Suitable clothing when travelling in the Amazon towns, rivers and Rainforests in Peru
Having lived there for over seven months, I think the best way to approach this is in two parts. One is hanging out in the towns and villages and the other is actually travelling the rivers and the jungle. I never packed any clothes for 'special occasions'. Turning up clean and tidy with whatever combination of the following items was most appropriate for the climate was always acceptable.
Don't let not having the right gear deter you.
Note: If you're on a tight budget, just get as close as you can to the general take on what I share here, go through what you already have, borrow stuff from friends and come on out anyway, it's just a really fabulous experience! I miss it every single day I'm not there.Clothing for the Towns and Villages
Clothing depends on weather, so a quick overview from an experiential view point. It never gets what I would call cold in the Amazon but relative to the temperature of the day it can get cool at night, something that surprised me a bit at first as I imagined sweltering heat all of the time. Keep in mind I really like the heat, so my cool might be your very comfortable. As a snapshot, warm to hot bright sun during the day and the evenings tending towards slightly cool to warm. Short torrential downpours can happen anytime lasting minutes or a few hours as storms blow in from the Jungle. I have only known one or two times when it got rainy for one or two days non stop.
So the layers approach works best. Hanging out in Iquitos for example I would typically wear a tee shirt and shorts with a pair of sandals. If I wanted more protection from the sun I wore a long sleeved shirt. I often wore a wide peaked hat and a pair of sunglasses to cut back the glare of the sun. I wouldn't be much concerned about the occasional downpour as it was an excuse to climb into a Motorcaro and head to the cafe or bar for a lemonade or coffee.
If I did get wet the type of clothing I used dried very fast. When downpours became more frequent at certain times in the year, I'd pack a lightweight poncho. At night I might change into trousers and add a lightweight jacket. I stayed with the sandals in the town except when visiting the market as the fruit, vegetables, fish and meat meant there were a lot more tiny biting insects at ground level than usual.
To carry my stuff, typically a book, journal, pen, pocket camera and small amount of cash and a small tube of sunscreen, I'd use an inexpensive bag, one I could loop over my shoulders to deter bag snatchers when walking through the likes of a market. Often I would split my money up between bag and a hidden security pouch.
Breaking this down into a very comfortable and practical kit.
- tee shirt
- shorts
- sandals
- shirt
- trousers (or skirt)
- underclothes
- lightweight jacket
- hat
- sunglasses
- inexpensive shoulder bag or small daypack
- security pouch
Take the minimal amount of clothing but what you do take is excellent quality and fit for the purpose
It's easy enough to walk into a number of ordinary clothes stores or whatever and get this list of items, in fact you probably already have all of them. What I'm recommending here is you take the minimal amount of stuff but what you do take is excellent quality. Here excellent quality means fit for the purpose. This means you travel with all of your basics right, everything is comfortable and practical making your trip much more enjoyable. And don't forget whatever you take you have to carry in your rucksack. So light and frugal is the only way to go.
Find a good Outdoor Sports shop either locally or online
Tee Shirts
The best ones are not the standard cotton tee shirts which are heavy, absorb lots of water and are slow to dry.Here are some examples of the 'new breed' of tee shirts which are a revelation to wear, wash and dry this will give you a feel for what I mean. I've listed just a few ranges I've used personally but there are many other good brands out there. Pack two or three in your Rucksack. ( Click on the images to enlarge )
Tee Shirts from the Berghaus range - different models for men and woman - Lots of different colours and styles.
Tee Shirts from the
Lowe Alpine Range - different models for men and woman
- Lots of different colours and styles.
Tee Shirts from the Nike Range - different models for men
and woman - Lots of different colours and styles.
All of the above (and others such as Columbia, Patagonia
etc), have some great clothing. In my experience you will
pay a little bit more for Nike as they put a premium on the
cool factor. I'd rather buy the first two - I'm way past
cool. Hold on Barry you're never past cool!
Shorts and Skirts
I'll put in one or two examples here, though all of the manufacturers have suitable versions. You can go to any of the links above to explore some of the possibilities.
Shorts from the Patagonia Range - different models for men and woman - Lots of different colours and styles.
Shorts from the Lowe
Alpine Range - different models for men and woman
- Lots of different colours and styles.
Skirts from the
Columbia Range - different models for woman -
different colours and styles
Sandals
My favourite are Teva.
