Last Updated on August 31, 2023 by worldoftravelswithkids
There are many places in the Amazon rainforest that are suitable for kids. For example, the Amazon rainforest spreads through Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. While we’ve visited (and absolutely loved) the Amazon in other places, we have not made a visit with children so can’t comment. Here is a comprehensive guide if you are planning to visit the Amazon Jungle in Peru. It is sure to make your Amazon vacation memorable. Also included is our complete Refugio Amazonas Lodge review.
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Things to Consider When Travelling to the Amazon Jungle with Kids
What Age Are the Kids?
The jungle is hot, sweaty, and has lots of bugs, not just mosquitos but wasps, bees and other flying things. It can be uncomfortable. There are also some long boat rides! Also, when you are in the jungle you usually need to do hikes of 15 minutes to 1 hour or more in order to get the full jungle experience. Plus, to truly see animals, you have to be quiet!
On our recent visiting to the Peru rainforest with kids, our children were aged 4.5, 9 and 13. Believe me, when we were approaching animals on the river shore and the 4.5 year old was talking at the top of her voice. I was not focusing on the experience rather just trying to keep her quiet. There were many other people on the boat whose experience I did not want to ruin.
So the answer is – you can probably manage an Amazon jungle visit with a 4 year old plus. However, the older they are, the more they are going to get out of it. My 13-year-old was fascinated by the birds, butterflies, and grasped just how special the experience was. The other two kids enjoyed some aspects of the Amazon tour, but not all of it.
How Do You Feel About Jungle Diseases?
The other thing you need to consider before heading to the jungle are tropical diseases like Malaria, Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever.
There are mosquitos in the jungle. While the lodge we stayed at, Refugio Amazonas, did a great job of keeping mosquitos away from the main lodge area, there were mosquitos out and about while we were exploring the jungle. I had a bad experience taking anti-malarials as a young traveller; so I wasn’t going to do this to my kids. The year that we visited the jungle there was a Dengue Fever outbreak in Peru.
Finally, some countries require you to be vaccinated against Yellow Fever if you have been in a yellow fever area prior to arrival. Australia and Costa Rica both insist on yellow fever vaccination if you have been to Peru prior to arrival on their shores.
Would We Recommend a Peru Jungle Lodge for Kids?
If you have the time and budget then I would absolutely take my children on an Amazon rainforest experience. There is truly no better way for kids to experience the wonder of the “lungs of the earth” than by seeing the Amazon for themselves. While my youngest (4.5 years) definitely loved our time in the rainforest, it was the oldest child (13 years) who got a lot out of the trip.
Where to Visit the Amazon in Peru?
There are three main places that you can see the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Which of these is the best place to see the Amazon in Peru will depend on your available time, expectations, and of course budget.
Iquitos
Iquitos requires a 2 hour flight from Lima. It is a city deep in the heart of the Amazon, not accessible by road. That’s right – you either have to fly or take a boat. We’ve actually reached Iquitos by boat before, but that’s a story for another day.
There are a wide range of jungle lodges and experiences around Iquitos, but we have not done them with kids. High on my travel with kids bucket list is taking one of the Riverboats on the Amazon.
Manu
One of the most biodiverse places on earth, I once cycled from the Andes down to Manu. Yes, that’s right! However, it’s a long way down to Manu by road and boat. Then is generally a 7-day trip if you want to get deep into the jungle. Additionally traveling to Manu involves a flight back in a small light aircraft to get out of the jungle.
It’s not a journey I would recommend with little kids! Wait until your children are teens or young adults so that they can fully appreciate just how special the biodiversity of Manu is!
Puerto Maldonado
Which brings us to Puerto Maldonado and the Tambopata National Park, located in southeastern Peru. I believe this to be the perfect place to take your kids for an Amazon jungle experience. Why? It’s easy to get to, the jungle is amazing, and there are even kid-friendly lodges!
The capital of the Madre de Dios department, Puerto Maldonado, is a short 45-minute flight from Cusco or 1.15 minutes from Lima. This makes a Peru jungle tour the perfect and easy addition to a Machu Picchu and Cusco tour. Make sure you work out your flights well, or you could find yourself flying back to Lima. (We did that!!!)
LATAM flies directly from Cusco to PEM three times a week. At the time of writing, those days are Wednesday and Saturday. You need to arrive before 12:30 in order to take advantage of the lodges’ included transportation to the accommodation.
