Has anyone done tour guiding at an ecolodge or with a conservation ngo or anything like this?
If you hope to get a job as a guide in the Amazon, you need to be fluent in both English and the local language (either Spanish or Portuguese--both would be preferable). "Some" Spanish is not going to make the grade. You need to have some experience and training as a biologist or ecologist. You need to have training in first aid. You need huge reserves of patience and strong leadership skills to handle customers who are stupid, lazy, whiny, self-destructive, etc.--sometimes all at the same time. You need a great tolerance for physical discomfort--guides get to sleep in the lower-standard lodging while clients get the good stuff. You need to know about the area because customers will insist on asking you questions about the education system, or the country's foreign policy. And so on...
Or to sum it up, get an internship in the U.K. where you already have some of the prerequisites for being a guide.
