Hiking in the Amazon Rainforest is a favorite activity.
It’s a great way to see the abundant wildlife living all around you. With your highly skilled guide, explore the incredible rainforest.
See the diversity of animals and plants. Spot the many different monkeys, colorful birds and fascinating reptiles. The wildlife you can see on Amazon Rainforest hiking tours is nothing short of incredible.
Most of the rainforest lodges in the Amazon offer hiking tours along with boat rides and canoe trips. A good thing to note is that the best wildlife and best hiking is found in the deeper rainforest. This is where the animals and plants are at carrying capacity for the environment.
The Amazon Rainforest is home to many different habitats. And these include terra firme areas and flooded varzea forest. The best hiking areas are in the higher ground areas, the terra firme. Note: Make sure the area never gets flooded or choose the low water months for your travels.
While exploring the forest, you can see several different Amazon Rainforest monkeys. See howler monkeys, capuchins, sakis, spider monkeys, marmosets and tamarins. The monkeys are some of the favorite animals to encounter. Others include the brightly colored macaw parrots and the hundreds of other tropical birds.
Tahuayo Lodge
If you’re after serious rainforest hiking, we recommend a tour that can offer you a private guide.
Our recommendation is the Tahuayo Lodge in northern Peru. Starting as a rainforest camping outfit, the lodge is now one of the Amazon’s highest rated lodges. The private guide and custom itinerary mean you can go at your own pace and customize the tour to your liking.
From the Tahuayo Lodge, you will head out into the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve. Explore with your private guide on a custom tour of the northern Peruvian rainforest.
You can also visit their other lodge at the Amazon Research Center on tours of 6 days or more. This is a fantastic location to hike their 1,000 acre grid where researchers are studying rainforest life. You will see a fantastic amount of Iquitos wildlife from these lodges. And they have been carefully positioned after exploring the area for the best sites.
For an introduction to the Tahuayo Lodge, click the short video below.
Due to the custom itinerary, you can wake early in the morning for a full day hiking. You can then return to the lodge in the evenings. If you’re really feeling adventurous, you can also head out on a camping trip. This allows you to get deeper into the areas where the rarer Amazon animals live. Camping also provides the opportunity for nights in the rainforest and observing the incredible colors of the Milky Way.
With fantastic access to the protected area, and two widely spaced Amazon Rainforest lodges, the Tahuayo Lodge is a favorite recommendation.
And with high-rated service, the Tahuayo Lodge continues to offer one of the best rainforest tours in the Amazon.
The Tahuayo Lodge
Iquitos, PeruFrom the Tahuayo Lodge, you will explore the Amazon Rainforest’s wildlife-rich Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve with a private guide on a
Tambopata Research Center
The Tambopata Research Center is deep within the Tambopata National Reserve. And the lodge provides some great hiking experiences.
Enjoy being close by to one of the Amazon’s largest macaw clay licks to see hundreds of these colorful birds.
In addition to this wonderful macaw viewing area, hike the tropical rainforest with your guide. And you can enjoy many different monkeys and hopefully some rarer rainforest life. Enjoy finding a diversity of animals.
Animals to find include:
- Titi monkeys
- Squirrel monkeys
- Capuchins
- Howler monkeys
- Capybara
- Caiman
- Agouti
- White lipped peccary
For the Tambopata Research Center, we recommend hiring a private guide for the best hiking opportunities. This means you can keep to your pace and do what you would like to do. To combine with fantastic Amazon Rainforest hiking, you can also enjoy listening in on talks, a sunset cruise and guided night walks.
The Tambopata Research Center
Puerto Maldonado, PeruPositioned in the middle of the wildlife-rich Tambopata National Reserve, near one of the largest macaw clay licks in the
Cristalino Lodge
Sitting in the Amazon Rainforest of southern Brazil, just above the Pantanal, the Cristalino Lodge provides some unique wildlife sightings as it’s on the fringe of two of Earth’s greatest ecosystems. Enjoy hiking the protected areas around the Cristalino River to see incredible wildlife, including different monkeys and some species only found in this section of South America.
The Cristalino Lodge has many different rainforest trails, each offering around 4 hours hiking. These lead you through various and carefully chosen sections of Amazonia. The trails have been designed to show off the best features of the area and wind past giant trees and the best areas for observing wildlife.
In addition to fantastic hiking opportunities in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, enjoy canoeing tours, incredible wildlife, and visits to the two giant Amazon canopy towers, which are the largest in Amazonia.
The Cristalino Lodge
Alta Floresta, BrazilCurrently, TourTheTropics.com cannot help you book this experience. However, you can visit the tour operator's website for more information.
La Selva Lodge
This lodge is best for a little luxury combined with incredible hiking opportunities.
And for a more luxurious experience than others on this list, we recommend a tour from La Selva Lodge. This is in Ecuador’s Yasuni Biosphere Reserve. Enjoy fantastic hiking to see many different Amazon animals.
La Selva offers many different hiking trails through the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest. These range from around two to four hours. The trails pass lakes, giant strangler figs and impressive wildlife.
On your rainforest hikes, enjoy seeing a range of wildlife from the Ecuadorian rainforest. Find many different monkeys, colorful birds, giant river otters and caiman crocodiles.
We recommend a private guide for serious hiking to keep to your own space and to make the most of the trails.
In addition to great hiking and a very comfortable lodge, enjoy the canopy tower. This is a fantastic place to enjoy life in the trees and to catch sight of a different level of Amazon wildlife.
You will also explore the waterways with your guide to enjoy river wildlife and the animals and plants nearby. Spot colorful birds, including macaws, parrots, tanagers and toucans.
As well as exploring the rainforest by day, you will also head out on guided night walks. This is when the rainforest opens up for a completely different assortment of rainforest life. Spot bats, caiman crocodiles and some of the more elusive rainforest animals.
La Selva Lodge
El Coca, EcuadorI wanted to let you know that we had an amazing experience at Le Selva! The service, accommodations, guides, tours,
Sacha Lodge
Another great lodge in the Yasuni region is the Sacha Lodge.
This another recommended Amazon lodge in Ecuador. The Sacha Lodge offers an impressive 940 feet (275 meters) canopy walkway. Enjoy incredible hiking experiences with your Amazon guide. Hike along the various Amazon trails to spot a wide range of rainforest wildlife. Visit the Yasuni clay lick to see colorful parrots and enjoy the lodge’s canopy tower.
See the video below for a little introduction.
This is also a great lodge if you have an interest in birding. Given the canopy tower and walkway you’re sure to see many different varieties. In fact, 37% of all the bird species in Ecuador have been spotted from the Sacha Lodge.
The Sacha Lodge
El Coca, EcuadorLocated in a 5000 acre private ecological reserve, Sacha Lodge provides a safe and comfortable base for you and your
Summary
The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest. And it provides homes for more animals and plants than anywhere else on Earth. This makes it a great place for hiking tours as you are surrounded by the highest diversity of life on Earth.
While deep in the rainforest on some good hikes, you have the opportunity to see rare animals. Spot some of the lesser seen rainforest animals that enjoy living far from disturbance. Examples include uakari monkeys. This live in the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve by the Tahuayo Lodge. And you can also find the large spider monkeys in Tambopata Reserve. These are best seen from the Tambopata Research Center.
As you’ll spend more time in the forest, you can see a higher diversity of interesting animals. Find coatis, many different monkeys and some rarer birds.
