A collage overtop a background of jaguar spots shows a young woman in a beige outdoors hat and navy long sleeve shirt using her binoculars to look deep into a lush green jungle. Her partner a young man in a white top is next to her. There are three red, yellow and blue macaws flying over top of them.
Remembering a week spent in the jungle.

PartnersFebruary 27, 2025

My wondrous, semi-scary week in the Amazon

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A collage overtop a background of jaguar spots shows a young woman in a beige outdoors hat and navy long sleeve shirt using her binoculars to look deep into a lush green jungle. Her partner a young man in a white top is next to her. There are three red, yellow and blue macaws flying over top of them.
Remembering a week spent in the jungle.

Liv Sisson plays back a wondrous and slightly scary week in the world’s largest tropical rainforest.   

In August 2024, my partner and I travelled from Auckland to the Andes and then descended into the Peruvian Amazon. From altitude sickness, to jaguars and tarantulas, we had no idea what lay in wait for us. For starters, we’d done very little research outside of water cooler chat with fellow Spinoff-er Gabi Lardies, who had just been. More than this, the Amazon is a concept you can never truly grasp, even if you’ve been. A lot of people have died trying. Immense, ineffable, sublime – it’s another world and very hard to describe. This is what happened to us there.

Where did you go and for how long? 

We went to the Amazon for an eight-day guided tour. I realised early on that saying “I’m going to the Amazon” is extremely vague. The Amazon is 6.7 million square kilometres. Nine countries are part of it. 60% lies in Brazil, but we went to the Peruvian part, specifically to Manu National Park. It’s also vague because how does one go to the Amazon? We didn’t know so we booked a guided tour with Hidden Jungle Cusco. 

A collage of three images. In the first a man wearing sunglasses and a hat sits on a boat, looking out at the river surrounded by dense green jungle. In the second, a long blue boat is docked on the shore of a muddy riverbank, with people standing nearby. Lush rainforest trees line the background. In the third, the smiling couple takes a selfie by a calm oxbow lake, with tall green trees behind them. The man wears a white shirt, and the woman wears a light blue outdoor shirt.
Me, my partner Duncan and the boat we travelled on for eight days.

What was the reason for your trip?

The Amazon intrigued me as a kid when I was spending most of my time collecting dead bugs to display at my local library. I’m interested in creepy crawlies, fungi, butterflies/moths, trees – the Amazon offers most of what I’m into and I’d always wanted to go.

How tricky was it to get there?

We first had to get to Cusco, the ancient Incan capital, from Auckland. This was easy, we flew. Cusco is hot, dry and dusty. It’s the world’s ninth highest city at 3,399m elevation. Aoraki Mount Cook is 3,724m. After a few days in Cusco, our jungle guide, Moises, picked us up from our AirBnB at 4am. 

I was totally confused as to how we were going to go from that dry climate to a rainforest in just a day. From Cusco, Moises drove us even higher. Up and over the Andes we went. I puked on the side of the road due to altitude sickness, but the view was stunning, and we soon began descending into the Amazon which lies on the eastern side of the Andes. 

A collage of two images from Cusco, Peru. A close-up of an ancient stone wall with massive, precisely cut blocks stacked together, set against a bright blue sky with a small white cloud. A bustling street scene in Peru, with people wearing colorful clothing walking between cars and market stalls. In the background, a hillside displays the words “VIVA EL PERÚ" in white letters.
Incan architecture above Cusco, market scenes in the city. Very dry.

The next few hours took us through highland jungle cloud forests that were full of orchids, hummingbirds, toucans and Peru’s bright red national bird known as “Cock of the Rock”. After a few more hours in the truck, we were back at sea level. We then boarded a flat bottomed boat and began our river journey into Manu National Park. 

What was the highlight?

Sneaking up on a jaguar (accidentally). We got on the river one morning at about 5:30am. We were motoring along as the sun came up when Moises, our guide, spotted a jaguar sleeping on a log overhanging the river. We were very close and had maybe a minute with him. His coat had a shimmery, iridescent quality. It felt like he was staring straight into my eyes. His spots allowed him to disappear unbelievably fast as he retreated back into the jungle, perfectly camouflaged. 

A collage of Amazonian bird life. On the left is a 'Cock of the rock' the national bird of Peru. It has a grey tail, black body, and very large red plummage around its face and beak which is almost completely covered by the red feathers. On the right an image of lush tropical rainforest has an orange beaked toucan overlayed as well as an iridescent tiny hummingbird.
‘Cock of the Rock’ the national bird of Peru plus an Amazonian hummingbird and toucan.  

The oxbow lakes we stopped at were also a huge highlight. Oxbow lakes are ancient river bends that have been cut off from the river as sediment has shifted. Hiking to these lakes from the river was a mission in 40 degrees and 100% humidity, but always worth it. At the first one we saw giant river otters. They are about 2m long from tail to nose, and they eat 5kg of fish per day! We watched them play and hunt and could overhear their chittering. 