Puerto Maldonado airport is fun. It’s an airstrip in in the jungle and when you get off the plane and onto the tarmac you can’t miss that you have arrived in the Amazon. It’s a tiny little airport that has one plane in, and one plane out. Some companies operate from the Tambopata River Port, others from the Infierno River Port. This is quite important to understand when planning your own trip because it will affect how long you spend on the river. While the boat trips are fun, they can be lengthy with some lodges.
Fun Tip!
This is a flight where you definitely want to get a window seat! Watching the high Andes give way to the low, flat jungle is fascinating, as are the meandering jungle rivers. You can really get an appreciation for the landscape and how it all works from above. In fact, it really adds to your jungle experience and understanding.
Peru Jungle Lodge Review: Rainforest Expeditions
Without a doubt Rainforest Expeditions is one of the leading Amazon lodge Peru operators in the Puerto Maldonado area, and with good reason. Established in 1989, they have a strong commitment to the environment, conservation and their jungle experiences are really top notch. They have three lodges:
Posada Amazonas
The first of Rainforest Expeditions Lodges, Posada Amazonas is within a 9500 hectares communal reserve, belonging to the Ese Eja native community of Infierno. From Puerto Maldonado, its a 1 hour road trip and then a 1 hour river trip on the Tambopata River. One of the benefits of staying at Posada Amazona is that you are supporting the local population with your visit.
Like Refugio Amazonas, the rooms are open to the jungle and have double beds, mosquito nets, bedside tables and hammocks. Rooms are decorated with bas- relief wood-carvings representing stories and characters from Ese-eja traditions. Each room has a private bathroom with hot water. There are two categories of rooms, suites and comfort rooms. There is free internet in the lodge.
The newly constructed Canopy Tower at Posada Amazonas is over 40 metres high and built with scaffolding. A banister staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. You have an opportunity to see toucans, parrots, or macaws flying past.
A highlight of Posada Amazonas is the Tres Chimbadas Oxbow Lake is thirty minutes by boat and forty-five minutes hiking from Posada Amazonas. Here you can look for the resident family of nine giant river otters (seen by 60% of our visitors to Tres Chimbadas) and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers.
Also of note at Posada Amazonas is the The Centro Ñape, a communal organization that produces medicines out of forest plants. They have produced a trail that explains the different medicinal (and other) uses of selected plants. Like the uña de gato (Cat’s Claw) which has gained popularity in the west.
Refugio Amazonas
A 32-bedroom jungle lodge, Refugio Amazonas Lodge is located in 200 hectares of private reserve in the buffer zone of the Tambopata National Reserve. It takes a one-hour road trip, followed by a one hour boat trip to arrive at the lodge.
Refugio Amazonas is the headquarters of the Wired Amazon Program. This means that when you visit you can take part scientific projects for the conservation of Tambopata. This is a popular activities for kids, who like checking the cameras placed along the trails.
Like the Posada Amazonas, the lodge is built from a combination of traditional native materials and entire roof of the lodge with palm fronds.
A thirty-minute walk from the lodge leads to the 35-meter scaffolding canopy, lower than the Posada Amazonas where the very new canopy tower is 42 metres.
Tambopata Research Center
The only lodge located within the Tambopata National Reserve, the Tambopata Research Center (TRC) is deep in the Amazon jungle, and a truly unique place to spend time exploring. It is also considered one of the most remote lodges in South America! In addition, the TRC lodge features 300 meters (almost 1000 feet) of elevated walkways between the canopy and the floor — where wildlife becomes more active.
One of the reasons why it is worth the longer travel time to get to the TRC is because you have better chances to see the wildlife. On the day we returned from our jungle visit, there was a guy on the bus who had stayed at the TRC and he had actually seen a jaguar with his own eyes! I’m not sure how frequently that happens, but it confirms that if you go deeper in the jungle there is a good chance of seeing a greater variety of animals.
Why is the Refugio Amazonas Considered the Best Jungle Tour for Kids in Peru?
Refugio Amazonas Lodge should be your top-pick if you are traveling with children as it offers a variety of kid-friendly, adventure-focused, and science activities. There is even an opportunity to contribute to science or discover new species at the headquarters of their Citizen Science Program, Wired Amazon. Refugio Amazonas is a great lodge for nature-loving families. We are happy to have stayed at one of the best jungle lodges in Peru.
Our Refugio Amazonas Amazon Jungle for Kids Review
We stayed at Refugio Amazonas Lodge for 2 nights and 3 days. If you can, we would highly recommended staying 3 nights and 4 days for a more relaxed and rounded experience. We certainly could have spent more time exploring the Peruvian Amazon.
