I have wanted to go to the Amazon for years. Years. So when I booked a Peru girls trip with my friend Vanessa, finding a tour that built a few nights at Tahuayo Lodge into the itinerary was never really a question. That part was always happening.
What I did not fully know going in was what it would actually be like. And that is what I want to tell you here, including the parts that were rough, because they are worth knowing before you book.
This post is part of a bigger series. For the full picture, check out my Peru girls trip itinerary covering Lima, Arequipa, and Machu Picchu.
What Is Tahuayo Lodge?
Tahuayo Lodge sits on the Tahuayo River in the Peruvian Amazon, about two hours by speedboat from Iquitos. It’s located inside the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.
The lodge has been running for 35 years. We actually got to meet the owner, Paul, because he picked our group up at the Iquitos airport himself.
He’s a scientist, and you know it within five minutes of talking to him. The lodge reflects that. This is not a resort that happens to be near the jungle. This is a place built by people who take the Amazon seriously.
His wife was the one who came up with the idea to start it. He mentioned that casually and it completely charmed me. He was a bit reserved with our very chatty group at first, but he warmed up, and by the end we were all fond of him.
Getting There
Fly into Iquitos, then take a speedboat to the lodge. If you’re going through an organized tour (we went through Into the Wild), logistics are handled for you.
If you’re booking independently, you’ll need to arrange the transfer and speedboat on your own.
The Rooms
Let me set your expectations here, because this matters.
Our group was in different configurations. Some people had two-story private cabins with their own bed and bathroom. Vanessa and I shared a room with three single beds and one bathroom.
Every room had fans. Some people had a private fan. We shared one.
There were bats living in our ceiling. There was mesh between us and them, which helped, but they were very much present. A few people in our group had a tree boa in their ceiling. There were frogs right outside our door and lizards inside the room.
If sharing your space with wildlife is not something you can laugh about, that’s important to know before you book.
Personally, I loved it. It felt like being inside the Amazon instead of looking at it through a window. But I’m not going to call it comfortable, because it wasn’t, and that’s part of what you’re signing up for.
The Food
Fresh fruit juices at every meal, banana pancakes for breakfast, and the clear standout of the entire trip: fried piranha. The same species we’d caught that morning. It was delicious in a way that felt almost funny given the context.
The food overall was a real highlight. Not at all what I expected from a remote jungle lodge, and I mean that as a compliment.
Meals were served in the dining room, which also happened to be the only spot with wifi.
The Activities
You can do up to four excursions per day: before breakfast, after breakfast, afternoon, and after dinner.
Vanessa and I did two a day, partly because we were already exhausted from Arequipa and Machu Picchu, and partly because two is honestly enough when each one leaves you needing a few minutes to just sit with what you saw.
Everything was included in our tour cost. Our guides were Lander, Gianella, and Mishell.
Piranha Fishing
Our guide Mishell is something else. During our fishing session she caught six piranhas in a row. Her stick broke twice. She landed the fish both times anyway. Everyone in our group caught at least one piranha.
Except me. I’m still working through my feelings about this.
The Flooded Forest Canoe
We paddled through a section of forest that was completely submerged in water, with trees coming up on all sides and everything completely still around us. It felt like a scene from a movie.
A few canoes got stuck on the water lettuce. One had a hole in it and those passengers had to bail water while paddling. It just made the whole thing better, honestly.
Pink Dolphins
A mama and her baby. Pink river dolphins. I had no idea pink dolphins existed before I stood on that boat and watched them come up to the surface. It’s one of those moments you carry with you.
Pygmy Marmosets
Around 5:30am one morning, a few of us were out wandering, looking for anything interesting.
Our guide Lander noticed us and, without being asked, quietly took us to a spot near the lodge where a family of pygmy marmosets was in the trees. They are shockingly small.
Lander had no reason to do that for us. He just did, because that’s who he is.
El Chino Village
We visited the nearby El Chino village and met local women artisans selling their work.
