AMAZONAS-EXPLORER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Sales Team
- Head of Admin
Alex lives in Cusco with his wife Rosemary and two young children.
He has a masters in Business Administration, he and his wife were our computer expert for years before we managed to snare him full time.
The daughter of a dairy farmer, Carol grew up surrounded by the hills and horses of mid-Wales (UK). She ventured to further pastures for university where she picked up whitewater kayaking and Paul Cripps. It was 1989 when she first stepped foot in Peru and fell in love with the adventure, culture, nature, food, and amazingly resilient people that are all so quintessential to Peru.
Working as a Rolls Royce Engineer for ten years paid for various Kayaking, Biking, and Hiking expeditions to Peru, Nepal, India, Bolivia, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand before settling in Cusco in 2001. Having discovered downhill biking at a mature age and after having three children, Carol is now a regular at the Inka Avalanche DH race and Cusco Enduro Bike series. Her favorite trip would be biking down the Manu road to the Amazon Basin then Stand up paddle boarding further into the Jungle with its magnificent eco-diversity.
Claire is a Brit who found the way from her small Yorkshire town all the way to the small towns in the Andes Mountains.
Claire packed her bag with 4 t-shirts and 2 pairs of trousers for a three-month trip around South America five years ago. A trip that has overrun quite considerably, passing through five countries, innumerable catastrophes, and picking up Pato the adventure cat along the way (rescued in Bolivia).
Claudia grew up in Lima but her curiosity to explore the world and embrace diverse cultures has been ingrained in her from the start. Her first taste of the service industry came during college breaks when she participated in the Work and Travel program in Florida.
With a degree in Institutional and Public Relations, Claudia packed her bags for Buenos Aires, spending a good 4 years soaking up the vibes. Fuelled by her drive to acquire new professional skills, she later pursued a specialization in Digital Marketing at UCLA. With over 7 years of experience in Marketing and Communication across various sectors including finance, entertainment, wellness, and business development.
Having ventured through destinations like Asia and Mexico for months, Claudia firmly believes that "there's no place like Peru," which is why she always finds herself returning. So here she is, posted up in Cusco, ready to keep exploring and loving every minute of it.
Edwar, also known as Edu to his acquaintances and Shrek to his best friends is a stand-up guy, from the gospel of Paul Cripps himself: "Just an absolutely Top Bloke"- and higher praise is rarely reigned down.
Edu comes from a family of guides, and the blood of fantastic service runs through his veins. We snapped him up around a decade ago, and it's been nothing but roses ever since. He started his guiding career on the white waters of the Apurimac, keeping our rafting guests safe and happy in treacherously fun water. These days he dabbles in the water but has for the most part hung up his life vest and oars in favor of boots and hiking poles. If you're lucky enough to have Edu as your trekking guide, be sure to offer him a scooby snack.
Efrain was voted "Wanderlust World Guide of the Year 2014" by the British-based travel magazine and its readers.
He is probably still the best guide in the world, but they have to give the award to someone different each year.
Efrain has been guiding for Amazonas Explorer for over 15 years and has guided Royalty, Celebrities (Ed Sheeran would be the most famous one you've heard of), Writers (Hugh Thomson and Kim MacQuarrie to name just two), and has personally escorted Lucretia and David Bingham (Hiram Bingham's grandchildren) around Peru on several occasions but still finds time to guide charity groups, honeymoon couples, families, Traidcraft "Meet the people" tours and even the odd student group to keep him firmly grounded in reality.
He is an ambassador for Marca Peru (the Peruvian tourist board) and is on the board of directors for the Chicuchas Wasi school, a charity-funded school set up to help poor girls in Cusco receive an education and escape the poverty cycle in which they would otherwise be trapped. Furthermore, he also volunteers his time with locals in the Totora area of Lares, and together they are doing a great job in cleaning up the area of plastic and reducing drastically their plastic consumption.
During the pandemic, with no tourism for many months, Efraín reinvented himself, famously selling fresh fruit and vegetables around Cusco, dressed in a Spider-Man costume, and with the help of a gofundme crowd raising page, he started a natural compost business, recycling vegetable waste from markets and hotels to make organic compost. It is an ongoing project, but one he says he's not too sad to put on standby, as tourism picks back up and his guiding skills are high in demand.
His passion is running marathons, and he famously ran the London marathon in 2015, dressed as an Inca "Chaski" runner. He is married with 3 children and lives in Cusco, Southern Peru.
To travel with Efraín Valles as your guide, not only will you will learn about Peruvian history and culture, but also experience serendipitous moments through his unique contacts, and laugh along at his wonderful sense of humour, safe in the knowledge that he is looking out for you every minute of the day.
