To be honest, I was quite surprised with myself for deciding to visit the Amazon rainforest when I was planning for Peru. Growing up, I was not the bravest and would probably be the first one to run away when encountering insects. However, I am very intrigued by animals. So I was determined to come here to see the wildlife in their natural habitat and learn more about them. Although we were logistically prepared for this trip, the mental preparation was also a big part of it, knowing it was going to be quite an adventure. Well, visiting the Amazon Rainforest turned out to be one of the most amazing experience of our lives. It was definitely the best part of our entire trip to Peru, getting to see the biggest ecosystem on Earth.
If you are looking to visit the Amazon Rainforest, choosing a good jungle lodge is probably something you need to look into. In our case, we have to thank Libertad Jungle Lodge for hosting us! In this post, I’m going to share with you information about the lodge, what they do and what to expect having Libertad as a part of your Amazon experience.
Libertad Jungle Lodge
Libertad Jungle Lodge is an all-inclusive lodge located on the Ucayali River in the Amazon near Iquitos, Peru. The lodge is around 3 hours away from the Iquitos airport. It is a part of the Libertad Community village and the lodge is managed and operated by the local villagers. Each group of guests is accompanied by a private guide, so your daily excursions are customized according to your interest. Their all-inclusive package includes:
- Accommodation
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner (soft drinks and alcoholic drinks are extra costs)
- A private guide
- All the excursions and activities (including necessary tools)
- Rubber boots
- Transportation from and to the Iquitos airport
The bungalows and lodge
We had our own little bungalow for our 4 days there. The room was very simple and clean. The bed had a nice mosquito net around it. We had a private bathroom as well which is kept clean daily. They provide the basic supplies such as towels, toilet paper and soaps. There is no hot water for shower, which was not a problem because it is so hot and humid there.
The bungalows are connected to the main lodge, a place for gathering and it is where we meet our guide everyday to go on excursions. There are hammocks on the second and third level for relaxing. The dining hall was where we had our three meals everyday and the food completely exceeded all my expectations. The home-cooked Peruvian dishes were absolutely delicious!! They serve each hot meal with a variety of vegetables, fruits and juice. They provide vegan options as well. We joked that this was the healthiest diet we’ve ever had in a while (which is probably true actually).
Chicken with rice and pinto beans 
spaghetti with beef and fried plantines
The Village
Beside the lodge, you can walk around and see the Libertad community village! There are approximately 20-30 houses in this village and there is a Primary and Secondary school as well. Diego, our boatsman, is from the village and he lives in one of the houses. Since it was dry season, the villagers were playing on the field every single day (when it is wet season, the field is completely submerged by water). It was so nice to see the villagers play soccer everyday and the children playing games with each other.
Electricity is available between 6 to 9pm everyday so that was our time to charge our electrical devices. There is no wifi available in this lodge, which turned out to be great for us, because it allowed us to be completely present in the moment and enjoy our time in the forest.
Excursions
As part of their all-inclusive package, all the excursions are included in the price. and no extra costs. In the main lodge, they have a standard list of daily excursions and activities for your reference. The excursions that we chose are the following:
- Search for pink dolphins and watch sunsets
- Learn about medicinal plants
- Search for caimans
- Hiking in the jungle
- Search for primates
- Learn about exotic fruits
- Look for tarantulas in the jungle
- Search for sloths
- Fishing for piranhas
- Search for boa
Private Experience
Believe or not, we managed to see all the wildlife that we intended to see, and more! Our guide, Remigo, truly has “eagle eyes” and kept spotting animals and insects everywhere we went. Since we had him as our private guide, we discussed the activities that we are interested in and customized our daily schedule with him. There are other activities that we did not have time for, for example, swimming in the amazon river, visiting the giant lily pads, visiting a local village, learning about the local souvenirs and so on. I wished we had time to do all that!
Everyday, excursions start at 9am after breakfast and we take a little motorboat out to explore the amazon river and jungle. You can also go on night time excursions after dinner to look for animals as some animals come out at night. Remigo was so knowledgeable about the jungle and the animals. He could name all the animals, insects and plants that we saw and we learnt so much from him. He was so passionate about his job and we could tell that he loved growing up in the jungle.
It was very different from a typical vacation experience. For 4 days, It was so refreshing to spend days away from social media, away from our life and responsibilities and away from all the ugliness happening in the world. It was just us and the jungle. You could call it an escape from reality. For me, it was a huge reminder that often times, the happiest people live the simplest life.
Thank you Remigo and Diego for the awesome experience ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ I miss it everyday.
Click here to read about our daily excursions in the Amazon rainforest and see the wild animals that we spotted! If you are planning to visit Peru, click here to see our 10 day itinerary for travelling in Peru!
P.S. My heart breaks for the Amazon rainforest in Brazil as it continues to burn. I hope this serves as a wake-up call to all human beings. The first step we can take together is to reduce our meat intake and usage of plastic. A little goes a long way if we all act together. ♡