full course amazon 8/ Days /7 Nights

Summary: This is where my immersive survival expedition in the Peruvian Amazon jungle, in Iquitos, comes to an end. 8 days and 7 nights during which I built traps and a spear, started fires, hunted and fished, and built a shelter where I slept alone in the jungle, surrounded by darkness, noises, animals, and insects everywhere. Everything was done in true survival style, without any modern help. I never felt sick, even though I ate caiman, electric eel, giant frogs, and piranhas. At times, there were so many insects that they flew into my mouth every time I opened it. Mosquito bites everywhere, spiders, scorpions, and snakes: I had to be careful about everything I touched and everywhere I sat or leaned. Hunting during the day and at night, in complete darkness, with only my headlamp and the moon, knowing that if we didn’t catch anything, we would go hungry. And out there, energy is essential for survival. I drank water from a lagoon after boiling and filtering it, was bitten by fire ants, and drank water directly from the vines growing on the trees. Nothing else matters when the heat and humidity are so intense that you remain sweaty and dirty for days without washing, or when you spend entire days under heavy rain, completely soaked day and night. Despite the water and mud, you still have to carry on with your day. When you finally find a lagoon where you can wash, it feels like paradise. The same goes for swimming in the river where, only a few hours earlier, I had caught piranhas and where we went searching for caimans at night. Diving in to cool down, even for just a few minutes, and washing away the sticky sweat I had been carrying for days—while still feeling little bites on my back and legs from tiny fish or who knows what—before climbing back into the canoe and continuing the journey. One of my guides developed a slight fever, while the other had back pain and got a wooden splinter in her eye while cutting with the machete. Luckily, I had brought some medicine and eye drops with me. At the same time, they treated me with sap from a “doctor tree” and a ritual. Later, they also gave me a cleansing bath using fruits and plants. Learning how many trees and plants in the jungle can help you when you don’t have access to the medicines we are used to is incredible. At night, we told each other stories about jaguars, anacondas, and spirits of the jungle, while the sounds of the forest and its animals continued all around us. I watched the sun set and the moon rise almost at the same time, surrounded by picture-perfect scenery and a star-filled sky that left me speechless. I saw capybaras, monkeys, snakes, and countless other species of animals and birds. I searched for turtle eggs for breakfast and made my way through the thickest parts of the jungle with my machete. The jungle is a fascinating but dangerous place, where you understand that if you cannot adapt and survive, nature will overpower you. Finally, I was welcomed into their village and their homes, played with the children, and was also able to offer some advice to the person responsible for operating the water purification filters, trying to help them improve and manage the system more effectively. It provides their only source of drinking water, taken directly from the river. Visiting beautiful places is wonderful, but this was a surreal, incredible, and unique experience. It is truly thought-provoking to realize that today, in 2026, there are still communities of around 150 people living this way in the heart of the jungle—where money matters relatively little and the ability to hunt, fish, grow food, and understand nature is among the most important skills needed to live. This was not a tourist excursion, but a genuine survival course completed by only six people each year. One of the most powerful experiences I have ever lived, and one that I will carry with me forever.