FAMOUS VISITORS Exploring the Amazon

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Three famous visitors to the Amazon I bet you did not know about

This is not about celebrities. These three famous visitors to the Amazon it’s about historical figures. You know, Abraham Lincoln or Vladimir Lenin. And, to be fair, I got these from the excellent book on the history of the Amazon: Tree of Rivers by John Hemming.

You have to enjoy the Amazon to cover its 400 pages, but it is a superbly researched and well-written book (so is Hemming’s other book, the Conquest of the Incas). Anyway, without further ado, here they go:

Theodore Roosevelt (pg 236-244)

It is appropriate that the North American president who founded the National Park system had an epic Amazon journey. In 1914, Teddy Roosevelt, already 55, visited Brazil on a hunting trip to  Amazonia. The government of Brazil assigned the great woodsman Colonel Candido Rondon as his guide. Rondon, who may have been the first indigenous rights activist in Amazonia has a whole state named after him: Rondonia.

Anyway, they had no mission beyond hunting and exploring. Hunting is not as good in the Amazon as it is in Africa: the game is smaller and much harder to find. So I imagine that after a disappointing tapir or red brocket deer kill, Roosevelt turned to explore. Rondon gave him a choice of four rivers to descend from Rondonia northwards to the Amazon. One was an unknown tributary called the Duvida, or “River of Doubt” because now when knew where it emerged. Roosevelt of course,  picked that one. During the eight-week 1000 kilometer descent, he almost lost his son Kermit in the rapids and was “wasted to a mere shadow of his former self”. The Duvida was christened the Roosevelt River by Rondon.

I love his quotes from his Amazon travels, which could be found in any field biologists journal:

“Now, while bursting thru a tangle, I disturbed a nest of wasps, whose resentment was very active; now I heedlessly stepped among the outliers of a small party of the carnivorous foraging (Eciton, army) ants; now grasping a branch as I stumbled, I shook down a shower of fire-ants (Dinoponera) which stung like a hornet, so that I felt it for three hours… ”

“Because of the rain and heat, our clothes were usually wet when we took them off at night, and just as wet when we put them on in the morning.”

Henry Ford (pg 264-268)

Who would have thought that Ford founded one of the Amazon’s first businesses to go bust? It turns out that around 1922 Ford wanted to break the Dutch- British cartel on plantation rubber, which was steadily rising prices. Some shady Brazilians sold 10000 square miles of land in the state of Para where he could replicate the Asian and African rubber tree plantations in the Amazon. Any Peruvian forestry undergraduate will tell you that is an extremely risky proposition: high densities of any native tree species will attract pests (in Asia and Africa, rubber is a non-native species, so it has no pests). So, Fordlandia was built, complete with a cinema, a hospital, churches schools, tennis courts, swimming pools, social clubs, avenues lined with eucalyptus, and a golf course.

By 1935, 1.5 million rubber trees were planted, but as they grew enough for their canopies to touch, they lost their leaves to the endemic South American Leaf Blight. They moved the plantation and built a large Fordlandia at a place called Belterra. After 2 million trees were planted, the blight struck again. In 1945, Henry Ford II abandoned the enterprise having sunk 10 million dollars without tapping a single rubber tree.

Otto von Bismarck (pg 122)

The founder and first chancellor of the German Empire (ca. 1870) was an aide-de-camp in an expedition to the Amazon led by Prince Adalbert of Prussia. The expedition visited the Amazon in 1842 with the goal of exploring the Xingu. I’ve tried googling more on this expedition because Hemming doesn’t mention much about it (von Bismarck, was, after all, a lowly aide de camp), but I keep finding Bismarck biographies on Amazon DOT COM! Amazon.com is one of the few bummers of real Amazon work!

Please let me know of any other historical figures in the Amazon who are known for their Amazon adventures. And if you’re planning to become a historical figure, don’t forget to visit us at our Amazon jungle lodges.

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If you want to know what it is like in the jungle, this is the place to come. Amazing scenery, wildlife, and knowledgeable guides. To get the most out of the experience prepare for some early starts and early bedtimes. A fantastic few days which I won't forget in a hurry. Read all

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It gives a great insight into the jungle. We had a great visit. I recommend going during the dry season. Our guide Luis M. was excellent! Knowledgeable, enthusiastic, kind and a gentleman. Bear in mind it's going to be hot and humid with some mosquitos. It's a jungle out there! Read all

