Going to visit the amazon during South America trip, what are the essentials?

[JacknDiane]

Trying to cram everything into a backpackers backpack!
What is essential and what can I leave out?

The book Ruthless River by Holly Fitzgerald

Good shout. Would the gp advise?

Be aware DEET destroys plastic so apply with care...
I did tell my dh but he wasnt listening and wrecked some quite expensive shades 🫠

When i Google hiking trainers the only thing that comes up are hiking boots.
What are hiking trainers?

God, it must be strong stuff 💪

Your surgery should have a process for travel health - look at their website. Practice nurses should be able to offer them Hepatitis A, typhoid and check they’ve had all their routine immunisations. They will need to seek other vaccines privately and some are given across a few months so they need to get a wiggle on.

They need a good idea of their itinerary so a proper travel risk assessment can be done.

https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/travel-vaccinations/travel-vaccination-advice/ is also a good place to start- we are based in Scotland so we had to complete a travel risk assessment form along with a list of previous vaccinations from GP and then we got jabs for DPT, typhoid, Hep A and MMR - luckily in Scotland these are all free and we paid £70 for yellow fever. As previous poster said some of these are live vaccines so you have to check timings to be able to fit them all in

Yes, and mosquitos can come and go. You may find that you're fine in shorts and T shirt during the day and in dry weather.

I remember mosquitos being there after a very rainy night, but being fine during the day when sunny.

@StellaAndCrow Misquitos like damp stagnant water and humid conditions. No rain and they are less likely to be around but, that’s not always the case for obvious reasons. If walks and trips are going into damp areas with standing water, there could be mosquitos. On aerial walkways and river trips, not so much. If there’s copious netting around beds, there’s mozzies. You have to suss out what’s there and dress accordingly.

It's not just mosquitos, though...

Anyway, I'm sure the tour companies will share relevant packing lists. I just found this, which is now one of the 'new' tourist lodges - I stayed here on my travels many years ago and it was a very basic research centre then 😅 Happy they're still going, amazing place,
https://www.tambopatalodge.com/en/blog/safe-travel-and-lots-of-wildlife-in-south-americas-amazon-rainforest

Better safe than sorry as far as mozzies go… I was bitten 18 times on one bum cheek; I was covered in repellent and had trousers on. Luckily the mosquito carrying bot fly eggs bit me on my back and not my bum. There are nasties around so don’t take the repellent lightly. I’d take a head torch - where I stayed (v basic and a v long time ago) didn’t have electricity after a point in the night so going to the loo was daunting without a light….
String, carabiners, zip lock bags, pen knife, clothes with sleeves and long trousers tucked into socks.

Pen knife? Just no. Lodges are really lovely and have electricity for the most part. It’s not camping. I’d not take a knife anywhere!

Well, like I said my trip was a few years ago 😆 and I did it on a backpacker’s budget… but the lodge I stayed in was indeed very rustic and not very far removed from camping 🤷🏻‍♀️. I do hope that sort of experience still exists!

We stayed there 😁

@HensintheskirtingIt might be but most people don’t want it.

Napo looks amazing!

I found this info online:

"The Napo Wildlife Center provides rubber boots (from size 3 to 13) and nylon rain ponchos free of charge to those guests who request them. You may choose to use your own boots or trainers/sneakers for forest hikes depending upon the conditions."

This was on a third party website though so might be worth checking with them if this is still the case.

Edit to add: Actually their website does mention boots and ponchos being provided https://napowildlifecenter.com/facilities/

@DuchessofKirkcaldy79 Leggjngs are very hot! Clingy I find. I just take cotton straight trousers (when it’s not raining) and wicking walking trousers. You need breathing fabrics. I think a long sleeve shirt where you can roll up sleeves is vital. We take walking shoes. Definitely not hiking boots. They should lend you boots. We went to Sacha Lodge in the same area and you will find it an outstanding rainforest experience.

I’d love to do something like this, but my huge phobia of snakes puts me right off! 😱

@somanychristmaslightsWhy do you think you would be coming into contact with snakes? We never have.

We did!

Has she checked out vaccinations recommended? They're expensive and you need to start them early.

@Jaffalemons How many? We saw one in the distance but no contact.

We’ve seen a few in the distance, up trees etc, but had a bloody great big one slither across the path one night walking back in the dark.

I hate of spiders but to be honest everything runs away, not towards you!

We were fascinated by the huge spider we saw! A good lodge will try and keep snakes off the premises!

This is such a different experience to mine 😂 I stayed with the Piaroa tribe who eat tarantulas. I was offered the option to go hunting with them, or to take a long walk to a hidden waterfall.

The waterfall was gorgeous!