A truly special experience deep in the Amazon

From the moment I arrived in Iquitos, I knew I was about to experience a very special place. I’ve traveled to sixty countries, and my experience at Tapiche Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon is hands down one of my top three. To start the adventure, I arrived and my bags did not. Murilo Reis, the owner of the reserve, was incredibly kind and not only welcomed me immediately with lunch, but also offered to drive me all over Iquitos picking up essentials in exchange for helping him out with some pre-trip tasks. Yes please! This was genuinely one of the best local experiences I’ve ever had. We zipped around the city, collecting everything from undergarments to a generator, stopped in at a market where Murilo tried to convince me to eat silk worms (sorry, nope, lol), picked up fabric for boat cushions, and stopped by the boat dock. We spent the evening prepping the cushions and getting to know the others who were joining. It was genuinely wonderful.

The journey to Tapiche may seem daunting when you learn just how long the ride is. But it really was not. Even though the wind makes it quite loud and difficult to talk, it really does not matter. The scenery will keep you in awe of nature, and you can quite easily fall into a meditative state just being happy to be alive.

The reserve itself is incredible. Murilo is extremely protective of all creatures and ensures that nobody does a thing to harm them. The accommodations are very comfortable and the food was out of this world good - shocking considering just how removed you are from the city. The guests and volunteers all got along very well, regardless of any language barriers.

The hiking and boat rides deeper into the reserve compare to no other experience I’ve had on the planet - not even tracking gorillas in Africa. It’s just that good. I absolutely could not believe my eyes when Murilo was able to locate a harpy eagle - the number one animal on my list of hopefuls for the visit. Truly, I still to this day cannot believe I saw a harpy eagle deep in the Peruvian Amazon.

Overall my experience at Tapiche Reserve was second to none. Despite rain and mosquitos, I would not change a thing and I look forward to the day when I can return and spend a much more significant amount of time there.