Elias specialises in Adventure Sports, Archaeology and Bird Watching. He has been guiding for over seven years.
He is very proud of his country and the legacy of his ancestors and always works hard to ensure you leave with a similar passion for Peru.
Jimmy has worked with Amazonas Explorer for many years, turning his hand to most things from trekking, to biking, rafting to stand up paddleboarding. He is also a great companion to have guide you around any less adventurous tour.
Jose Antonio was born in the Peruvian rainforest near the City of Cusco in Perú where he grew up and qualified to become a guide, something he has worked in since 1998. He guides in both the Peruvian rainforest and the Andes with particular interest in combining flora, fauna and birdwatching into trekking, biking and traditional tours in order to give a little extra something to people´s vacations. He is also a very keen mountain bike racer- fortunately being in the veteran's category avoids him constantly getting beaten by his son and our younger guides in the races.
Full of life and adventure, Jose Miguel brings a little light into the lives of everyone he meets. As knowledgeable and reliable as he is, Jose Miguel will elevate your Peruvian adventure ten-fold just by being his magnificent self.
Juan Carlos Salazar joined Amazonas Explorer as a mountain bike guide after a childhood of bending the rules to find the perfect route down the side of a mountain. While he is an expert bike mechanic, professional rider, and all-around good fun, JC has expanded his guiding repertoire to include watersports, hiking, and history. He is the perfect guide for those who seek the lighter side of life, families, and lovers of fun, as he is known to liven up any trip you share with him with his constant smile and infectious sense of fun.
Kayaker extaordinaire, you know you are in very safe hands indeed when Julio is providing safety kayak cover for our more extreme rafting trips. Growing up on the banks of the Apurimac River, Julio took to the sport at an early age, and continues to get better and better.
2015 saw Julio representing Peru in the World Freestyle Canoe and Kayak Championship in Ottawa, Canada where he also spent the summer working as a raft guide/ safety kayaker and instructing advanced whitewater kayaking skills to keen youngsters. He is now off to spend the winter working on the river in Queenstown, New Zealand.
Lisbet was born the youngest following seven brothers and sisters, so she knows how to hold her own! Originating from Paruro just outside of Cusco, Lisbet has been guiding for over 10 years and is making huge strides in the predominantly male-dominated world of professional guiding.
Lourdes was born and raised in Cusco, inheriting her love for the city from her father, whose passion for the city shone through as he shared everything he could with her about the city and its culture.
She began her career studying law, but after realising it wasn't the right path for her, changed to Hotel Management. There, she gained experience in the luxury sector, learning tricks of the trade from the various high end hotels she worked in, before making the leap into the travel industry.
It was here that she found her place, and now, with over ten years of experience in luxury and adventure travel, we can't imagine anyone better than Lourdes to help you plan your dream trip to Peru.
Job Titles:
- Head of Operations
- Member of the Sales Team
- Operations Manager
Maria makes your trip happen. With an encyclopedic knowledge of all things operational, she ensures the logistics are in place to make sure your trip runs like clockwork.
Known to most as "La Jefa" ( the boss) Maria runs the team of guides and support staff, as well as manning the emergency phone.
Mafer was born and raised in Lima but soon fell in love with the Andes, its all-shades-of-blue skies, warm sun and beautiful culture. It was love at first hike.
In 2009 she visited Cusco for the first time, returned twice that year, and moved in the next. The plan was to stay for a gap year, but life, of course, had other plans.
She has a degree in Hospitality Management and has worked for over 10 years in sales and customer service for luxury and adventure tour operators. With a few breaks to travel around Asia and Australia to study Permaculture, and explore the film and restaurant industries. During such time, she co-founded a lovely little bakery and a restaurant in the city and helped produce some cool TV and film projects such as Gordon Ramsay's ‘Uncharted' show, and Transformers 7.
She can never get enough of exploring Peru in every possible way, whether it is through its trails, its amazing food or its fascinating and incredibly diverse cultural expressions.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Sales Team
- Operations Assistant
Mery was born and bred in Cusco, and growing up surrounded by such an incredible culture, who could have blamed her for choosing to study tourism? Ever since childhood, she has been fascinated by not just the culture that surrounds her, but also the nature and adventure that hides behind every corner in the city of the Incas.
Mery is detail-orientated, responsible, and committed to her work. But more than that, she is also passionate, charasmatic, and a pleasure to have around the office. She loves to cook, taking great pride in learning about Peruvian gastronomy, and cares deeply about the environment and improving the way the world will look when her daughter grows up.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant
- Member of the Sales Team
Miguel was born and raised in Cusco, and is a proud Cusqueño. He comes from a family of hospitality workers which has given him a great appreciation for all levels of worker, as well as consumers.
