The very name conjures up images of lush tropical landscapes and jungles filled with exotic wildlife. It’s enough to make you want to go see it all in person.Visiting the Amazon is more complicated than it sounds, partly because of its size. The Amazon Rain forest takes up over 2.5 million square miles, which equates to nearly half of the continent of South America.If you want to be the ultimate traveler, you have to have the Amazon rain forest on your bucket list. Read on to know visiting the Amazon.
It’s not possible to see all of that over the course of a single vacation, so you’ll need to determine what you most want to see and do. Of course, you may also need some travel and survival tips along the way. Read on, and we’ll tell you what we can.
1. Tourist Seasons
Since the Amazon is a tropical climate, you can visit at any time of the year. There are differences between the warmer and cooler months, but no distinct tourist season.
Personal preferences are going to play a role in scheduling your trip. For instance, if you hate rain and mosquitoes but don’t mind heat or if you want to see more wildlife, go during the summer.
However, if you don’t mind more rain and mosquitoes, prefer cooler temperatures, and enjoy swimming and boating, you’ll want to travel in winter.
2. What to Pack
The best outfit for visiting the amazon is long, loose clothing with a rain poncho and a lot of bug spray. Most of this is because of mosquitoes, which are rampant in the Amazon.
The good news is you’ll likely be vaccinated and medicated against anything they might be carrying, but wearing long clothes and bug spray will make them less of a nuisance.
It rains year-round in the Amazon, though it tends to rain more in the winter, so you’ll want to pack a poncho regardless of when you go.
You should also bring snacks and a trash bag. Most lodges serve meals, but you may not like all of them. Plus, you’re going to be walking, or boating, through the jungle a lot, so you may get hungry from time to time.
Throw your trash in the bag you’re carrying when you’re done. Please don’t litter.
3 Wildlife
The truth is that you may not see much wildlife in the Amazon, at least not the kind you may expect. The Amazon is a climate of thick jungle brush, so a lot of the wildlife will be obscured by the trees and won’t be too eager to approach tourists.
There are a few exceptions to this rule, though. The most notable ones are caimans. Caimans are South America’s ancestor to the alligator although they are usually much smaller—with the exception of the black caiman, which is about the same size. You may even see black caimans because they happen to be native to the Amazon.
Most caimans, however, are shorter than humans and weigh less than 100 pounds. Caimans also travel in groups, so you should see them in the rivers, especially during the summer.
You may also see birds, since it’s harder to hide while flying, and insects, and not just mosquitoes. The Amazon is home to several beautiful species of butterflies and moths.
It’s also home to more bees, wasps and ants than anywhere else in the world. Among them are the bullet ant, which has one of the most painful stings in the world, a few species of army ants, which form huge colonies and will attempt to eat everything in their path, and leafcutter ants. There’s nothing particularly unique about leafcutter ants except they use leaves to build things, and there are about 50 species of them in the Amazon.
Chances are, you won’t get bitten by anything other than mosquitoes, but the most interesting things may be happening beneath your feet.
4. Electricity
Let’s get the good news out of the way first. Your lodgings may have electricity. In fact, many of them even have bathrooms and access to restaurants, swimming pools, and other luxuries.
The downside is they often have electric lights, and nothing else. There may be an extra battery, but it doesn’t work well on phones. You may be better off leaving electronics at home.
Since there’s no internet and no phone lines, a phone won’t do you any good anyway.
If you’re having trouble keeping track of all this, don’t worry. There are plenty of companies that are willing to plan your trip for you, and you can discover more about one of them here.
Also, if you’re the type who worries in the days leading up to big trips, we can help you reduce stress before your adventure.
5. Indigenous People
Believe it or not, the Amazon is still home to many of the first nations that have inhabited it for thousands of years. You may see a few of them, especially if you’re visiting Ecuador, where some of the lodges are run by indigenous peoples.
It’s likely you won’t see many indigenous people, though. Your travel guides are going to be experts on the area and may be very passionate about it. Deforestation and colonial expansion have already destroyed many of these peoples and continue to threaten those that remain. Don’t be surprised if your guide prefers to avoid any indigenous groups out of respect for their culture.
Visiting the Amazon
There are a lot of things to keep in mind when visiting the Amazon, from what you should and shouldn’t bring to when you should go and what you can expect to see. Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into any trip that we didn’t have time to talk about here. We encourage you to do some extra research if you’re interested.
If you want to know more about traveling, please visit our site. It’s always better to be safe than sorry when traveling, and we can help you stay safe abroad.
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