Excitement rushes over me as I arrive in Puerto Maldonado, a small city in the state of Madre de Dios, Peru, and the gateway to the southern Peruvian Amazon. Before locating my hostel, I was already seeking adventure. Walking around the town’s plaza you will find numerous locals and small businesses ready to provide a … Read more
The metal bridge in downtown Puerto Maldonado, above the mighty and murky Madre de Dios river, is not just any bridge. This 750-meter long suspension bridge, officially called the ‘Puente Guillermo Billinghurst’ after a Peruvian congressman, was finished in July 2011 and completed the 2600km-long Interoceanic Highway, which runs from the Atlantic Ocean through Brazil … Read more
As a novice conservation ecologist I had the adventurous task of monitoring wildlife populations in the Peruvian Amazon. My perspiring students and I would walk in a straight line through pristine rainforest, holding a GPS, binoculars and a datasheet, to record any monkey, jaguar or rat that we encountered. We had research permits to do … Read more
No he encontrado manera de responder esta pregunta sin conectarla con lo que me ha movido durante los últimos años a dar cada paso de aprendizaje sobre la vida en “el monte” (como la llamamos coloquialmente en Madre de Dios). Cinco años atrás, en un proceso de recopilación de materiales audiovisuales para difundir información amena … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic caught the world by surprise, sweeping across countries in only weeks, leaving no part of the world safe. The news provides daily coverage of international COVID-19 statistics; however, it rarely mentions the people of indigenous communities and their perilous struggle with the pandemic. While COVID-19 has been a difficult adjustment for people … Read more
