Travel Tip 164
How to pack for the jungle
Take everything you need because getting into the jungle isn’t easy (usually by boat) and there’s no shopping.
This week I packed for the jungle but didn’t end up in the jungle.
I’m in Pucallpa, which looks like the jungle if you zoom out. Zoom in and it’s a city surrounded by fields: a deforested area that used to be jungle. Pucallpa is hot and there’s not enough shade.
I knew that logically, because I had zoomed in on the map of Pucallpa before I left Cusco. Yet, I still packed for the trips I’ve taken to the Peruvian jungle in the past and what I brought would have been perfect for another visit to the Tambopata Research Center or Treehouse Lodge.
If you’re headed into the jungle, in South America, Southeast Asia or elsewhere, here’s what you need:
The humidity makes me melt but I still always have long sleeves and long pants.
1. Light weight clothes that protect your skin
You need long sleeves and long pants, no matter how hot it is. Bring something lightweight and baggy, because of the heat, but make sure you’re covered when you venture into the jungle. All jungles are full of bugs that sting and bite, but also branches covered with spines and plants that you don’t want to brush up against you. By definition, a jungle is in the tropics, around the equator, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. It’s hot.
I love it when lodges provide citronella candles and incense in the room. This is Green House Tambopata.
2. Insect repellant
Avoiding mosquito bites isn’t just about not wanting to have itchy welts. It can be a life-or-death packing choice. Mosquitoes kill more humans than almost any other creature, about a million people a year, according to some estimates. Always check if mosquitoes in the jungle that you’re headed into carry malaria, dengue, yellow fever, Zika, West Nile or other terrible disease.
Every lodge I’ve been to in Peru provides tall boots like the blue ones I’m wearing. They’re best with thick socks.
3. Shoes and socks
Sure, you can walk on a sandy beach barefoot or with sandals, but I don’t recommend going anywhere barefoot in the jungle. Protect your feet from stinging ants and your ankles from snakebite with tall boots, preferably knee-high rubber boots that are not tight on your legs. The thing about hot, wet jungles is that they’re great snake habitat. If a snake strikes at you, you want the fangs to sink into the rubber and for your leg to not be pressed against the boot.
Night walks are fantastic but so are nighttime boat rides, which is when you’re more likely to see capybara.
4. Flashlight not headlamp
Some of my favorite wildlife moments in the jungle have been at night, from capybara to fireflies. I love going on night walks but always take a flashlight, not a headlamp. You know how moths are attracted to light? There are a lot of flying things in the jungle that are attracted to light and if you have one on your forehead, they’ll fly at your face.
We were on a boat and kept a respectful distance from this jaguar to not scare it back into the forest.
5. Binoculars
Sometimes wildlife will wander close to where you are, but often they’re far away. Hopefully, they’re far away because wildlife that gets too close to people are at risk of being captured and sold into the black market. This is a much bigger problem in South America than most people know. Yes, it’s bad in Peru, but not just in Peru. Wildlife will be safer from the bad guys if the good guys keep their distance.
That hat’s not for the sun. It’s for keeping bugs from dropping on my face from the trees or palm fronds overhead.
6. Hat
The jungle is full of vines than hang down, often crawling with ants or other bugs that bite and sting. If they brush over your hat, you’ll probably be fine. If you reach out a hand to push them away, that ant or spider or whatever might accidentally drop onto your hand, panic and sting or bite you.
Rarely do we get to see jungle where the canopy is a solid roof above us. Humans have a thing for cutting down trees, so you’ll inevitably be exposed to sunlight, probably from tropical sun that’s much stronger than the sun you would experience in Seattle or London.
I never go into the jungle without one of these fans and they make great souvenirs if you don’t already have one.
7. Fans
Fans can make great souvenirs, but I still recommend bringing at least one with you. I haven’t had any hot flashes yet, but I expect my first one will be triggered by a trip to the jungle. I’m always prepared with a fan like the ones above and a small electric fan.
Only wear white at night if you want moths and other bugs to land all over you.
I’ll write my Pucallpa blog post as soon as I’m back in Cusco but, for now, here are some of my other jungle experiences here in Peru. These are all amazing places I highly recommend!
Article: My Guide to the Peruvian Rainforest
Published by Shermans Travel last year, this article combines some of the places above with more advice on how to visit the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest.