Comfortable, light, robust, easy dry, great grip and
virtually indestructible I wouldn't travel without them. In
fact I'm wearing a pair right now as I write this in the
middle of a (very wet so far), Irish 'summer'. There are
others from most of the big names but in my opinion they
are all 'me toos' a reaction to Teva. On their web site for
some reason they don't list Ireland in their drop down list
on their home page - come on Teva we're part of Europe!
Sandals from the Teva Range - different models for
men and woman - Lots of different styles.
Shirts
Great selections in high tech
fabrics. The magic combo in all of this stuff is
comfortable, durable, easy wash - fast dry and looks good.
All of these Brands have these qualities in their garments
just make sure you go to the 'Tech' level of their ranges.
Here's one womans shirt (tech type spec), as an example -
but check the other ranges too.
Shirts from the Columbia Range - different models
for men and woman - also different colours and
styles
Underclothes and lightweight Jacket
I think there's enough links above to reputable Brands to allow you to browse for lightweight jackets. Just make sure for the Amazon they're both light and rainproof, not weather-proof which means little or nothing.
A good Rainproof Poncho is like the Duct Tape of the raincoat world - you can do nearly anything with it weather-wise
Since travelling in Peru I've been thoroughly convinced as to how effective and cheap a good poncho can be. Not only are they lightweight and totally waterproof they're often a fraction of the cost of fancy over-engineered jackets. I know, I've one of these over engineered and very expensive jackets.
Five added benefits of a good generously sized poncho:
- The length means your trousers don't get soaked.
- You can carry a rucksack on your back under the poncho keeping it and you dry.
- They pack into a tiny bundle when not being used.
- If things get rough you can put up your poncho as a makeshift overhead shelter.
- They are relatively cheap and it's not a disaster if you spill the likes of a can of tomato soup on it, or if it gets stolen.
Headwear for sun and rain
Most of the above suppliers, and others, have good headgear on offer. Four things to look out for:
- A generous brim to shade your eyes from the sun.
- Possibly a flap at the back to cover your neck from intense sun, (like the famous French Foreign Legion hat).
- Waterproof - though if your jacket or poncho has a hood this is not so important.
- Can be rolled up and packed away in a rucksack without damaging it.
I've picked one example of a hat just 'cos, but there are loads of options.
Sunglasses
Well not a lot to say about this really except bring a pair. With a lot of experience of losing expensive sunglasses I've come to my own decision to buy good cheap ones although I can't resist adding the very best sunglasses of all time for me have been the brand Maui Jim. The incredible clarity and biting colours you get from using these are streets ahead of the other groovy makes like Oakely etc etc.
I asked a 'one who ones' about this and was told Maui Jim's use a combination of high class coatings and glass technology that few other sunglass manufacters are willing to use. I had an expensive pair of Oakleys once and I was glad when I finally lost them. When I lost my Maui Jim's I went into mourning for three days after. So for me from now on it's the best of the cheap ones I set a maximum budget now of 25 euros for sunglasses, not unless of course Maui Jim happen to read this. I'm willing to road test their latest model - yes I am!
So I couldn't resist it, here's a shot of what in my opinion are the best lenses / sunglasses on the planet. (One of a large range).
Inexpensive shoulder bag or day bag/mini rucksack
No need for images here. The point that no doubt you've already got is, don't look 'expensive' or you'll be like a magnet to every petty thief for miles around. Expensive bags, cameras, watches etc are all like blood in the water to the great white shark - dinner time!. One of the things to watch out for when travelling Peru is petty thieving and pickpockets. OK it's the same worldwide, but let's just say it's way more common in South America and Peru is no exception. Best also taking a read of my Personal safety in Peru page on this site.
Ok now to the last section:
Security Pouches or Belts
We all know this example and certainly it's good up to a point and that is - every thief assumes a tourist will have one!
So there are better ways to secure your valuables than this type of security belt. Here are four great products to use along with this one that I've come across and have used with great success. Actually just for fun I think I'll keep the inside info on these four ingenious and cheap security devices for my Special Booklet 'What you absolutely need to know before and when travelling in Peru'. This booklet will be published on or before August 1st 2008 and will be available here online. All proceeds from this Booklet will go towards the Yarina Village Project it will cost 7 euros (approximately 10 USDollars).
So that's the end of a long section on suitable clothing when travelling the towns and villages of the Amazon region. Since this page has ended up so large, I'll add the recommended clothing when travelling the rivers and jungle of the Amazon Peru to the next page down on this menu, otherwise this page will take forever to load in your browser. Well done for making it to the end of this page - whew!!!!!!