I bought a blow dart gun for my kids (still one of the best purchases I’ve ever made as a mom), a woven bird for a friend, a necklace, a bracelet, piranha teeth, a basket, and some coasters.
It felt like a real community, not a tourist performance. That distinction matters.
Wildlife Spotting
Our guides were extraordinary at finding animals. They could spot a sloth deep in the canopy while the rest of us were still trying to figure out which direction they were looking. Whatever you expect to see on this trip, you’ll probably see more.
Wifi and Charging
Wifi was available in the dining room only. We each got a code for our individual devices.
Charging was limited to two windows per day: 1 to 3pm and 6 to 8pm, to conserve energy. We fudged the hours sometimes when we were out on excursions during those windows. No one came after us.
The connection was too slow for laptop work, so I only used mine for my phone. For messaging and the occasional photo upload, it was fine.
Bring a portable battery pack and treat it like your most important piece of gear. Your phone is your camera out there, you’ll be draining it on every excursion, and keeping that battery pack charged during those windows should be your priority. Add these to your Amazon cart before you go:
- Portable battery pack (20,000mAh or higher)
- DEET bug spray (30% concentration or higher)
- Permethrin clothing spray (pre-treat your clothes before you leave home)
What to Pack
At the lodge itself: shorts, tanks, and sandals. Easy. But before every single excursion, you need to spray yourself with bug repellent. Every time, no exceptions. Pre-treating your clothes with permethrin before you even leave home is worth doing too.
You’ll brush your teeth with purified water. Your hands will feel dirtier after washing them in Amazon water than before you washed them. Plan accordingly and just accept that this is your life for a few days.
The Honest Part
We may have come home with bed bugs. We can’t say for certain, but it’s a real possibility in a remote jungle lodge, and I’d rather you know that going in than be caught off guard.
The Amazon water situation is real. Your skin feels coated after you wash your hands.
After showering, you smell like the river. Everyone in our group smelled, every single day, no matter how often they showered. There was nothing to be done about it until we got back to Lima.
The bugs are not optional. Spray yourself before you leave your room. Every time.
And Iquitos itself was not a highlight. If I planned this trip again, I would cut Iquitos entirely and fly back to Lima early.
Is This Trip Right for You?
Here’s the most useful thing I can tell you: while I was on this trip, I kept thinking about my kids. My nine-year-old would absolutely lose his mind in the best possible way. The bats in the ceiling, the tree boa, the piranhas, the blow dart guns at the village shop. He’d be in heaven.
My husband and my twelve-year-old? The rustic rooms, the shared bathroom, the wildlife turning up in unexpected places, smelling like the Amazon for days on end? That is not their version of a good time, and there is nothing wrong with that. It’s just not the trip for them.
So if you’re traveling with people who like camping, boats, and adventures where things don’t always go according to plan, this trip will be one of the best things you’ve ever done. If your travel companions need reliable comfort and predictability, save this one for a different crew.
As a family travel expert who has taken a lot of trips with a lot of different people, the number one thing I’ve learned is that the best trip is the one that actually matches your group. This one is very specific, and that’s exactly what makes it so good for the right people.
Cost and Booking
Our Amazon stay was included in our Into the Wild Peru tour package, which came to $1,200 total for the whole Peru trip. But I did check and those who want to visit this lodge and their research center for 8 days/7 nights, it’s $1695 per person with a 50% off discount for kids under 16 years old.
If you’re booking Tahuayo Lodge independently, visit tahuayolodge.com for current rates and availability.
For the full breakdown of the Peru trip including Arequipa and Machu Picchu, my Peru girls trip itinerary has everything in one place.
If Machu Picchu is on the agenda (it should be), book your tickets in advance through this link. The permit situation can catch people completely off guard and I have a full post coming on how to handle it. In the meantime, just book early.
Hotels we used for the rest of the trip:
The Amazon will not be what you expected. That, somehow, is exactly the point.