Oliver was born in Italy, but he knows the forest like a book. A meeting with one of our guides.
Olivier encountered the Amazon at a red light in Italy. A poster. A book about the great forest. He left everything behind. The day he stepped into his first dugout canoe, he took off his Rolex and threw it into the river. He never looked back.
Today, Olivier lives in the Kosñipata region, at the gates of Manu National Park and the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve. From there, he explores. He descends the rapids of the Pongo de Mainique on a log raft built on the bank, crosses the Fitzcarraldo isthmus, and ascends the Manu River by dugout canoe with his Matsigenka friends. The Kuga Pakori shoot at him from the bank. He gets lost for two weeks in the forest. He makes it out — a few weeks in the hospital don't discourage him. He returns to his forest.
Olivier could tell a thousand stories — rafting down rivers, hunting, fishing, the Madeira River all the way to Manaus. But the first time we met him, he was simply barefoot by a lake. He had asked the caretaker to watch his shoes. The man, apologetic, confessed they had disappeared. Olivier smiled: "I got you good. I don't have any shoes."
Since then, we have worked with him for our Amazon expeditions. He catches caimans by hand. He knows hundreds of bird species — their names in English, Italian, Latin. He is at home. Spending a few days with Olivier on the Madre de Dios River is one of those experiences from which you don't quite return the same.
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