A spectacular experience—Juan Carlos and Carmen, we’d like to sincerely thank you for our stay at your lodge on the banks of the Tambopata River. This part of our two-month trip through Peru and Bolivia left an indelible impression on us. The transfer itself was a testament to the professionalism of your team: the journey from Puerto Maldonado to the lodge—with a very tight schedule to arrive before dark, a guide waiting for us, and a smooth trip by bus and boat—went off without a hitch despite our tight flight connections. Everything about the lodge won us over: comfortable accommodations in the heart of the jungle, good food, and a comprehensive, well-structured excursion program with morning, afternoon, and evening tours. We were thrilled every time we saw something new. We’d especially like to highlight our guide, Jordi: his knowledge of the flora and fauna, combined with his patience in spotting wildlife, made our stay truly special. Equally impressive was the condition of the jungle: pristine, clean, and home to an intact ecosystem ranging from big cats to macaws. The care and responsibility devoted to maintaining this place are evident. Incredible guides. And the entire staff was very attentive. Highly recommended Read all

A spectacular experience—Juan Carlos and Carmen are incredible guides. And the entire staff is very attentive. Highly recommended Read all

It was a wonderful experience and a pleasant surprise. The staff and guides at the Rainforest Expeditions lodge were fantastic and always went out of their way to ensure we had the best possible experience. Thank you to Juan Carlos and Carmen for their care and dedication to the group. Read all

We had an excellent 5 night stay at TRC with two couples. The remote Lodge and accommodation are unique especially with the open walls to the jungle in the rooms. The guides were first rate with superb knowledge and their ability to spot fauna in the dense jungle was incredible. We saw many species of monkeys; macaws, parrots, tapirs, etc.. even lucky enough to spot a jaguar. Food and service was really good. While not cheap it was I think very good value for money. We really enjoyed all the hikes and citizen science activities as well, he trips on the river and the clay licks. Overall amazing experience! As it’s the jungle not a zoo, you can’t guarantee that you’ll see everything all the time so allow enough days to properly explore. Read all

A once-in-a-lifetime experience in the middle of the rainforest. From airport pickup in Puerto Maldonado to the lodge and back, everything was exceptionally well organised. Communication was clear throughout, with the team always explaining what would happen, where to be and what to take care of. The staff at both HQ and the lodge were incredibly attentive, making the entire stay feel completely carefree. At this price point, this is the level of service you expect, but it is still impressive to experience it in such a remote setting. The food was another highlight: very well curated and balanced, with plenty of options at every buffet and, surprisingly, we never had the same dish twice. Read all

This was an excellent experience!! Highly recommend if you’re interested in visiting the Amazon Rainforest and Tambopata region. Especially happy with our guide Miguel, who was highly professional, informative, and organized. It was an immersive adventure and we got to see so many unique plants and animals. 10/10! Read all

Amazing experience at Refugio Amazonas. Rooms were comfortable and clean. Great buffet spread every day. Staff were friendly and attentive. Our guide Alan was very informative. Overall would definitely recommend a visit! Read all

We stayed 3 nights at Posada Amazonas during our summer trip to Peru, and it was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the whole journey. The staff were incredibly warm and welcoming. Our guide, Joss, was professional, friendly and amazingly knowledgeable. Sometimes it honestly felt like he could communicate with the animals — he could spot black caimans or giant river otters from hundreds of metres away! The excursions were unforgettable. We saw beautiful macaws, giant river otters, capybaras, sloths, tarantulas, an anaconda, different species of monkeys, toucans and so much more. I especially loved the rainforest walks and joined both the daytime and night walks. Every walk felt completely different, and you never knew what you might find. What also made the stay special was the lodge’s involvement in scientific and environmental projects. There was a talk every evening, and we learned a lot about the rainforest and its wildlife. We also joined the “Discover New Species” activity and helped search for possible new species of tiger moths — such a fun and memorable experience. The lodge itself is definitely rustic luxury rather than a city-style 5-star hotel. There is no air conditioning or hair dryer, but the hot shower, fan and hammock in the room were all very comfortable and suited the rainforest setting perfectly. And surprisingly, the internet connection was excellent — even the boats had Starlink! One of the things I appreciated most is that Posada Amazonas is a collaboration between Rainforest Expeditions and the local Indigenous community that owns the land. Many community members are directly involved in running the lodge, and you can really feel how much the staff care about and are connected to this rainforest, which is part of their ancestral home. If you are looking for an authentic, educational and truly memorable Amazon rainforest experience, I highly recommend Posada Amazonas. We absolutely loved our stay. Read all

The Tambopata Research Center (TRC) offers a well-organized immersive rainforest experience within the Tambopata National Reserve. The TRC and its accommodations put a spin on the term creature comforts by keeping guests comfortable while they commune among the creatures within the rainforest. I appreciated, through what I observed and the interactions I had, the attentiveness of the TRC team members. They knew their guests and seamlessly organized a lot for our benefit. The center assigns guests to a small group with a dedicated guide. In my case, Erick Arguedas was a superb ambassador for all things living in the rainforest, in part because it was the environment in which he grew up. His role was to ensure we got the most out of our visit. Being a long-term TRC guide gave him the expertise he needed to easily fulfill this role. Read all