Ever since I began my tour of Brazil, Manaus and The Amazon Rainforest had stood out as a significant stop, one that would be a rich experience yet significantly challenging. The lure of the jungle grew closer as I made my way around the North coast from West to East, and whilst I had no idea what to expect of my time there, I left with one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life.

There was one other thing I wanted to see besides the jungle - Theatro Amazonas. A visually stunning old theatre smack bang in the middle of town, spilling out in front of it an open square of food stalls, restaurants, bars and nightclubs, filled with locals and tourists alike taking in the atmosphere.

My interest to visit the Theatre stemmed from watching footage of a performance there by one of my favourite bands, The White Stripes, back in 2005. The Theatre is mainly used for cultural and classical shows and to date it's the only performance there by a rock band. It is surprisingly large as it looks quite cosy on the inside - but full of beautiful sculptures and artwork. During the walking tour we were lucky enough to catch a performance by the local orchestra:

I'd barely became comfortable with city of Manaus itself before I begun the journey towards the Amazon. I'd got a bit lucky as there was only one other person on my tour - a girl from Holland named Jolien. She was filming a documentary about her travels, so this was sure to make the experience that little more memorable - plus, I'd have some great footage afterwards! And maybe a mention in the credits ...

Before reaching the jungle, we made a few stops for photos and to allow the guide to explain some of the more interesting facets of the Amazon. The speedboat out of Manaus took us to the "Meeting of the Waters", where due to a number of environmental factors (e.g. speed and pH level of the two waters), the brown water of the Amazon river cuts a visible divide with the black water of the Rio Negro river.

A change of boats and then another hour or so on a speedboat, and we had reached our lodge. It was simple accommodation - no electricity (except for when the generator was running, which was for about an hour each night) and barely any water - but it was enough. The host was extremely friendly and served us up some great meals - the first being a buffet of rice, beans, salad and armadillo.

In the evening, we went fishing for piranhas and caught a Caiman (a species of crocodile), then retired to our rooms, where we found one of these waiting for us:

In the morning our speedboat sprung a leak so we couldn't go out for the sunrise. So we had breakfast at the lodge and then did some more fishing and bird watching. In the afternoon we trekked for a couple of hours in the jungle, where we learned about what could and couldn't kill us if we went near it or ate it. We tried worms, Brazil nuts (in Brazil they just call them nuts), drank water from a vine, tasted a natural medicinal cream from a split open tree and swatted hundreds of different bugs off ourselves.

In the evening we set up camp another hour or two further up the Amazon, and cooked dinner in what was by far the least hygienic meal I've ever had. We took a chicken that had been sitting in the sun for a few hours on our canoe, washed it in the dirty river, cut it on the side of an oar with a knife that was sitting in the bottom of the boat, then boiled it in more river water.

In saying that, it took so long to prepare that by the time it was ready I was going back for seconds and thirds. Jolien brought desert for us - biscuits dipped in condensed milk, then we took the canoe out for some stargazing. Then it was back to the camp to set up our hammocks.

By about 2AM we made it to sleep, and I use the term sleep lightly because I kept waking up and seeing gigantic bugs and spiders in my bed, only to realize I was still half asleep and it was only 20 or 30 mosquitos trying to get in. A Taipir came sniffing around our camp at night, but ran away before we could get close enough for a photo.

After a couple of hours sleep we got up to take the canoe out to enjoy the sunrise and spot some wild dolphins. Then it was back to the camp for our last, but most frustrating meal in the jungle. All our pots and cutlery were infested by ants at this stage, so we again washed it all in the river then started cooking some pancakes for breakfast. I think we spent at least an hour just getting the fire and water ready to make the coffee and pancakes, and getting bitten by every insect that had come to taste the can of condensed milk. But the conditions made the otherwise basic food taste all the more delicious.

Julien cooking up our pancakes, or "oil balls" as she called them.

Almost as soon as we finished, it began pouring down and we got absolutely soaked. We took the canoe back to the lodge, constantly scooping out water in the bottom of the boat (the leak wasn't fixed), but our guide assured us we'd take the shortcut back to the lodge. Which was fine until the motor broke and we got lost, so we all chipped in paddling our way to the nearest home to find an old lady who let us rent a spare motor.

Wet from the rain and sweat, sunburnt, sleep, water and food-deprived, we made it back to the lodge for lunch and a well deserved rest. Although it wasn't over yet, we were to spend another difficult night at a local family's home to see how they lived, and share a few meals with them.

We arrived there at night, began sifting through our hammocks and mosquito nets to get rid of the leftover bugs, then set them up for our last night of sleep. We prepared a fire and cooked some rice porridge for dinner (it was all we had left), and had a few shots of cachaça to put ourselves to sleep. Again it was only for a couple of hours, and I woke up by falling out of the hammock when I felt something crawling up my back. In doing so I woke the others up, so we took the boat out to appreciate our last sunrise together and spot a few more dolphins.

Then it was back to the lodge to spend some time with the local family. To be honest, the house was an absolute mess. It was a bit ironic, here we were spending all this money to stay in probably the worst living conditions we'll experience in our life, yet it was the most realistic jungle experience we could get.

There were about 4 or 5 dogs laying in the yard that barely had the energy to stand up, and there were various other animals roaming around the place - a parrot, a few turtles, some chickens and a couple of ducks. The animals were taking up any space in the backyard that wasn't filled by rubbish or poo.

The family of 10 or so people slept on the wooden floor, showered and brushed their teeth in the river and didn't eat much for breakfast. They gave most of their food to us. We talked a little in my broken Portuguese, played football and then took some photos. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend a lot of time with them but Jolien seemed to have had an effect on one of the little boys as we saw him shedding a few tears as our canoe left their house.

On the way back we stopped at the local community village which had a school, church and a couple more homes. Then it was back to the lodge for our final lunch goodbyes. The host had another group arriving and I honestly can't fathom how this is his job - living off practically nothing and rarely getting a day's break.

Tired, burnt, hungry, thirsty, sleep deprived, bites everywhere, clothes sweaty and smelly, dirty, we made the trip back to Manaus. It was such an exhausting, yet unimaginably rich experience, one that I was lucky to spend with a knowledgeable and humble guide who did everything to look out for us, and a very interesting and down to earth friend who was perfect company for an experience like this. It was one of those things you don't truly get to enjoy until it's over, but I will never forget it.