Dawn
on the Amazon
Captains Blog

I receive hundreds of emails. I still try to answer them all personally. Sunday I tried to get caught up. It takes a lot of my time. Last Sunday around midnight I was exhausted from working all day, but decided to check one more email. I’m glad I did. Sometimes the email exchange becomes the foundation of a good friendship. I wonder if this is one of those. I’m blogging them here but without the names, or hotel, (to protect the innocent, if there are any ). I am going to publish one of their web site URL’s to help bring some awareness to their cause.

Here is part of our exchange;

I am a police chief in a small town in the Southern part of the  United States.
I have two friends whom are starting a mission to house some the women and children of iquitos. They have been doing this for several years and I am new to actually having a missionary friend. I have a simple request, but I don’t know how to accomplish it, I would like to send them fresh flowers to their room. I don’t know if it is possible. I would gladly pay, just don’t know how to go about it. If you have any suggestions or would be willing to help I would gladly look you up when I come later this year and buy your supper. If you can help they are at the ****Hotel, Iquitos room ***.

Thank you
****

I replied;

Flowers to **** ,and ****
I am a pretty good photographer also.

Thanks Bill, Semper Phi

I replied,

Good Morning,

We will order the bouquet later today. Don’t worry about joining the Amazon Explorers Club now, or paying for the flowers. I will let you know the cost of flowers. It won’t be much. Wait till you arrive in Iquitos and we can settle up then.

I answered probably 25 or 30 emails Sunday, a dozen asking about my tours and cruises but your email was by far the one that interested me the most. With your permission I think it would make an interesting short blog article. I won’t mention any of your names, just the story. OK?

Semper Phi
Bill

His reply;

Roger that Bill, be glad for you to put it up, you are doing a service for two women trying to make difference, thanks! There mission info can be found at lindapatterson.org I plan to come and help build soon, and may retire there.

Hi ****,

I bought a bouquet of ginger, and heliconias. The price was S/ 35, or $12.50. I will have the receipt when you get here. One of my best guides, Richard, picked it up and delivered it to the **** Hotel, along with a note that I wrote explaining the flowers were from you, and that Bill and Richard delivered them through the Amazon Explorers Club. Your friends were not at the hotel when he delivered them. I didn’t see them but Richard told me the flowers were beautiful. We can only hope when your friends return to the hotel they will receive your bouquet. Let me know if we succeeded.

Best,
Bill

Then,

Thank you Bill, I have a friend here that is a travel agent, I will be having lunch with her next week and I will be discussing the area. For the great effort you have went to which is extremely kind, I plan to explain how we need to start planning trips from here. I hope that I can make this gesture profitable for you. Thanks again and I will be in contact shortly.

Hi ****,

Ohhh, it wasn’t such a great effort. I was happy to help, and if I have a new Amazon Explorers Club member, and we share a meal together, it sounds like the beginning of a new friendship. I couldn’t ask for more.

Semper Phi
Bill

The ladies got the flowers and really made there day! Thanks they may see you for supper one night. Thanks again!

So that is my good deed for the day. I feel fine.

This is an interesting email exchange about missionary work in Iquitos Peru.

Bill Grimes is president of Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises, The Dawn on the Amazon Explorers Club, The Peacock Bass Club, The Amazon Birders Club, manager of the Amazon Golf Course, and just opened the new Dawn on the Amazon Café. When he has time, ha, ha, he blogs.

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The Dawn on the Amazon Café opens at 7:30am, Monday, February 1st, 2010

Ok, this is exciting for us. The Dawn on the Amazon Café opens tomorrow morning, Monday, Feb. 1st, at 7:30am.  After months of planning, and three weeks of practicing and refining our recipes, we are ready to break into the restaurant scene in Iquitos.

This advertisement for The Dawn on the Amazon Café will be in the Feb. edition of the Iquitos Times

We occupy one of the best locations in Iquitos, on the quiet end of the boulevard with a beautiful view of the river. We have one of the best chefs in the upper Amazon to prepare the freshest ingredients for our home cooking. Every thing will be made from scratch. No store bought premixed canned sauces or boxed ingredients, no artificial flavorings or preservatives, no refined sugar or MSG.

Cooking from scratch takes a little longer. This is not fast food. This is delicious food. It is more like Grandma used to cook when the family got together. Simple orders such as soups, salads, pancakes, appetizers, etc. should be ready in 15 minutes, more complicated dishes should be served within 30 minutes or less from the time the order is made.

Today I feel very organized. I hope I still feel very organized this time tomorrow.

The Dawn on the Amazon Café opens at 7:30am, Monday, February 1st, 2010

Bill Grimes feels very organized today. That’s lucky for the Dawn on the Amazon Café

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I’m not feeling so smart.

I’m not feelin’ so smart tonight. I thought it would be a good day but it’s not. I’m feeling some pressure. Maybe I’m trying to do too much to soon? Maybe I’m trying to do too much…?

I’m hungry. I’m sad. Why does it have to be this way?

Bill Grimes doesn’t feel smart tonight.