After being collected from the airport, just outside the city of Puerto Maldonado, you are transferred to the Rainforest Expeditions welcome centre. It is complete with lounges, a café and small shop. Here you will meet your guide and have the facility to pack a smaller bag to take to the jungle. They are called duffel bags and are waterproof and easy to carry. More information below on what we recommend packing for your jungle experience. Large bags and suitcases are left in storage in the Rainforest Expeditions office.
From here, you will have a 1.5-hour bus ride on the Interoceanica road towards Cusco. The bus is air conditioned and comfortable as you pass through farmland and then into more jungle areas. At the Filadelphia Port, you will get your first glimpse of the large Tambopata River and your river transportation! You board your boat, put on lifejackets, and make your way downriver to the Refugio Amazonas. Which is a boat ride of 45 minutes! If you are staying at the Tambopata Research Centre you also board the boat here, but have several hours of travel upriver in the opposite direction. While on the boat you enjoy a nice little basket of snacks for lunch. We even got to see capybaras, ticking off one of our goals of the trip!
On arrival at Refugio Amazonas Lodge you have a lot of steep steps. Then there is a 15 minute short hike on a rainforest trail through the jungle to the absolutely gorgeous lodge. You will enter one of the common areas. Here your guide gives you a briefing about the Refugio Amazonas ‘A la carte’ menu of activities – more about these later. We chose this lodge because of their wide variety of kid-friendly activities on offer. We believe it is one of the best Amazon rainforest resorts. It certainly is one of the best Amazon lodges in Peru.
Accommodation at Refugio Amazonas Lodge
I have one word for the accommodation at Refugio Amazonas – WOW! We stayed in the suite, which comfortably accommodated the five of us in two king size beds. The king size bed was so comfortable.
With one open side of the rooms, I was a little worried that the younger kids (especially the neuro-diverse one) would freak out at the open sided room. But they didn’t! In fact they loved the open side, hammock, and sleeping inside the curtains of the mosquito net protected beds.
The side that looks out to the forest does not have a wall or screening of any kind, acting as a large window facing the forest. The reason we have been able to incorporate this “luxurious” design into their lodge is that mosquitos are not really a problem around the lodge clearing. The open section allows for an intimate contact with the rain forest. A second small window on the opposite side, set up very high, keeps the rooms well ventilated. Doors are replaced with drapes. Rooms are not soundproof.
Our room included a private bathroom, a ceiling fan, and an open wall facing out towards the Peruvian Amazon on the opposite side. With 24 hour electricity (and Wi-Fi) and hot water in the rooms, we really did not feel like there was any hardship staying in the jungle. It was quite a luxurious oasis for nature lovers. modern day eco-lodge technology
Meals at Refugio Amazonas
Like the other lodges offered by Rainforest Expeditions, Refugio Amazonas has a large dining room offering you breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As well as unlimited amounts of coffee, tea, and overflowing bowls of fresh fruits. We loved the wonderful mix of Peruvian dishes and international cuisine served up during the buffet – absolutely delicious. Each meal came with a range of fruit juices. The lodge coped extremely well with my son’s very unique special dietary requirements
A la Carte Rainforest Jungle Activities at Refugio Amazonas
At Refugio Amazonas each group is allocated a private guide who accompanies them from the airport, through out their trip, and then returns to the airport with them. During our 3 days and 2 nights we did the following activities:
Canopy Tower
Located a short walk through the jungle, the canopy tower is 32 metres high. You will feel every step up. It’s a narrow tower with limited capacity, and if you have a fear of heights or vertigo, then it’s not recommended for you. We loved the climb up (though it was a bit of a challenge) and watched sunset over the jungle from the top. You can also watch the macaws and parrots heading home. And, if you are lucky, the powerful roars of the red howler monkey rumbling through the forest.
Famous Macaw Clay Licks
With a 4:30 am start from the lodge; this might not be your idea of a kid-friendly activity. I’ll admit that when the guide, myself, and my 13 year old were carrying a sleeping 4.5 year old along a rough jungle path in the dark, I wasn’t convinced that we had made the right choice. But … once on the boat the 9-year-old and 4.5 year old fell asleep on the floor of the boat (wrapped in blankets) and were asleep through to when the boat arrived at the clay lick some 2.5 hours later.
