A graduate of South American Studies, Paul first travelled to Peru in 1988 and fell in love with this fascinating country. 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 charge of Sales and Marketing, he can suggest any number of great trips and occasionally he gets let out the office to run them. He recently came 4th in his class at the Mega Avalanche  mountain bike downhill race 2 years running and was a member of the “Below and Beyond Machu Picchu Kayak Expedition” that included the first descent of the Rio Concebidayoc near the  rarely visited ruins of Espiritu Pampa. He lives in Cusco with Carol and their three kids, Lara, Oliver and Charlie. Contact Paul – sales@amazonas-explorer.com

Carol first visited Peru in 1989 before joining Rolls Royce as an engineer but frequent biking, kayaking and rafting trips to Peru and South America brought her back to live in Peru in 2000 where she now runs all Amazonas Explorer reservations and helps develop quotes and final information for clients. Her claim to fame was trekking the Lares trek with a certain member of the British Royalty and also in 2009, probably being the first woman to cycle down the San Blas fountain steps. Contact Carol - reservations@amazonas-explorer.com

Maria has spent nearly twenty years working in tourism based here in Cusco, Peru and there is very little that she doesn’t know about how to run a travel agency. As Operations Manager for Amazonas Explorer, she excels in organising the immense logistics of all our trips with an unflappability and contagious smile that makes her an indispensable part of our team. Contact Maria maria@amazonas-explorer.com

Sara spends her time between offices, paying bills, buying train tickets and solving permit problems. She capably sorts out all our first aid kits and may well be the first or last “face” of Amazonas Explorer you meet as she loves those early morning transfers (!)

Edgar has been with Amazonas Explorer for over 30 years now and his logistical skills as Head store manager and an encyclopaedic knowledge of every back road in Peru make him an essential part in the day to day operations here in Cusco. When not fixing equipment, he can be found driving one of our trusty 4x4’s to just about any destination you ask and on arrival, he can set up camp and cook delicious food too! 

I first met Braulio in 1988 as a street kid selling cigarettes in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas. He has since joined the army, worked as a taxi driver and as a chef in a pizza restaurant before joining our team in 2004 as Head Chef. He’s responsible for preparing all meals in and around Cusco and occasionally gets to serve them too. His passion for football makes him an important member of the office team.

A graduate of Cusco’s Tupac Amaru University, Efrain’s knowledge of Peruvian history, culture and fauna together with his fluent English makes him one of our most popular trekking guides and tour conductors.  His latest trip involved exploring the central highlands of Peru to set up a new trip for Christian Aid and he also leads all of our “Traidcraft- Meet the people tours”. His dream is to compete in the London Marathon.  

Zacarias comes from a family of guides who were amongst the first to explore Peru and its potential as a travel destination. His ability to share his love of Peru, his wild sense of humour and deep love of all things Peruvian makes him one our most popular trek leaders and tour conductors. Several of the photos on this website were taken by “Zac” whilst leading trips for Amazonas Explorer.

Wilo started out as a porter but decided to put himself through college where he met up with Efrain and Zacarias and then joined Amazonas Explorer as a trainee trek leader. Several years later, he leads his own treks, tours and has even been seen on a bike. His wicked sense of humour makes him great fun to be around but you might not want to believe everything he says!

“Chino” as he likes to be called once taught Peruvian history at uinversity but decided he preferred the great outdoors and joined Amazonas Explorer where he has excelled himself leading treks and tours throughout Peru. To travel with Ruben is like having your own friendly professor along to show you round.

Nilo’s quiet confident manner with clients has made him a firm favourite to guide many of our cultural tours and treks. His knowledge of Machu Picchu, Cusco and surrounding ruins and his ability to share his love of all things Peruvian, make Nilo a very popular guide.

Alain has been studying tourism for so many years now, we are wondering if he’ll ever finish his course as for much of that time, he’s been delighting our clients, families and travellers with his amazing abilities as safety kayaker, head river guide, bike guide, family trip leader, charity trek leader and  full on expedition leader. There are very few trips Alain hasn’t been on and if he doesn’t tire you out by day, his “Cusco by night” knowledge is truly impressive too.

