Manager at 23, in the middle of the jungle

For my birthday in 2021 I posted that I accepted money as a present, or a job. A lecturer from my university, Fernando, wrote to me: was I looking for work? I was not, but I said yes, of course. The interview was a drive along the riverside in Posadas in his car, talking about my experience in the United States and whether my English was good enough to hold a conversation. It was, more or less. The job was manager of the Moconá Virgin Lodge. I did not even know it existed.

The lodge

It turned out to be the most complete hotel in the Moconá Falls area, near El Soberbio: the only lodge inside the Yabotí Biosphere Reserve, a few kilometres from the entrance to the Moconá Provincial Park. Because it is far from everything, it works on full board with the activities included: breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a kayak trip along the Yabotí stream, a 600-metre zip line in two 300-metre sections that crosses the Oveja Negra stream and the Horacio falls fifty metres up, abseiling, guided walks through the jungle, and at night the Fogón del Mensú, a campfire with reviro, ticue-í and the region's myths and legends. We ran the abseiling in two versions, a wet one beside the Horacio falls and a dry one on a rock wall to the side.

Manager at 23

I started with twelve people in my charge: housekeeping, maintenance, the guides who ran the activities, the kitchen and reception. I had worked on many hotel front desks, but I had never had a team. And we were coming out of the pandemic, which turned out to be the best luck possible: first provincial tourism opened, and all of Misiones wanted to see the lodge; then national tourism opened, and the whole country wanted to go anywhere. We had weeks at 100%, something that before only happened at weekends.

That demand let us build the service we wanted. We added a second receptionist per shift, a support waiter, a gardener so maintenance could help with the activities, an assistant for the guides, an extra person in housekeeping for weekends and a kitchen assistant on every shift. We also brought reservations in-house, which until then a company in Buenos Aires handled. At the peak I was in charge of 22 people, 23 with me. When demand fell we adjusted, and when I left we were about sixteen.

Eleven days in, four days out

The lodge worked with staff living on site: eleven days inside the jungle and four days off, when you could go home to your town, and then eleven more. It taught me about people management, about stress and about being far away. In 2021-2022 Milly and Selva went back to Park City and I stayed, because I preferred more time as a manager to a few months and then leaving. I stayed almost two years. Then I resigned, and went with them for another winter.

What I would take from this

• If you want a job, say it out loud. Mine arrived through a birthday post.
• Running a team at 23 is learned by doing: schedules, conflicts, days off, and listening first.
• Remote lodges with live-in rotations (like eleven days in, four out) pay you in experience and savings, but plan your days off: they are your life outside.

Keep reading: my second winter in Park City →

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