The middle and upper basin of the Algodón River is, without a doubt, one of the least explored and known areas of the Peruvian Amazon on its eastern flank near the border with Colombia. The Algoodon River runs in its longest stretch almost parallel to the Putumayo River, our natural border with Colombia, and empties into it about 7 hours downstream from the town of El Estrecho.
In this entire basin there is a single native community of the Maijuna ethnic group; San Pablo de Totolla. It was precisely there that in 2005 our Fixer arrived for the first time, walking 10 hours through the jungle from El Estrecho to the Cotton River itself and since then we have returned 3 more times. This time the NGO One Planet asked us to organize an expedition to the upper part so that a group of Maijuna natives could visit the Pijuayal area, which was where the Maijunas once lived until the 1950s.
Taking advantage of our good relationships and the excellent friendships gained over the years and the different trips to the Maijunas brothers’ territory and despite having to coordinate the vast majority of logistical aspects from Lima, we were able to organize and plan this expedition, which was a great responsibility for us due to the potential risks of the remoteness and inhospitability of the place.
The expedition was a complete success and we cannot be more than grateful. Thanks to Michael Gilmore from One Planet for the trust in our experience and response capabilities in areas like this, to Guillermo Abadie, the photographer and Drone of the expedition who was also crucial in the remote logistics planning and of course, to all our Maijunas friends who were part of the field support team and to the leaders who were the real protagonists of the trip.