What was the lowlight?

The day before we left for the jungle I ate from a salad bar in Cusco which is generally not recommended for tourists. I then accidentally brushed my teeth with tap water (a big no-no once you’re in the jungle) and became unwell for 24 hours. I cried a little, slept on the boat, ate only crackers and soon bounced back. 

A collage shows photos of an Amazonian oxbow lake. Top left is a juvenille caiman which has large yellow eyes, a scaly tail and sharp claws and teeth. Below this a giant river otter with silky fit, long white whiskers and white markings on its chest peers out. At right a woman, Liv the writer, stands on a dock looking out over the lake with binoculars she is wearing gray hiking pants, black rubber gum boots and a blue top.
An oxbow lake, juvenile caiman and giant river otter.

See any other good animals out there?

Oh, yes. Capybara, sloths, 10 type of monkeys, colourful macaws, parrots, caiman (sort of like an alligator but with bigger eyes), geckos, cane toads the size of rugby balls, tarantulas, colourful frogs, thousands of butterflies, snakes, cockroaches that glow in the dark, leaf cutter ants, bullet ants (do not touch). There was one day we travelled on the river for 8 hours and didn’t see any other humans. 

A collage of fives images of Amazonian critters. A bright yellow frog with large black eyes clings to a wooden surface at night. A white, lace-like mushroom with a honeycomb-patterned cap grows among brown leaves on the forest floor. A vibrant purple and blue butterfly rests on a light-colored wooden surface, with its wings slightly spread. A jaguar with golden fur and black spots peers out from the green bush. A capybara with coarse brown fur and small black ears gives a side glance to the camera.
Amazonian critters.

Where did you stay?

We stayed at a variety of backcountry lodges run by small communities in the jungle as a way to make money. Left to our own devices we’d never have been able to find these. Moises always knew which river bend to pull off at though. He grew up in the jungle and truly knows it like the back of his hand.

What was the best meal or snack you had?

Ceviche is the national dish of Peru. Each one I had there was delicious. But the best ones were made by Cesar, the chef on our tour. I also really enjoyed trying Nikkei and Chifa food in Peru which are the respective fusion cuisines from Peru’s Japanese and Cantonese diasporas.

The best thing we ate in the Amazon though was definitely piranha. We caught them in the river with handlines and Cesar fried them up – flakey, light, would have again.

A collage of food images. At left there is an image of a fried piranha fish on a bed of rice and beans, below this is a photo of the live piranha, it has silvery green scales, a bright red eye and small sharp teeth. At middle there is a photo of a stack of pancakes on a white plate on the edge of a blue riverboat which is coasting along past green jungle and brown river water, at right there are two photos the top one shows ceviche a raw fish dish, and chaufa a fired rice dish.
Piranha fried and fresh, pancakes on the go, ceviche and chaufa (a fried rice dish that comes from Peruvian Cantonese fusion)

What items did you pack that you really needed? And what did you pack that you definitely didn’t?

I put all my anxiety about this somewhat intimidating adventure into product research. I  became fixated on finding the best pair of hiking/travel pants. These light weight Montane ones have vents, pockets and zippable flares for a day-to-night look. We actually didn’t use the mozzy face nets or repellent we brought even once. In the Amazon it’s better to just cover up, so I was pleased to have packed the best hiking pants on earth.

What travel/holiday reads would you recommend for this destination?

I started House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende in Cusco and finished it on our Amazonian riverboat. It’s a mystical and political family saga. The book’s plot and the setting I read it in helped me understand why magical realism is so at home in Latin and South America. The energy is just different there, something is always afoot. Secondarily, I’d recommend The Lost City of Z. It’s about the myth of El Dorado, and those who have lost their minds, and usually also their lives, looking for it.

A man, Duncan, stands in a lush green section of jungle on tar sealed road. He is wearing light linen pants, hiking boots and a black linen top. Next to him is Liv a young woman with blonde hair wearing a red merino tee and gray hiking shorts and jandals, they have an arm around one another.
On the road back to Cusco through the cloud forest.

How expensive did you find the trip? 

Getting to Cusco from Auckland was expensive. But our eight-day guided tour with Hidden Jungle represented incredible value. It was about $300 per day all inclusive (transport, food, accommodation, national park fees, etc.) and we learned so much. Our guide, Moises, was incredibly knowledgeable and funny, and so was his crew. Cesar the chef whipped up mean feeds all week. It was some of the best kai we had in South America.

What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone going? 

It’s actually wild how reflexive the routine of brushing your teeth is. I repeatedly used non-potable water for this task. Put a tissue over the tap to save yourself.

Would you go back?

Yes, I am very interested in returning to the alternate reality that is the Amazon. I’d like to see its pink river dolphins sometime.