PeruNorth's musings on events & destinations in Northern Peru, Amazonia ... and beyond. Detailed tour reviews.
I first met explorer John Leivers at South American Explorers in 2007. Like many visitors to the clubhouse in urban Miraflores, he was dressed as if just about to embark on an expedition to search for El Dorado - breathable fabrics, khaki colours, wide-brimmed hat and a well-worn rucksack that did not leave his back.
But unlike other visitors, this really was the uniform of his day job!
Carlos Fitzcarrald was born to an Irish-American father and Peruvian mother in 1867, and raised in the city of Iquitos, which became the heart of the Rubber Boom.
Venturing deep into the Amazon in the 1890s, Fitzcarrald discovered a trove of rubber trees in the region of Madre de Dios that now holds Manu National Park.
