 |
(Charlie Mac Gowan & Family)
The 'Head Honcho' in Peru is Charlie Mac Gowan. After 40 years of trekking the jungles of the world, he has now settled down and has been living on the upper Amazon River for several years with his native Shipibo wife, Ade. In the '60s Charlie lived in the Philippines and traveled the jungles of Southeast Asia to supply the monkeys used for polio research and vaccines. He also collected King Cobras in the Philippines for venom research. Charlie had a job once, as Curator of Reptiles at the Oakland Zoo in California, but there was not enough adventure in that position to keep him from finding his way back to the jungle life in the '70s down in Central America. Former bush trader, hunting guide, exotics collector and breeder - he lives and loves the independent life in the primitive tropics. Now he is putting all that experience and knowledge to work helping his wife's tribe develop ecotourism on the Ucayali River. Their goal is to develop sustainable businesses that will fund the tribe's efforts to protect their jungle environment and preserve the Shipibo culture.
Charlie's wife Adie with one of their pets - an Anaconda
Adie, Muca and daughters
Inga & Muca
Charlie's niece and daughter
Charlie's sister-in-law and daughter
Herpetologist Graham
 |
(Brian R. Mommsen - Peruvian Amazon)
Brian is another 'Bush Rat' and the webmaster of this and several other websites. He can handle living in 'civilization' as long as he can get away to some primitive spot on the planet to re-charge his batteries on a regular basis. That is one reason he is involved with ecotourism and his old friend Charlie. Another reason of course - to make his contribution to something very worth while - the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and a people's way of life, the Shipibo Tribe. If you want more background on Brian and his activities - go to this website: BlueAmazon.com.
