Into the Amazon: Revisiting an Adventure of a Lifetime

Some adventures end when you come home. Others stay with you for a lifetime.

Recently, a four-minute podcast transported me back to one of those adventures—deep into the Peruvian Amazon, traveling its rivers, sleeping in the jungle and spending time with the Matsés.

Years ago, I had a dream of experiencing the Amazon beyond the commercial tours and tourist lodges. I wanted to know what it was really like to live deep within the rainforest—to travel its rivers, experience its wildlife and learn, even briefly, from people whose relationship with the land was completely different from my own.

So I went to Iquitos, Peru… without really knowing exactly how I was going to make it happen.

And somehow, it happened.

A big part of making it happen was Amazon Explorer, who were instrumental in helping put this extraordinary journey together for me. What I was looking for wasn’t a typical Amazon tour, and their local knowledge, connections and willingness to help create something different played an important role in turning the experience I had imagined into a reality.

Hearing the podcast all these years later made me realize that perhaps it was time to take these stories out of the archives and share them again.

An Amazon Adventure Deep Into the Rainforest

What followed became an adventure I eventually documented in a seven-part blog series.

There were hours and hours traveling along the Río Gálvez in a small peca peca, maneuvering around fallen trees and shallow water.

There was intense heat, humidity and rain.

There were monkeys, alligators, pink dolphins, birds and—after some very convincing animal calls—river otters.

There was jungle camping, fishing and meals prepared from what was available around us.

There were homes without running water or electricity, where the river was woven into everyday life—for transportation, bathing, washing and food.

And then there were the people.

Living With the Matsés

Some of the most memorable days were spent with Matsés families along the Río Gálvez.

I stayed in Buen Peru and later spent several nights with members of a Matsés family who were still living more traditionally in a maloca, or communal longhouse.

We didn’t share a common language. They spoke Matsés. My Spanish was limited. My guides’ English was limited. And somehow—we communicated.

There was curiosity on both sides, plenty of humor, food shared with us as welcomed guests, and an incredible warmth that didn’t require much translation at all.

One sentence I wrote all those years ago still captures it beautifully:

“They were just as curious of me as I was of them.”

Maybe that’s one of the things travel can do when we allow ourselves to move beyond simply seeing a place.

For a little while, we get to experience another way of being in the world.

A Podcast That Took Me Back

That’s why hearing the GoNOMAD Travel Podcast episode “Living with the Matsés: An Authentic Amazon Experience” immediately caught my attention.

The short episode explores Matsés life in the Peruvian Amazon and the opportunity to experience a culture still deeply connected with traditional knowledge and the rainforest.

And listening to it reminded me that tucked away in my own blog archives is the story of actually being there.

So rather than leave those stories buried in the past, I thought it was time to bring them back.

🎧 Listen to the podcast: Living with the Matsés: An Authentic Amazon Experience — Apple Podcasts

Come With Me Into the Amazon

If you’d like to experience the adventure from the beginning, grab a cup of tea and come along.

🌿 Part 1 — Making It Happen: How a long-held dream of experiencing the Amazon beyond the usual tourist routes finally began. Read Part 1

🌿 Part 2 — It’s Happening & the Matsés: Meeting the Matsés and beginning to understand their history, traditions and changing way of life. Read Part 2

🌿 Part 3 — Journey Along the River: Deep into the rainforest by peca peca—low water, fallen trees, wildlife and the sheer magnitude of the Amazon. Read Part 3

🌿 Part 4 — Around Buen Peru: A glimpse into everyday life in a Matsés community along the Río Gálvez.Read Part 4

🌿 Part 5 — Wildlife: Jungle camping, fishing, wildlife and the skills required to live in an environment completely unfamiliar to me. Read Part 5

🌿 Part 6 — Traditional Matsés: Perhaps the most extraordinary part of the journey—staying with Matsés elders living in a traditional maloca and experiencing their warmth, humor and hospitality.

Please note: Part 6 contains nudity and sensitive photographs. Read Part 6

🌿 Part 7 — The Finale: The final journey—including one of my favorite memories involving some very elusive river otters. Read Part 7

It’s funny how an adventure from years ago can suddenly feel close again.

The photographs are older. The blogs have been sitting quietly in the archives. And undoubtedly, life in the Amazon has continued to change.

But listening to that four-minute podcast reminded me of something I felt so strongly while I was there:

How very big this world is—and how very small we are within it.

Perhaps that’s why some journeys never really end.

They simply wait for something—a photograph, a story, even a four-minute podcast—to take us back. 💛

And maybe they remind us to keep saying yes to the experiences that call to us—even when we don’t yet know exactly how they’re going to happen.

That, after all, is a little of what Living Your Yellow Brick Road is about.

If you enjoy stories about travel, personal growth, healing and the experiences that shape us along the way, I’d love to have you continue the journey with me.

💛 Explore more stories and reflections: www.LiveYourYellowBrickRoad.com

💛 Want more stories, reflections and a little inspiration for your own Yellow Brick Road? Subscribe here to stay connected or follow along on Facebook & Instagram @LiveYourYBR.

Heal • Grow • Transform