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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This trip was the highlight of our travels through peru. The lodge was absolutely 5 stars for everything. The room, food, people. We had a private guide, Allen, who grew up locally and really had deep knowledge of the land, the history, and the variety of plant and animal species in the jungle. His knowledge and passion were invaluable to our experience. There are a variety of tour companies and lodges you can book to visit the Amazon, however, I would only recommend Rainforest Expeditions as they are truly connected to the community and offer high quality first class amazon experience! Read all

We had a truly wonderful stay with Rainforest Expeditions. Everyone was incredibly kind and welcoming, and our guide was fantastic — very knowledgeable and passionate about the rainforest. We saw many animals, even from the boat, which made the experience unforgettable. Read all

I just spent 3 days here with my family. The research center surpassed all our expectations. I want to give a special shout out to Carlos who took such good care of us. He went above and beyond to make sure we werr comfortable. And he was always smiling. He made us feel so welcome. We had Erik as our guide who is so knowledgeable and experienced. We learned so much, saw so much wildlife. It really was a dream vacation. Thank you!! Read all

Chose this place to stay at the Amazon, as I heard it benefits the local indigenous community. Life changing experience. Oscar was an excellent guide! We saw so many wildlife! No 4th wall made it such an immersive jungle experience. Since they are eco friendly, there is no AC. It can get pretty hot depending on the season. So better to follow their guidance for clothing choices Read all

If you want to experience the Amazon in all its glory This is the place to come to Staff and guides were excellent Food was just incredible The forest walks were really interesting and informative Read all

If you are a birder, ask for Juan Carlos Yatto. He recognizes an astounding number of bird calls and can duplicate many of them. This place is magical, all I could have imagined. All the staff and scientists are incredible. The experience of a lifetime. Read all

This was the most amazing experience Very well organised The ground staff were so well organised The guides were excellent ( I’m looking at you Carlos!) Food was tasty and very varied Amazed that the chefs managed to get such variety in the middle of the Amazon Do not hesitate Book immediately you will not be disappointed. Highly recommended Read all

I can not say enough good things about my time at the Tambopata Research Center. Between the guides, the boat drivers, the chefs, the staff, the bartenders, the researchers, etc. Everyone was absolutely wonderful! If you are interested in viewing wildlife in the Amazon, this is the place for you! A special thank you to the maître d' Carlos who was so incredibly kind and hospitable and our guide Dino who was like a real life Indiana Jones. I can't wait to come back! Read all

An unforgettable, fully immersive jungle experience. Amazing how Tambopata Lodge delivers luxury touches in such a remote and rugged location. The food is fantastic, the staff incredible, and the wildlife sightings non-stop. The personalised itinerary and one-on-one guiding made the trip truly special—huge thanks to our guide Johan for sharing his passion and knowledge. The Macaw Project is inspiring, and it’s clear the lodge fully supports this important conservation work. Manager Brian was always kind, helpful. Well-done all involved. Read all

The most important fact we are grateful for is the true sense of understanding of the ecology of the Amazon the staff at Rainforest Expeditions (RFE) have shown us. RFE stands out for its stand against the pure, profit-motive initiatives many other tour operators do. We are very grateful to have had Carlos as our guide. Carlos is deeply dedicated, and is able to explain the nuances of the flora and fauna. The world today needs to act as one against the impact of climate change. RFE is one, bright shining light in this regard. Read all

We had a fabulous trip! The people were amazing, kind and very professional. The food was exceptionally good! The facilities are beautiful and well kept. We just loved our second time with Rainforest Expeditions and can't wait to go again!! Read all

Fantastic to be deep in the forest surrounded by incredible wildlife with our amazing guide Juan Carlos Yatto, who really knew his stuff! Also his photography skills meant that we could share our experience even better through his telescope using our phone cameras! We learned so much!! He went to extra lengths to find butterflies and moths for us along with so many different birds and monkeys. This was a travel highlight for us as experienced wildlife travellers. We loved our spacious room with no windows and open to more wildlife visitors but after 5 nights the bed could have been a little more comfortable. Luckily we had a second bed to use. Otherwise it was fantastic with hot water showers and fresh drinking water all the time. We were amazed at the variety of food on offer for breakfast, lunch and dinner and couldn’t believe they could have such a wonderful food offering in such a remote location. Even the wine and cocktails were great. I highly recommend spending the extra money and time getting to this location. We stayed at another lodge later which was closer to Puerto Maldonado and there was far less wildlife. Read all

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