After gaining his degree in accounting he joined the Amazonas Explorer team as an administration assistant- with both the admin and the operations team. He inputs receipts and overlooks all the accounting for both teams.
Something Miguel particularly likes about working with Amazonas Explorer is the commitment to both environment and innovation. From his very first day, Miguel has been an active member of our community causes, from tree planting to cleaning the route between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu.
Job Titles:
- Head Chef and Head of Biking
Miky is the only bike guide in Peru to have qualified under the IMBA scheme. He had to go to the USA to do it.
While he has always loved biking, he actually spent many years as a professional chef before turning his passion for biking into a career. He now designs our menus and trains our cooks as well as looking after and maintaining our fleet of bikes. You may even get him as a guide on your biking trip, where he is known for his professionalism and love of all things bike related.
He has biked all over the United States as well as Peru, has organised the world´s highest Enduro bike race in Patacancha above the Sacred Valley and also set up a charity to maintain bikes for the kids that live in the area where the enduro race passes each year.
Omar came to us by recommendation. In fact, the overseas company that recommended him insisted on him being their guide, if we wanted to work with him. He has proved to be every bit as good as they said. Originally from Arequipa, Omar guided Arequipa and Colca for many years before moving to Cusco.
A graduate of South American Studies, Paul first travelled to Peru in 1988 on a university grant. Work as a tour guide, rafter, safety kayaker and trek leader took him to Austria, Nepal, New Zealand, Zambia, Costa Rica, Panama and just about every country in South America but his love for Peru remained and in 1996, he joined Amazonas Explorer becoming full partner in 1998 and running the whole business since then.
In 2007, Paul decided it was time to put climate change at the forefront of the company's operational policies, signing up to donate 1% of turnover to a tree planting project that has now helped plant over 1 million trees in the high Andes.
In 2017, he made Amazonas Explorer the first B-Corp travel company in Peru, putting People and Planet before profit and also offsetting all carbon emissions into a carbon sink in Manu National park.
In 2020, he decided to plant 2 trees per person per day whilst on holiday with us, making us possibly the first "Carbon Positive" company in Peru, if not the world.
He lives in Cusco with Carol and their three kids, Lara, Oliver, Charlie and Neo, the rescue dog. When not running the office and heading up the sales team, he can be found out on his bike exploring new routes or kayaking deep canyons, guiding celebrities or just "checking in" on our trips to ensure our high standards are maintained.
Raul comes from a family of guides, so you may argue that it is in his blood. He is happiest when found guiding your raft, making waves on the paddleboard, or leading you on our biking trips. He is also a very good singer- so be sure to ask him for a verse if he is in charge of your group!
The ever smiling Ruben is affectionately known by everyone as "Chino". Once a professor of history in the university, Ruben long ago left the classroom to work for Amazonas Explorer, where he excels at educating our guests about all aspects of his country.
Samuel has recently graduated from university, where he studied to be a guide.
He was inspired into Tourism by his dad - one of our Head-porters. His younger brother also does odd jobs, making it a family affair.
He has worked with us for the last few years, starting in the office and moving to guiding more recently. His enthusiasm and big smile will ensure he goes far.
When not exploring the ruins of Machu Picchu, he can be found cycling uphill as part of ‘los madrugeros' the dawn bike club or shredding back down the DH tracks into Cusco.
Job Titles:
- Chief Instructor & Raft Guide
Santiago is our head raft guide and Chief instructor. As such he assisted in all risk assessments and is in charge of ensuring all staff understand and implement our risk and safety management procedures. He grew up on the banks of the Apurimac and after learning his trade on this fantastic river he spent many seasons working on some of the rivers of the world in the USA, New Zealand, Iceland, Chile, Argentina and Brazil amongst others.
He is a member of the Peruvian National Raft Team, holds a International Rafting Federation L3 Instructor and a trained Paramedic. He is an assets to the company and a pleasure to spend time with.
Victor Baca is Julio's "little" brother and like Julio, he was brought up on the shores of the Apurimac river so has whitewater in his blood. Our "go to" safety kayaker for years, you are in safe hands with Victor.
When not looking after rafters from in his kayak, he also rafts a mean cargo boat, cooks dinner, and is by the far the best fisherman of all of us.
Victor Mendivil also hails from Curahuasi and the Apurimac valley and has been guiding our rafting trips all over Peru for many years. His quiet demeanor and total professionalism belies a huge heart and a massive sense of humor. When not running rivers, he runs an event company for weddings and parties so as you can imagine, his logistics on our rafting trips are always spot on. Ask him his nickname if you dare!