Feeling the heat on an Amazon adventure

Few things in life can compare to the feeling of floating down a river in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. From the intense heat and humidity to the hum of insects, from the concentrated search for caimans, capybaras and sloths to the stunning scenery. 

It’s an exercise in mindfulness that will stretch every part of you and yet one that will stay with you for years. An adventure that many people dream about, but few actually get to experience. 

In this edition of  You’ve Been Where, our nephew Daniel Collier recalls the intense heat and amazing wildlife of the Amazon Jungle on a family trip through Peru.

It’s definitely an adventure you’ll want to add to your bucket list – just get ready to be completely uncomfortable for three days.

We love hearing about the travel experiences of our friends, family and readers of  AllAbroad. 

We pick up so many tips and find out new places to travel to. We thought you might like to hear about their adventures too. So in this section we turn the website over to you, our travel family.

Read on for travel tips from the people that help inspire our adventures.

Who are you and what do you do for a living?

My name is Daniel. I’m a 21-year-old that works as a supervisor in a local sports store. I love the outdoors and physical activities and this is only my second overseas trip.

Where is home?

Home is in Chirnside Park, which is in Melbourne’s Eastern Suburbs, bordering the Yarra Valley, in Australia.

Where have you been? When did you go?

We Travelled to Peru in August of 2025, where we spent three nights in the heart of the Amazon Rain Forest. 

Who did you travel with?

It was a group of eight consisting of myself, Mum, sister, two of my uncles and aunties as well as a close family friend.

What were the highlights of your trip?

The vast diversity of wildlife that we saw and the fact that we only needed to take a few steps out of the cabin for a view of animals so different to what we know at home. All the birds, lizards, different insects, such an exotic array of animals right outside the door. 

Another highlight was fishing for piranhas, we gathered some sticks, looped some fishing line with some bait on the end of it, and in about half an hour had enough piranhas to cook up some lunch.

What did you least like about your trip?

A struggle I had was the heat and humidity, and the recipe for a rainforest is quite literally heat and humidity. The camp we stayed at was well covered which helped with the direct heat but sleeping at night was a real struggle with nothing to cool you down other than an open window.

Do you have any funny stories from your travels?

For one of the lunches we were all confused as to the meat that had been provided, it looked like chicken, tasted like chicken, but the texture was slightly off. After some discussion between ourselves the overall conclusion was chicken. However as the guide returned he asked the group a question: “Did everyone enjoy their Caiman?” Caiman is a small species of Crocodile and that’s what we were eating for lunch. 

What were the locals like?

Both the locals and the guides we had were genuinely some of the best people I met on our trip. The guides were an absolute wealth of knowledge, any questions asked they had an answer for. The locals were very accommodating towards us and always gave us a wave or a smile.

What was the food like?

The food was incredible, freshly made for each meal, with a variety of options for different people’s needs. The meals never felt repetitive even though the base ingredients remained quite similar between meals for instance rice, vegetable then some sort of meat.

Did you learn anything about yourself or the world on this trip?

Definitely. Heading into this trip I always thought of travel as a very physical thing, but when you travel to a place which is so far outside your comfort zone it becomes very mental. I believe growth comes from taking a step outside your comfort zone, by doing activities you wouldn’t normally do and eating something you wouldn’t normally eat and this trip made me learn mentally – putting yourself outside that comfort zone is also very rewarding. 

Would you recommend others travel here? Why/Why not

Definitely, just know that it will be hot and humid once you arrive. It’s a whole other level, but once you accept that it’ll be four days of discomfort for a lifetime of stories. It’s well worth it. Every activity and experience was something totally new to me. 

Do you have any tips for people thinking of travelling here?

Be ready to be placed outside your comfort zone, it’s not something you can easily prepare for but if you have a mindset of accepting the discomfort for the experiences then it becomes a whole lot easier and for myself the experiences and stories are more than worth the discomfort.

Been somewhere interesting lately? Drop us a line, we’d love to share your tips.

Read more reader adventures in our  You’ve Been Where? series here.

Read more adventures in South America here.

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