The Great Amazon River Expedition

[MUSIC PLAYING] Being in Peru, it touches the inner fibers of being an early explorer. We all came from nomads. Being there and moving and exploring, you feel like an early nomad. If you see the map and you point where you are, you're in the middle of nowhere. You are part of the new explorers. It's a very special feeling. In every step, you don't know what you're going to find, but everything you find is going to be something that will blow your mind in a nice way. Our wildlife, our plants, our archaeological sites, anything can just pop out. You never know. And we get excited when those things happen. That's a "Nat Hab moment". [LAUGHS] I was born and raised in Lima, Peru. My father was a professor. His field was dairy farming. So I basically grew up between the city and the ranch. I remember when I was young, and visitors would come to the ranch, I would tour them around and tell them, "Oh, these are the cows, these are the pigs..." But at a certain time, I ran out of more things to identify in the livestock kingdom. But there were things that were free, That attracted me. You know, the birds, they are not in a cage, They can do whatever they want. And that was a whole window that opened that, oh, this is another way of being an animal. And that's what really interested me. I said, I want to do this. How can I become a birder? But at that time, in Peru, we were not thinking about nature preservation. We were thinking about surviving as a country, a terrible civil war, and it was mandatory to serve. So I was forced to enroll. We were almost turning into adults, fighting against people that didn't want to become a democratic country. Through the '80s, it was complicated, but we were able finally to defeat this guerrilla group and we reopened our doors to the world. And I wanted to work in tourism to develop a way in which nature can be preserved through having visitors, because I wanted to share my passion with people. And eventually I was in the Amazon as a bird guide. Since I was very young, I always heard about the Amazon, you know, and how mysterious it was. You never know what to expect until you arrive. For someone that loves nature, it's like an amusement park, because this is one of the most diverse places on earth. Like, oh my God, look at this color of this caterpillar, or look at the color of this bird, it's amazing and rarely found, or look at the family of monkeys and see that, okay, that's a father, that's mama with a baby, and she's pregnant already. It's the Amazon, with all its amazing and charming creatures. And then you change, going from the Amazon to the Andes. We are in the heart of the Incan Empire. The first time I went to Machu Picchu, I went with my mother, I was 13 years old, and I've been probably more than 80 times. I still feel amazed on how our ancestors were able to develop something like that there. And I get excited again because I know all our travelers had this particular place in their bucket list, probably since they were in elementary school. It's like, wow. (upbeat music) (birds chirping) For me, always, the thing about birds, it's like a healthy envy because they can fly. What I absorbed from the birds was their lifestyle. That's what inspired me. We have so many interesting things to do in this world that why not try to do most of them? So nature, music, sports, and I try to find time to do everything. Sometimes at the same time. I feel like, "Oh yeah, I'm in the mood of playing. I wanna do some loud sounds, play some loud sounds. Let's make some noise." but also probably in the early morning I want to be quiet just watching birds waking up. For me, it's just different energies that add to who I am. I was born in this country. I feel blessed being a Peruvian. We were very proud of our country and when people understand how diverse it is and how important it is and how passionate are the people that want to preserve it. It's like, oh, happy, happy, to the point of breaking into tears of happiness when you feel like your travelers are living with an amazing experience. You know, okay, now they can go back home, free as a bird. (upbeat music)