In celebration of this week’s UN Indigenous Peoples Day, I spoke with Jesús Duran, the Account Manager at Rainforest Expeditions, to get a better sense of Infierno’s decades-long relationship with the lodges. Jesús grew up in Infierno and is committed to the community’s development through sustainable tourism.
A story behind an ecotourism project
When Jesús was a boy, he lived in Infierno — a small town along the Tambopata River — until adolescence. There, and even more, once he moved to nearby Puerto Maldonado city, he saw the discrimination, lack of economic opportunity, and social challenges that the Ese Eja community faced in the region.
At the same time, Jesús began to see tourism come to Tambopata in the early 1990s. The industry seemed to offer a promising alternative to local subsistence fishing and farming, and soon enough, Jesús and his brother both joined the new industry. Armed with his ambition and hard work, he studied tourism at a local school, working his way up from lodge waiter to tour guide to globe-trotting account manager.
Working in travel, he says, «You really get to know yourself and learn to solve any kind of problem.» Today, Jesús travels the world representing Rainforest Expeditions — this small-town boy from the Amazon Rainforest has visited Japan, China, North America, Europe, and more.
The Tambopata National Reserve in Madre de Dios, Peru is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but only visited by 6% of the tourists that get to Peru.
But despite his cosmopolitan life in Lima today, Jesús hasn’t forgotten his roots in Infierno, the community that raised him and provided the local insights crucial to his success. Luckily, the Native Community of Infierno serves as Rainforest Expeditions’ partner at the Posada Amazonas lodge. In fact, the Ese Eja People own the lodge, largely manage it, and receive most of its profits! Jesús still gets the chance to work with the community on many joint initiatives.
