Journey to Bolivian Amazon: immersion at the heart of the forest with an adventure seeker
Bolivian Amazon is not merely a destination. It is a living, fragile territory, inhabited by peoples and one of the world's richest biodiversity.
Journey to Bolivian Amazon: immersion at the heart of the forest with an adventure seeker
Bolivian Amazon is not merely a destination. It is a living, fragile territory, inhabited by peoples and one of the world's richest biodiversity. On the occasion of his expedition conducted as part of the New Explorer Challenge, Fred Lizée, adventure seeker, shares his field experience and advice for discovering Amazon responsibly, with humility, awareness and respect for all living things.
At the origins of an adventure seeker…
Before diving into the heart of Bolivian Amazon, let's discover the journey of the one guiding this exploration. Behind the title of adventure seeker, Fred embodies a different way of thinking about travel: more human, more engaged, more connected to territories.
Before talking about your journey to Bolivia, can you introduce yourself in a few words?
"My name is Fred, I've been working in international tourism and adventure travel for 18 years. I've lived over five years in Asia and explored 87 destinations around the world. For the past five years, I've been an independent consultant working primarily with local receptive agencies in about fifteen countries. In parallel, I co-founded the collective, a pioneer of independent freelancers in tourism: Away We Go. Since 2023, I've also been traveling with a videographer to create travel documentary films."
What led you to become an "adventure seeker"?
"In reality, I had a revelation for adventure and immersive travel in 2008, when I traveled through Laos from north to south for two months. Since then I've developed this passion for sourcing local experiences around the world. I also began sharing all these adventures on social media."
How would you describe your role today: explorer, guide, mediator… or a bit of everything?
"Today, I'm above all passionate about tourism and travel, about my profession in general. I've always had exploration in me, but what I love most is transmitting this passion for travel. So for the past five years, I've also taken on the role of mentor for the new generation of tourism with the New Explorer Challenge. Every year, I guide students in the field to implement travel projects with positive impact."
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What is the New Explorer Challenge?
"The New Explorer Challenge is the international competition for the new generation of explorers and immersive adventure creators. It's a concept I created 5 years ago that aims to challenge dozens of tourism schools and over 1000 young people in schools and universities.
Each year, the NEC is surrounded by sponsor partners who offer travel scholarships to winning students. This gives me the opportunity to take teams to explore destinations and test their immersive project in the field."
More info Discover newexplorerchallenge.com ↗
Heading to Bolivian Amazon to meet the jungle and its inhabitants
Through the New Explorer Challenge, Fred and the students of the winning team, accompanied by the tour operator sponsoring the competition, set out to explore one of the most wild and fragile territories on the planet: Bolivian Amazon.
What did you and the students hope to understand or reveal about Bolivian Amazon before heading there?
"The objective through this discovery journey was to meet remote communities, to understand their local and environmental issues. The major problem we encountered on the ground was illegal gold panning, and we met several families who decided to change their activity to start community tourism projects."
