Amazon Rain Forest

The Amazon: What the Photographs Don’t Show

The Amazon lost roughly 11,000 square kilometres of forest in 2023, one of the lower figures in the last decade after a peak of over 29,000 square kilometres per year in the early 2000s. The deforestation is mostly in the Brazilian arc of the Amazon, concentrated in Pará, Mato Grosso, and Amazonas states. This is worth knowing before visiting, because “visiting the Amazon” covers an enormous range of experiences, from a lodge 45 minutes from Manaus with manicured grounds and wildlife guided by a staff naturalist, to a multi-day expedition into genuinely remote primary forest, to a canoe trip through flooded igapó forest that has been in continuous use by Caboclo communities for generations. The ecological and experiential difference between these is substantial.

The forest is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, covering 5.5 million square kilometres across nine countries. About 60 percent is in Brazil. The rest is divided between Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

Entry Points

Manaus (Brazil) is the largest city in the Amazon and the most accessible international entry point. A day-tour or 2-3 day lodge experience from Manaus gives you the ecosystem without the logistics of a more remote expedition. What you don’t get is primary forest: most accessible areas around Manaus are secondary growth, having been disturbed by previous logging or agriculture. The Teatro Amazonas opera house in the city centre, built during the rubber boom of the 1890s, is itself worth the flight to Manaus.

Iquitos (Peru) is reachable only by air or river, 1,200km from Lima with no road connection. This inaccessibility is also why the surrounding forest is in better condition than much of the Brazilian Amazon around major cities. The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, accessible by boat from Iquitos, is one of the most biodiverse wetland systems in South America and is substantially less visited than equivalent sites in Brazil.

Rurrenabaque (Bolivia) is the access point for Madidi National Park, which may be the most biodiverse protected area on earth by species count. See the separate Madidi entry for details.

What to Actually Expect

Wildlife observation in the Amazon requires patience, a good guide, and realistic expectations. The Amazon is not like an African savannah where large animals are visible from considerable distances. The forest is dense, animals are often invisible at 10 metres, and what you actually see depends heavily on the quality of your guide and the amount of time you spend. A rushed day tour from a city will show you far less than three days with an experienced naturalist in a remote lodge.

The things that are reliably present: bird life of extraordinary diversity, caimans in the waterways at night, river dolphins at certain seasons, insects of spectacular variety. Jaguars exist but are rarely seen; snake encounters are possible but uncommon. The forest itself, the scale of the trees, the quality of the light, the sounds, is the primary experience.

Practical Notes

Yellow fever vaccination is required for Brazilian Amazon entry and strongly recommended for Peru and Bolivia. Malaria prophylaxis is recommended for most Amazon regions; consult a travel clinic before departure. Bring DEET repellent (at least 30% concentration), long-sleeved light layers for evenings, and a waterproof layer. The wet season (November-April) floods accessible forest sections but reduces trail access. The dry season (May-October) is the practical window for most visitors.