Efrain has been guiding the rivers of Peru and South America for over two decades and his unflappability on and off the river makes him a plus to have on any river journey. He also cooks a delicious camp meal and makes a mean Pisco Sour for the all important “Happy Hour” when on multi-day raft trips.

 “Pepe Negro” has been guiding Rivers and Bike trips throughout Peru and Central America since early nineties and has been seen in a number of TV shows guiding celebrities such as Bruce Parry in his “Amazon” series in 2008 and the BBC wildlife unit’s “Wild and Dangerous” series in 1999. Fluent in English and German, Pepe loves to guide our Jungle rafting trips and is a skilled ornithologist as well as excellent camp cook and has enough stories up his sleeves to make even the rainiest day a truly memorable journey. 

I first met JC or “El chato” at the tender age of 16 in 1993 when I dragged him out of his brother’s bike shop to become our first bike mechanic. 15 years later, he’s gone to university and graduated in tourism, learnt English and travelled all over Peru with Amazonas Explorer. His infectious smile and competent manner with groups makes him always popular and he is still a legend on a bike, coming second in his category in the 2009 Mega Avalanche downhill race. He looks after all our bikes, cooks  a delicious Spaghetti and can tell you all about the Incas too.

Originally from Cornwall in the UK, Simon has been living in Cusco for over ten years. He is a highly experienced mountain leader and expert Mountain bike guide and leads many charity trips each year as well as running trips for Amazonas Explorer.

Juan Carlos’s little brother works for us as a bike guide and mechanic and is studying English and tourism in his spare time. Amazing on a bike, he recently came first in a local Cusco downhill race despite breaking his collarbone crashing only a few months previously.

Gabriel studied tourism in Lima and did his internship with Amazonas Explorer. Since then, he has led bike trips, coordinated treks and school groups, and swum down most of the rivers chasing his kayak. He is at present helping to develop our “Green Policy” and recently joined us on our latest recce trip to cycle from Titicaca to Cusco.

Richard originally hails from California but has lived on the beach in Brazil and in Cusco for as long as we can all remember. When not taking our gear boat skilfully through the dangerous rapids of the Rio Apurimac, he can be found high above the Andes, flying customers in his tandem Paraglider.

Wilo’s little sister, Marcia joined us as a trainee trek guide a few years ago and now helps out on the Inca trail where possible. Her infectious smile and good nature has encouraged many an exhausted traveller to make it up Dead woman’s pass and as her English improves she will become regular and sure to be favourite amongst Amazonas Explorer groups in the years to come.

Aaron’s fluent English and competent river and mountain skills has led him to become first choice for many of our trips and he has been reported to have been able to talk the hind legs of a llama so there’s never a dull moment when Aaron is around!

There’s hardly a country in the World that Australian John hasn’t travelled in, driven across or lead expeditions to but he now calls Peru his home. His in depth studies of the Incas and never ending fascination with all things Peruvian makes travelling with John like having your very own Peruvian encyclopaedia on board. John has helped “fix” several of our latest TV programs from Bruce Parry’s “Amazon” to the BBC’s Human Planet filming of the ritual battle called Chiaraje. His ability to micro-manage complex projects like this makes him an invaluable member of our team. When not working, John is always off exploring in search of Inca ruins, ancient trails and one day we are hoping he will write a book about it so we can find out where’s he’s been!

Besides the above mentioned, Amazonas Explorer support staff include cooks, porters, drivers, hotel transfer staff, horse wrangler, muleteers, tree planters and other specialist guides etc. In fact enough to provide at least 5 football teams at our annual get together and when added to wives in children, the extended Amazonas Explorer team has well over 200 of us all involved. We like to think of it as one huge family with the common shared aim of making sure your holiday to Peru is as memorable as possible. We love what we do and we hope you’ll enjoy the time you spend with us as much we will enjoy spending it with you.