I am there for community development but am also taking something away for myself with the whole experience, but said I was very conscious of this. I seem to be welcomed. The most controversial is Rainforest Allegiance who own two lodges along the Tambopata river. It prevents the community from developing their own tourism initiatives for 20 years. They would also provide assistance for community development.
Money is a contentious issue and none seems to actually flow into the community.
Rainforest seems to have exacerbated the community separation and provides an interesting example of development driven by external agents and perhaps more particularly those with business interests. This has really got me thinking about the issues concerning development and anthropology, the creation of dependency and the development of development. But onto lighter fluffier things to finish with. My chocolate ration is still high, the gym is still balancing out the effects, and I have new past-time. As a measure on the pace of life I often win and I can assure you this has nothing to do with extraordinary leg power.