Bolivian Amazon is not just a destination. It is a living territory, fragile, inhabited by peoples and a biodiversity among the richest in the world. On the occasion of his expedition conducted as part of the New Explorer Challenge, Fred Lizée, a hunter of immersive adventures, shares with us his field experience and his advice for discovering the Amazon responsibly, with humility, awareness and respect for all living things.
At the origins of a hunter of immersive adventures…
Before diving into the heart of Bolivian Amazon, let's discover the journey of the one who guides this exploration. Behind the title of hunter of immersive adventures, Fred embodies another way of thinking about travel: more human, more committed, more connected to territories.
Before talking about your trip to Bolivia, can you introduce yourself in a few words?
"My name is Fred, I have been working in international tourism and adventure travel for 18 years. I lived more than five years in Asia and explored 87 destinations around the world. For the past five years, I have been an independent consultant and work mainly with local receiving agencies in about fifteen countries. In parallel, I co-founded the collective, a pioneer of independents, freelancers in tourism: Away We Go. Since 2023, I also travel with a videographer to create travel documentary films."
What led you to become a "hunter of immersive adventures"?
"Actually, 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 have developed this passion for sourcing local experiences around the world. I also started sharing all these adventures on social networks."
How would you describe your role today: explorer, guide, mediator… or a bit of everything?
"Today, I am above all a passionate person about tourism and travel, about my profession in general. I have always had exploration in me, but what I love most is sharing this passion for travel. So for the past five years, I have also taken on the role of mentor for the new generation of tourism with the New Explorer Challenge. Every year, I accompany students in the field to implement travel projects with positive impact."
What is the New Explorer Challenge?
"The New Explorer Challenge is the international competition for the new generation of explorers and creators of immersive adventure. It is a concept that I created 5 years ago and which aims to challenge dozens of tourism schools and more than 1000 young people in schools and universities.
Every year, the NEC is surrounded by sponsor partners who offer travel scholarships to winning students. This gives me the opportunity to take the teams to explore destinations and test their immersive project in the field."
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 sponsor of the competition, set out to explore one of the wildest and most fragile territories on the planet: Bolivian Amazon.
What did you and the students hope to understand or reveal about Bolivian Amazon before going there?
"The goal through this discovery trip 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 activities to set up community tourism projects."
How does the Amazon resonate particularly with your values?
"The Amazon is wide open spaces, it is a dense forest with exceptional biodiversity. You find yourself alone in the middle of nature, completely disconnected from the rest of the world. Above all, you cross the world's largest forest, the planet's lungs as we say, with gentle mobility, like hiking or canoe."
Bolivian rainforest: a biodiversity that overwhelms and amazes
Entering the Amazonian rainforest is not just about observing exceptional biodiversity. It is to feel, physically and emotionally, the power of a living, unpredictable and deeply enveloping ecosystem.
« It's another world, a completely unpredictable wild universe where you feel small in front of nature. »
❞What struck you most about the biodiversity of Bolivian Amazon?
"I would say above all the nights in bivouac in the middle of the forest with the sounds of animals. That's what struck me most: the sounds of wild animals at night (not to mention the snakes that passed under our tents), it's quite disturbing, but a unique sensation.
And what I also loved was walking on jaguar tracks. Our ranger guide took us into the forest and we saw several fresh jaguar tracks along a river. That meant it had passed through there during the night…"
Was there an animal or plant species that particularly caught your attention? Why?
"I remember a quite unique moment: when we stopped at an observation point to observe what was around us and I spotted a small hummingbird, it was really a quite striking moment.
I realized that when you stop, when you take the time to observe what surrounds you, you can feel different emotions, such as wonder, surprise, or peacefulness and this is particularly possible in immersion in the heart of nature, especially in this Amazon so rich and so fragile."
Can you describe a moment when the forest literally "absorbed" you and when you felt completely connected to this ecosystem?
"I would say a moment when we bathed in the river with Sergio, our guide and local friend; the moment was suspended and he told us about
