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Business Will Get You Jungle Booked

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By GEORGE WILKENS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 6, 2008

CROSS CREEK - Three decades ago, Paul Beaver, then a professor of evolutionary biology living in Seattle, was feeling down.

He lost tenure at his University of Washington job, his marriage fell apart, he lost his children and his home.

"I just felt like life was not fair - poor me," said the New Tampa resident, exuding an air of confidence that strongly hints his story comes with a happy ending.

A friend at the Chicago Zoological Society "felt I needed a kick in the behind" but instead extended a helping hand - an exotic South American job that evolved into a life-altering experience. "Next thing I know, I'm in the Amazon jungle" studying birds in the rain forest, Beaver said with a wide grin. Less formally, he also studied the Amazon natives.

"The natives struggled so hard just to stay alive" and did so with grace and humor, Beaver observed. "It was truly inspirational," prompting him to evaluate his own outlook on life, opting to now see the glass half full, not half empty.

"I decided I wanted to make the Amazon a part of my life."

So, he launched a west Amazon adventure tourism operation designed to allow others to camp in the jungle and experience the rain forest. The year was 1981, and access to the area was a challenge for tourists. "So, I saw my niche," he said.

He bought tents, machetes and other jungle necessities and formed Amazonia Expeditions, a pioneer camping outfitter in the western Amazon region. Fast forward a dozen years: A Peruvian woman applies for work with Beaver's company and later becomes his wife and a key component in the future of the business.

"She had an idea we could be more elegant," Beaver said of Dolores "Dolly" Arevalo Shapiama, a native of Iquitos, the largest city in the Peruvian rain forest. Under her direction and with help from her family in Peru, the expanding company built Tahuayo Lodge.

The rustic eco-adventure lodge is the only tourism facility in Peru's Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo reserve, an area known for having the greatest diversity of primates and other mammals in the Amazon, plus more than 540 species of birds.

The entire 15-cabin lodge on the Tahuayo River, a tributary of the Amazon, is screened, has showers and flush toilets but no electricity except for what is produced by a small generator to recharge camera batteries. The lodge has a tree-canopy zip line, canoes and motorized boats.

"We've won all kinds of recognition in the last six or seven years," Beaver said. Outside Magazine's 2001 Travel Guide recognized it as one of the 10 best wilderness lodges in the world.

In November, National Geographic rated Amazonia No. 17 among the world's top 158 outfitters, scoring 100 percent in client satisfaction, for an overall rating of 92.8.

Arbor Greene resident Maxine Belcher is among Amazonia Expedition's many past guests. Her family stayed at the lodge for the first half of a two-week Peruvian vacation in December 2004.

"It was a fantastic place to visit, a great experience," and the staff was excellent, she said. "We felt safe," despite the lodge being a four-hour speedboat ride from civilization.

"They loved it," she said of her two daughters, then 9 and 11. "It was like just a whole new thing for them."

The family fished for piranha, the freshwater species infamous for its sharp teeth, strong jaws and reputation for hunting in schools and preying upon animals, including humans.

The Belchers were able to turn the tables on the feisty fish. "What you caught you took back to the lodge. They cooked them for you, and you had them for lunch," she said.

Belcher said the bony, salty-tasting fish have gotten "a bum deal. They're not as bad as they make out in horror movies."

The Belchers' vacation included a side trip to Machu Picchu, the ancient Incan city in south-central Peru.

Anissa Morris, husband Mike and their two daughters, then 9 and 6, spent Christmas vacation at the lodge in 2005, Anissa's first trip outside the country.

Despite not being a camper - "I don't like to rough it" - she said she enjoyed her escape from civilization and modern communications.

"It was very relaxing; you were definitely totally away from the hustle and bustle, traffic, noise and crowds," she said. "To be there a whole week and not see a car" or hear a cell phone was great, said the West Meadows resident.

"I was most fascinated by the villages and the people and how they lived in little huts and what they did all day. It was really good for all of us to see how the people live and definitely be appreciative of all we have" in modern America. "And as primitive as they are, they're the happiest people you'll ever see. They don't have the stressors we do."

Daughters Madeline and Abby enjoyed feeding baby monkeys being temporarily cared for at the lodge after being abandoned by the mother, Anissa said.

The family also saw Peru's pink Amazon River dolphins, countless exotic birds and an abundance of sloths lounging in tall trees.

"The whole time I was there, I did not see one single snake, which is good," she added. "We saw a couple of tarantulas, which took me by surprise, because I'd never seen one in the wild before."
Amazonia Expeditions employs 50 Peruvians and helps many more by sponsoring Angels of the Amazon, a foundation Dolly created to benefit those in a nation where half of the 28 million inhabitants live below the poverty level.

"Dolly's heart is with helping the native people" without altering their culture, Paul said.

"To me, it's just empowering women economically," Dolly said of her nonprofit organization that finds markets for unique baskets, hand-stitched artwork and other handicrafts natives create from local fibers, seeds and natural dyes.

Crafters receive 80 percent of the sale proceeds. The balance supports Peruvian charities providing scholarships and other educational assistance, plus medical care for everything from a machete cut to snakebite to surgery.

Photographs of available crafts are accessible through the "Native Markets" section of Amazonia's Web site, www.perujungle.com.

Dolly, who spends five months a year in Peru, echoed Paul's remarks that the jungle alters one's outlook on life.

"Life is a little harder," she said. "My parents once lived in the jungle. I learned to be compassionate and share the wealth with the natives."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Amazonia Expeditions
WHERE: Tahuayo Lodge, near Iquitos, Peru

WHEN: Open year-round

HOW MUCH: Varies by length of stay; eight days, $1,295, each additional day, $100; discounts for ages 16 and younger

INFORMATION: Call 1-800-262-9669 or visit www.perujungle .com.

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