About Us
Andes to Amazon, formerly known as Muddy Boots Peru, is an eco-tourism agency specialized in custom adventures in the andes and amazon regions, with a strong focus on the country of Peru, and offers a unique and authentic experience, immersing the client in the culture and biodiversity that the andes/amazon region has to offer.
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Muddy Boots Peru was started by Josh Allen in 2016 in the city of Lima, Peru. His specialty was poison frog tours. Since then, Josh has expanded to offer other types of eco tours focused on reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates and even orchids. In 2023, Josh and Reed Ebbinghaus decided to team up to form Andes to Amazon. This change emphasizes their combined knowledge and ability to offer more diverse experiences within this culturally and biodiversity rich region of South America.
Meet our Team
Josh Allen
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Since the age of 6, Josh Allen has had a strong passion for nature. For Josh, the stranger the animal, the more fascinating it was to him. He grew up keeping invertebrates, venomous snakes, poison frogs and salamanders as pets, but the more Josh saw these animals in the wild, the more he realized that he didn’t like to see them in cages and he preferred to see them in the wild where they belong, leading him to no longer keep animals. “There is nothing more exciting and emotional than seeing these animals where they belong”, says Josh. This has led Josh to spend most of his life in nature learning about the creatures that most interest him, which happen to be invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, fish and even plants.
​Josh moved to Peru in 2013 and has been sharing his passion for nature with others, offering custom guided tours to remote parts of the country since 2016, leading him to create the company, Muddy Boots Peru (now Andes to Amazon). His work as an eco tour guide in Peru has given him the opportunity to travel to just about the entire country and to see many amazing remote places, find rare species in their natural habitat and even discover new species. This has given Josh the opportunity to work with biologists in their studies and even co author the description of new species. Due to his extensive travel and experience in the country, Josh can offer personalized tours to just about any part of the country to look for just about anything.
Reed Ebbinghaus
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Born and raised in Arizona, Reed grew up exploring remote reaches of the Sonoran Desert, which sparked his interest in biology and adventure travel. Since graduating from Carleton College, he has worked in Costa Rica, the United States, and Peru as a biologist. His extensive experience in Latin America and his time spent as a birding guide in Costa Rica, as well as intensive birding in the Andean versant of Peru, has given him an in-depth understanding of Neotropical avifauna in terms of both visual and vocal identification. His herpetological work has included long-term research in Madre de Dios state, Peru and San José province, Costa Rica. An avid explorer, Reed is also keen on hiking, backpacking, camping, and practically any outdoor activity he can get his hands on. He is passionate for teaching others about the organisms and ecosystems of our unique corner of South America, and also about the fascinating human history and cultures of the region, including indigenous Amazonian languages and Andean archaeological sites. Reed is fluent in Spanish, English, and German and is proficient in Portuguese, French, and Arabic.