Bucket List / Experience Goals
Sleep In A Hammock In The Jungle
Ticked off in February 2016
A night strung up in the Amazon, where howler monkeys are your alarm clock and the forest never stops talking.
The adventure
Darkness in the rainforest arrives fast and loud. Under a tarp in a jungle camp, zipped into a hammock with a mosquito net, you lie a metre above the forest floor while cicadas, tree frogs and unseen insects build into a wall of sound. Rain can sweep through at any moment, drumming on the leaves overhead long before a drop reaches you.
Earlier, a canoe trip by torchlight picked out the red glow of caiman eyes along the riverbank. Now every rustle sounds enormous. Then, just before dawn, the howler monkeys start: a deep, rolling roar that carries for kilometres and seems to come from right beside your head. Mist hangs between the trunks as the light comes up, macaws cross the canopy in pairs, and breakfast tastes better than it has any right to after a night that wild.
There's a reason hammocks were invented in the rainforest. People in the Amazon have slept in them for centuries, and in some communities they're still the only bed anyone uses, safely off the ground and away from everything that crawls.
Why it’s epic
- Howler monkeys, among the loudest land animals on Earth, calling through the dawn.
- Night canoe trips to spot caiman, frogs, owls and sleeping birds by torchlight.
- Near Manaus, the Meeting of the Waters, where the dark Rio Negro and sandy Solimões run side by side for kilometres without mixing.
- A chance to see pink Amazon river dolphins on the way to camp.
What it is
Sleeping in a hammock in the jungle means falling asleep to the sounds of the rainforest.
How to do it
Jungle lodges and tours often use hammocks.
Top tip
Bring a mosquito net.
Need to know
- Go with a licensed guide or jungle lodge; most Amazon trips from Manaus last two to five days.
- Yellow fever vaccination is recommended for the Amazon, and you should ask a travel clinic about malaria tablets.
- Around Manaus the drier months are roughly July to November; in the wet season more of the forest is explored by boat.
- Long sleeves, a head torch and a light sleeping bag liner make the night far more comfortable.
Plan this trip
- Rough cost
- £750 to £2,000 per person, including flights from the UK
- Time needed
- 1 night
- Best time to go
- Dry season
- Fly into
- MAO airport
Multi-day lodge or camping trips with guides, boats and meals are the main cost, plus the flight to Manaus.
Do it yourself
- Tours and ticketsGetYourGuide
- FlightsKiwi.com
- Adventure travel insuranceWorld NomadsWe receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
Some of these are affiliate links: if you book through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. More about this.
My experience
Ticked off, but the full story is still to be written up.
Over to you
Is “Sleep In A Hammock In The Jungle” on your bucket list, or have you already done it? Tell me in the comments, and if you've got a question about it, ask away and I'll answer.