Spending time in the Amazon Jungle may sound like a dream come true… and it was, despite being woefully underprepared for not one visit but two to the depths of the lungs of the world (it’s called that, but it actually isn’t true), I can safely say that years after visiting, it was one of the best (and itchyist) times of my life that i’ll never forget.
Getting to the Amazon Jungle for the First Time
My arrival in Leticia went exactly as most of my South American trip did back in 2016, which was terribly. First of all, because the bag carousel wasn’t working at the airport, the baggage handlers decided the best course of action was to just through everyones backs from where they were outside straight onto the airport floor, which naturally broke some of the souvenirs I had just bought in Bogota.
Anyway. After exiting the airport, and paying a fee we didn’t know you had to pay just to enter the town, we got in a motorbike taxi, gave him our pre-booked hotel location, and made our way.
About 10 minutes into the drive, we saw the driver getting somewhat frustrated, which, after a further 10 minutes, he decided he had had enough, demanded his fare, and kicked us out of his taxi, telling us he couldn’t find the place, and it was “somewhere around here,” then drove off.
Right, well, things couldn’t get much worse from here, could they? After walking up and down this empty street full of luggage and dying of dehydration thanks to having no water or shade, we eventually spotted what looked like the picture of the hotel we booked.
So, walking over a perilous wooden plank that stopped you from falling into the sticky mud, we had finally made it………. To an abandoned building with chickens and stray dogs running around the front. Turns out it was once a hotel, but it was derelict for years, leaving us stranded with nowhere to stay.
Long story short, we eventually found somewhere to stay, but not before being stopped by a local who offered us a tour with his company into the jungle for a one-week-long trip.
Booking a Local Amazon Jungle Tour (And Hoping It Wasn’t a Scam)
After some negotiations, and being told not to tell the other guests how much we paid for the tour (as it was apparently much cheaper), we made our way to a local shop to transact the money, as there were no ATM’s in Leticia at the time.
The next day, we held our breath, hoping we didn’t just get scammed, and waited at the pick-up spot. Thankfully, our guide arrived ready to take us on an hour boat ride deep into the jungle where we would be staying with a local Amazonian family and their two other guests.
If you’re anything like me, you’d probably think that an Amazonian family lived a simple life, off of the land. And you couldn’t be anymore wrong. While the house was makeshift, made from wooden beams and straw for a roof, there was still a washing machine and a child playing with his Game Boy.
Turns out that our guide was born in the Amazon, but left his tribe like his father before him to work in the city, before returning to the jungle to work as a guide.
Unfortunately, leaving his tribe meant he was no longer welcomed back, especially since he was expected to become the village Shaman, a mantle his father had before him, but he abandoned his role to live in the city.
Our guide went by the name of “Thomas,” but it wasn’t until the last day that it dawned on me there was no way that was his name, and when I asked his true name, he chuckled and remarked how no guest had ever asked him that before. Turns out his true name, which has no spelling in his language as they don’t have any written language, could be translated to Water Anaconda.
Living With an Amazonian Family in the Jungle
Jungle life for a week was simple. Most of the days we spent just exploring the landscape, swimming in the river, harvesting fruit from the submerged trees as the rivers rose substantially during the rainy season, fishing for Pirhanas, and going on animal spotting.
It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, particularly the memories of the countless swarms of mosquitoes eating away at your skin because you never prepared repellent, and the repellent you were offered was so strong it burned your skin.
A Second Amazon Jungle Experience – Iquitos, Peru
The first Amazon trip was a true wild experience, while our second outing in Iquitos, Peru, was a more curated experience. This time we went with a large group to a hotel situated nearly as far deep into the jungle, which had a swimming pool, running water, electricity, etc.
Here, we were brought to an animal sanctuary where you get hands-on with some Amazonian wildlife, and met members of a local tribe who work and go to school in the city, but who live in the jungle regularly.
Final Thoughts
Spending time in the Amazon Jungle isn’t polished or comfortable, and that’s exactly the point. It’s hot, unpredictable, and often challenging, forcing you to adapt rather than stay in control.
Experiencing it both near Leticia and later outside Iquitos showed me there’s no single “right” way to visit – only different levels of comfort and immersion. What stays with you isn’t just the wildlife, but how quickly expectations fall away. The Amazon moves at its own pace, and if you’re willing to accept that, the experience becomes raw, humbling, and genuinely unforgettable.
