis with their thick, shaggy fur as they leapt from tree to tree.
Just as much as I enjoyed watching animals, I loved listening to them. The Amazon is a noisy place as the jungle wakes up, and I was surprised at how alive it felt as the sun rose. I appreciated the times our guides would invite us to sit in our own silence to focus on bird calls, monkey growls, and even the buzz of bugs passing by our skiff. Unlike other expeditions, there’s no opportunity for true quiet in Amazonian Peru. Instead, it served to illustrate how we are just a small part of a very busy world, and our stillness stood in direct opposition to how busy the rest of the jungle was in those early hours. My world of emails and web calls felt no more or less important than capuchin monkeys searching for breakfast or hoatzins surveying the area from atop a branch.
Midday Breaks on the Boat
The Delfin II is a beautiful place to call home, and we spent most of our mornings and afternoons there as we escaped the hottest parts of the day.
A full breakfast buffet greeted us after every early morning skiff excursion, and I usually filled a plate with fresh fruit and a piece of decadent French toast before picking a spot with a good window view. In addition to my favorites, fellow guests dined on eggs, chorizo, bacon, and charcuterie. As much as I loved the food, the fresh fruit juices were my favorite; once I realized they had starfruit juice available every morning, that became my go-to since it’s impossible to find at home.
Although napping or spending quiet time in one of the ship’s public areas is always an option, we prioritized every onboard event we could. Between breakfast and lunch, the expedition team shared presentations and brought in guest speakers to help add some perspective to our offboard experiences. On our first morning, we learned about Amazonian medicine from Shamana Carola, who emerged from the jungle alongside the Delfin II with a basketful of bottles and leaves and decades of stories about how she can diagnose and cure people using what nature provides. After answering our questions, she offered a brief ceremony to grant all of us protection and health during our travels. Able to cure anything from a common cold to what she casually shrugged off as run-of-the-mill bewitchings, I lost any potential skepticism when she offered some pain relief ointment made from a liquid in one of the bottles. Moments after rubbing it onto a sore spot on my hand, the pain was gone; within a day it completely healed.
Most of our naturalists grew up in the Amazon and approached the jungle with the kind of intimacy and understanding that can’t be taught in schools, and their presentations welcomed us into the world they call home. We learned about culture, daily life, and the many animals that live above and below the river. I found myself anticipating these sessions as a chance to learn about what I might see when we left the boat and jetted off by skiff; what I might dismiss as just another bird quickly became a favorite sighting when I remembered a detail one of the naturalists taught me. Initially, my interests were limited to colorful birds and monkeys; by the end of the week, seeing a yellow-rumped cacique brightened my day even more than the playful primates.
Amazon Evening Routines
By late afternoon, as the sun prepared to set and the humidity lessened its grip on the region, we boarded skiffs for another round of exploration.
Skiff rides never felt the same, even though they required nothing more than settling into a seat and scanning the trees for wildlife. Some animals seemed easier to spot in the day’s final hours; we saw several sloths sleeping in the highest tree branches, and plenty of monkeys seemed more active as the temperatures started to drop. Many of my favorite moments stemmed from our late day rides as our skiff driver would speed us from the furthest corners of our exploration back to the ship; the breeze was just a bit colder and the air just a bit crisper as we cut through the stillness. A few times, when I turned around, pink dolphins emerged from the water as they played in the wake we left behind. It was the kind of twilight magic I didn’t expect to find and don’t hope to forget.
Evenings on the boat quickly became a comfortable ritual. After a round of hot showers, we wandered to the top deck for a pisco sour and settled into the air-conditioned comfort of the lounge for recap, as the staff walked through observations from our adventures and previewed what we could look forward to the following day. Then, it was off to the dining room for a three-course meal, which always featured cuisine that introduced us to local ingredients and flavors. I would love to say we returned to the bar for a nightcap, but like most of our fellow travelers, we turned in early most nights to prepare for the next morning.
Unforgettable Amazon Moments
The pink dolphins were one of our first unforgettable moments; on our first morning, as we began our return to the Delfin II, we stopped for 10 minutes as a pod of pink dolphins played hide and seek with us. Pink dolphins are hard to spot, notoriously shy, and more pink than I expected. They don’t leap into the air the way gray river dolphins do (and we did see a few gray river dolphins in the area!), so every time I saw one was a new, unexpected thrill.
One morning, our typical skiff ride was replaced by a jungle hike that brought us closer to wildlife than I ever planned to get. Covering just more than a mile over muddy, sometimes steep terrain, we encountered poisonous tree frogs, tiny lizards, and a tarantula that I refused to make eye (eyes?) contact with. Despite my arachnophobia, the hike was a genuine highlight for me; seeing the jungle from a boat isn’t the same as experiencing it on land, where we had to avoid touching spiny trees as the mud squelched under our boots. Even as we followed a trail, I wondered how anyone could sustain themselves in a land so harsh, hot, and unforgiving; the truth is, thousands of people happily call that very land home. It brought me a great deal of respect for all the people who learn to live harmoniously with the bugs, reptiles, birds, and animals with which they share the space.
