spending four days trekking through the amazon was one of the craziest and most fun experiences i’ve had. we stayed in a rickety lodge (we were “lucky” and got the cabin with the resident tarantula*), went on some (scary) night explorations, spent a lot a lot of time in boats, swam “with” pink dolphins (we jumped in the river and they swam away from us, ha), held a baby sloth in a village (life highlight), caught red-bellied piranhas for dinner, and saw more monkeys than we knew what to do with. our guides were awesome and we met some rad travelers staying in the lodge with us. i had a near-heart attack when i found out camping in the jungle** was on the agenda, but thankfully there was too much rain for us to actually go out. i know camping would have made for some crazy stories, but also probably the worst night of our lives. staying in the lodge was eventful enough :)

*braden found a pink-toed tarantula in his rubber boot, with his foot. we named him gary. we also learned to seriously shake our boots out before putting them on.
**camping = sleeping in hammocks covered with bug nets, in the middle of the jungle. yah, i’m good.

this past winter, braden and i were lucky enough to get to travel with two of our dearest friends, jess & david. six weeks through peru, bolivia + costa rica! such a dream. i’m excited to share photos from these adventures! i didn’t bring my digital camera along*, so these are a mix of 35mm film + iphone.

iquitos in peru was our first stop, and it was an excellent ‘welcome to south america, how bout that spanish??’ city to arrive in. we only spent a few days there as it was our take-off point to explore the amazon**. iquitos itself is crazy and loud, humid and energetic, dirty and jolting. the colours and textures were beautiful, and i was drawn to all the tile and patterns. if you’re planning a visit, the eye-opening belen market is worth exploring. tuk tuk’s are always exhilarating and there’s a fun nightlife (our amazon guide took us dancing on our last night – not included in the tour, ha). however, three days in iquitos was enough :)

*i also didn’t bring my dslr to thailand and found freedom on both trips in not having to worry about it breaking or getting lost/stolen. however, there are so many moments where i wished i’d had it. so for our next big trip, i think i’ll take a risk and bring it (that’s what insurance is for, right?). i’d love to hear your thoughts on traveling with more expensive cameras!

**one of the most amazing experiences i’ve ever had! next post :)