Best time to visit the Amazon

The Amazon doesn’t really have a dry season, but for six months of the year it is a bit less wet. It’s sometimes thought to be the best time for wildlife spotting, as animals are enticed out onto dry river banks to drink. It’s the best time to go if you want to be on your feet, with more ground accessible to walking excursions. Less moisture in the air means lower humidity and fewer mosquitoes, but both are going to be a feature of any trip to the rainforest.

Rain doesn’t stop play in the Amazon, in fact the higher the water levels the further your boat can go, as rivers burst their banks and seasonal floodplains fill up. These new channels and shortcuts are easily explored by canoe or small cruise boats – arguably the best way to experience the rainforest. Bear in mind that rain doesn’t fall equally across the whole of the Amazon – Ecuador especially gets much more than Brazil.  

May to September is the best time to visit the Peruvian Amazon, when wildlife congregates on shrinking riverbanks and mobs of mosquitoes are in decline. The drier, clearer sky is also better for highland trekking.    Colombia trips that include an Amazon tour tend to be tailor made, so you can take them at any time of the year. However July to September is the best time to visit the Andes, when it’s fairly dry and quiet, worth bearing in mind if you want to visit both.   May to October is winter in Bolivia, often considered the best time to travel but low temperatures mean to you do have to pack plenty of layers. The Amazon is almost pleasantly fresh during this period, when the dry and cold months mean a drop in humidity – but not in temperature.   Late June to October is the best time to visit Brazil for wildlife watching, with most trips heading here between July and September. Brazil’s wet season lasts from December to March, when rain submerges the southern Pantanal region, so most wildlife trips stop. December to May is a particularly wet period in Ecuador, when wildlife in the rainforest might be harder to see and mosquitoes are out in force.