Although the animals are a highlight, the people who live in the Amazon truly made our trip complete. As we neared the end of a morning skiff ride with few wildlife sightings, we crossed paths with a duo of fishermen wrapping up a morning on the water. They kindly allowed us to take a few photos and ask a few questions about their morning haul, which included everything from catfish to piranhas. Our skiff driver offered them a few cold bottles of Coke as we learned about how they would sell most of the fish to locals by the end of the day. A few days later, we spent an afternoon at the Amazonas community and enjoyed cooking and crafting demonstrations. Everything that grows in or near the Amazon River can be used; we watched a woman show us how beautiful bags are made of dyed plant leaves, and another duo taught us how they prepare fish and turn plantains into a frothy, refreshing beverage without an electric mixer. Compared to how we live, life in Amazonas is much simpler; that said, I would never call it less comfortable or fulfilling. The sounds of laughing children echoed throughout the community during our visit, and in many ways, it sounded just like my own neighborhood.
For as harsh as the heat can be, we discovered a different type of harshness one night when we set out for an evening skiff ride. Hoping to see caimans after the sun set, we instead met with a different type of wild occurrence: an Amazon rainforest downpour. The ponchos our guides offered were no match for the torrential rain that soaked us as we tried to outrun as much of the storm as we could. It was the first time I was ever thrilled to be out in the elements for that kind of storm; it was like sailing into a wall of water and yet another reminder about how powerful nature can be. The storm stayed with us for much of the night, a reminder that high water season on the Amazon River means the rain will always find you.
Want to see more of our adventure? This video shares a few highlights from our week:
Prepare for an Amazon Expedition
Our week on the Amazon River provided some great lessons for making the most of a jungle expedition. Here are a few tips you may consider as you prepare for your own experience.
► There will be bugs
Visiting Amazonian Peru is not for the faint of heart. Even as a passenger on the luxurious Delfin II, we quickly shelved squeamishness and even fear because insects are practically passengers, too. You can’t entirely escape them, especially after sunset; mosquitos will buzz and spiders will emerge from crevices you never imagined could contain so many creepy crawlies. One bug-free zone was our stateroom, where we never spotted anything with more legs than we have. Still, it’s good to set your expectations accordingly—but don’t let the presence of bugs stop you from adding this kind of adventure to your travel plans. Most of them are easy to ignore or avoid.
► Hydration is essential
The Amazon rainforest is hot and humid, and it is very easy to dehydrate. We drank several bottles of water a day (plentiful and readily available on the ship), and we added a packet of electrolytes to the first bottle we consumed each morning. Several passengers on our trip struggled with dehydration during our voyage, and while it may not be entirely avoidable for some (especially if you’re not sure how your body reacts to that kind of climate), the more you drink, the more likely you will be to stay hydrated.
► Wear the right clothing
If the Amazon sounds like a shorts-and-tee-shirt kind of trip… well, it isn’t. We wore long pants and long-sleeved shirts on every excursion to stave off mosquito bites and sunburn, and we’re glad we did. Consider hiking pants and shirts with UV protection, and you may want to wear long socks and hiking shoes even when on skiffs. Along with a hat, you’ll be well-protected from the elements and anything that might buzz and bite near the boat.
► Come curious
I knew a lot less than I thought I did about the Amazon, and I learned an incredible amount about the region during my eight days there. Ask questions, browse the books available onboard, and talk with fellow passengers about why they came to choose the Amazon for their vacation. Our favorite part of the trip was chatting with travelers who wanted bird sightings, sloth photos, or just a different kind of trip.
Explore the Amazon
The day after returning home, I drove to the grocery store to restock our food supply after more than a week away. As I walked toward the entrance, beyond the din of engines and slamming doors and voices, I heard a bird squawk as it flew overhead. Instinctively, I stopped and looked up, wondering if it was a kingfisher or a macaw or another feathered creature I hadn’t yet seen. It took a moment before I fully remembered where I was and that photographing birds from a parking lot isn’t typical behavior. But that’s what expedition travel can do; it can ignite a lingering kind of curiosity that is tough to shake. Our week in Amazonian Peru connected us to incredible people, fascinating wildlife, and beautiful landscapes. Most importantly, it awakened a curiosity about some of the furthest corners of our world and a passion to learn more, see more, and contribute more. Travel has a unique power to teach us, embolden us, and change us in ways few other experiences can. Our responsibility is to learn from them—in fact, it’s to never stop learning from them.
Somewhere out there, another traveler is waking up to a 5:30 alarm, knowing it will take just 30 minutes to dress, brush their teeth, put on sunscreen and mosquito repellent, and pull a baseball cap over their hair before uncovering some of the most incredible sights and experiences this planet offers. We hope that, one day soon, that traveler will be you.
More Information: Expeditions.com
Related Posts
Planning a trip to this part of the world? Here are a few more places we’ve written about!
Note: This article shares our experience as part of a National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions trip, and Adam is a Lindblad employee. The content reflects our views and experiences and is not representative or influenced by Adam’s affiliation with the company.