And wow – the sunrise over the river was so worth it. I love the feeling of travelling upriver on Amazon tributaries, it;s amazing to see the jungle. On arrival at the clay lick, there were plenty of other companies there, but our guide found us a quiet spot with a telescope. Having no idea of what to expect, we thought that the macaws and parrots were a long way away, on the other side of the river. However, once we got used to the telescope and binoculars – wow! What a view!
That said, my two younger kids looked through the telescope for a total of 5 minutes before they thought it was more fun to collect rocks and throw them into the river for the rest of the time! Our teenager thought that it was a truly incredible experience. The trip back, another 2.5 hours along the river, was also quite a long trip for the little ones.
Keep in mind also that depending on what lodge you choose, different activities are available. One of the lodges offers a tour to the parrot clay lick instead of the macaw clay lick.
Children’s Activities
Refugio Amazonas Lodge has a playground with a swing, rope climbing tower, and a very steep slide. This will keep kids occupied for a while. Plus, they have a dedicated children’s space with a whole lot of activities. I understand that what you do depends a bit on your guid. We did necklace making with beads, and natural fruit tattoo art. Other kids were wandering around with bows.
Visit to Oxbow Lake (Lake Condenado)
This gorgeous jungle activity can be combined with the viewing of the animal cameras as the route is the same as the canopy tower and the animal cameras. It’s about an hour’s walk through the jungle to the lake, and well worth the sweat. Our 4.5-year-old managed about half the walk, and the rest of the time she was carried by me or the guide.
Paddling around on the perfectly calm lake, we saw Hoatzin Birds, and parrots returning home overhead as well as Caimans in the reeds. The highlight, however, was “fishing for piranhas”. In reality this meant putting some bread on the end of a stick and seeing the fish jump for the bread … but the kids loved it!
If we had of had more time we would have…
- Had a sleep in listening to the sounds of the surrounding jungle.
- Attended the evening information session on the Citizen Science program, Wired Amazon.
- Done the Sunset Cruise.
- Done a night walk, night tours or attend a night lectures.
- Visited the Amazon Farm (Chacra) and learned more about the medicinal plants of the jungle.
The Importance of Having a Kid-Friendly Guide
Obviously I can ‘t speak for other jungle lodges in Peru, but Refugio Amazonas has a lot of kids. While we were there, there were three other families with children aged similar to ours (under 10) and then another family with teenagers. As a result of having a good number of families, the guides are really experienced with dealing with kids. It shows in the little tricks and ideas that they have up their sleeve!
Our neuro-divergent son was always going to be different when it came to the jungle. We started off the trip with 5 days and 4 nights in the jungle as he was so enthusiastic about everything. During our time in Central America he developed a deep fear of mosquitos and as a result changed our trip from 5 days to 3 days.
Our poor guide mentioned mosquitos in the first 3 minutes of our time in the jungle sending my son into his first meltdown (of several). However, to his credit, the guide listened to my advice and suggested and adapted very quickly. I was impressed.
What Animals Did We See?
I think it is important to mention that the Amazon Jungle is absolutely huge. To see a lot of wild animals on a jungle tour, you have to go very deep into the jungle … which takes time. Once deep in the jungle you also need to walk for a long time (probably without a 4-year-old talking in a high pitched voice)! That said, we were delighted by the amount of animals we saw! It definitely sounds like it comes down to luck, as another family saw a family of Capuchin Monkeys right near the Canopy tower on their first day. And, by the law of odds, the longer you spend in the jungle the more you are likely to see!
- Capybara
- Agouti
- Caiman – two different species
- Lots of parrots
- Scarlett and blue and yellow macaws
- Squirrel monkey
- Hoatzins
- Tarantula
- We heard the howler monkeys
- We didn’t see a toucan, many monkeys, or giant river otters
What About the Bugs?
Given we were warned so often about mosquitos and super prepared, the bugs weren’t too bad. That said, there were wasps on the canopy tower and bees on our breakfast at the macaw lick! So there are definitely a lot of bugs in the Amazon.
What to Pack for Your Peru Jungle Tour
You don’t need a lot for your Peru jungle tour; lightweight clothes are best.
- Light long sleeve shirt (for protection against mosquitos).
- Light long sleeve pants
- T-shirt & shorts for your time around the lodge. (If your lodge doesn’t have mosquitos – ours didn’t.)
- Thongs / flip flops.
- Comfortable hiking shoes – and extra pairs of socks for sweat / getting your feet wet.
- Hat and sunscreen.
INSECT REPELLENT
We used nearly a whole bottle in 3 days were there. Plus the kids wore insect repellent patches that seemed to keep the bugs away.