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The Andy Metcalfe interview with Bill Grimes about the new Dawn on the Amazon Café

I was fortunate to be interviewed by Andy Metcalfe, founder of Holistic Local; Your Guide To Holistic Health, Green Living and Personal Growth. Below is part of the transcript from that interview.

Hi Bill, thanks for taking the time to talk with me today.

Hi Andy, Thanks for giving me this chance to chat about the new Dawn on the Amazon Café

Bill,  you’re well known in Iquitos for running tours and cruises on the
Amazon. What made you decide to open a cafe?

Dawn on the Amazon is popular for serving delicious meals accompanied by a different fresh squeezed tropical juice each meal on our tours and cruises. Our Chef Judy is undoubtedly one of the best cooks in Iquitos and the upper Amazon. We have been testing, tweaking, and refining our recipes for the past 5 years . We received such positive feedback from our guests, that I realized we were developing an important part of our business. We are planning to publish The Dawn on the Amazon Cookbook as well as open The Dawn on the Amazon Café. They are pieces of the same puzzle. When we put all the pieces together, the whole will  make a better business.

Three other reasons for opening the Dawn on the Amazon Café are location, location, location. We are located on the quiet end of the boulevard, with a beautiful view over looking the river, near the restored pre-rubber boom era chapel.

What will Dawn on the Amazon Cafe offer that’s different?

I identified a niche that no one in Iquitos is serving. I love frosty cold tropical fruit smoothies. We have the largest selection of natural ingredients for tropical fruit smoothies in the world right here in Iquitos. Smoothies are our specialty. We serve a dozen different combinations of tropical fruit juices and all natural ingredients. Right now my favorites are the Peanut Butter Conspiracy, and the Orange Pineapple Vanilla Froth but we are still experimenting so I could have different favorites tomorrow, and so could you.

I hear that you’re washing your fruit and vegetables three times in pure water.
Can you explain the reasoning for that.

We’ve been triple washing and rinsing our fruits and vegetables in purified water on our tours, cruises, and day trips for the past 5 years. The triple rinse in pure water has proven to be an effective system for preventing the “Inca’s revenge”; or in other words, travelers diarrhea and upset stomachs.

My promise to your readers, (and mine) is The Dawn on the Amazon Café will use purified water every step of the way from the market to your table, including for coffee, soup, ice, smoothies, and triple rinsed fruits and vegetables so you can be safe and sure with any of the items on our menu.

How did you choose the foods on the menu?

The Dawn on the Amazon Café will only serve what I consider to be the best food of it’s type in Iquitos. We won’t serve ceviche because I believe Arapaima Gigas has the best ceviche. We won’t serve pizza because I don’t think we can do it better than Antica. We can’t serve roast goat and tacu-tacu because Huaralino is the best. I’m confident all of the dishes we do serve are the most delicious of their style in Iquitos or I would not have them on the menu.

What menu items are you most excited about?

Besides the smoothies, I am most excited by the Sweet Iquitos Fire Baked Spicy Chicken Sandwich with Mango Salsa and the gourmet Inchicapi Soup with corn bread. Other fantastic foods are our cheese and veggie stuffed omelets, homemade pancakes, Twice baked stuffed Andean potatoes, and the Chef’s Choice, Steamed Fresh Fish Fillet. For a taste of home comfort food, The Dawn on the Amazon Café serves the best cheeseburger and french fries in town.

It all starts with the smoothies. Please meet us at the Dawn on the Amazon Café and share a smoothie with a friend.

The Andy Metcalfe Interview with Bill Grimes about the new Dawn on the Amazon Café.

Bill Grimes is president of Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises, and is getting The Dawn on the Amazon Café up and running, no later than February 1st.

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More excitement about the new Dawn on the Amazon Café and Menu

You know me. I am a highly focused, type A, leader, Leo personality. As long as all this drive and determination is channeled in a positive direction it is not considered a disorder.  I’m positively focused on opening a new restaurant, and  juice, smoothie bar, that also serves beer and wine called The Dawn on the Amazon Café. That’s about all I think of. It’s most of what I work on. Maybe you will get tired of hearing about it. Maybe you are not interested in my new project to begin with. That’s  why yesterday I bought the domain name for www.dawnontheamazoncafe.com, and am starting a new web site and blog just about the Dawn on the Amazon Café. It will probably take over a week to get that web site up and running. I’ll let you know. In the mean time this is what you get here on the Captain’s blog, more Dawn on the Amazon Café news.

The tours and cruises business is good

First of all, business is good. Dawn on the Amazon I is in Pacaya Samiria National Reserve on a 7 day cruise with three nice young veterinarians. Dawncita is out on a day trip with two guests, complimentary bottle of champagne included, to the Butterfly Farm and the Bora Village, 7 guests are joining them for a half day trip at 1:00. We have several bookings in the next few months, and I am corresponding with several more potential guests. Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises doesn’t need a whole lot to step up to the next level. If I just had this Café opened and full of hungry, thirsty tourists I would be pretty proud of myself and my team. That’s for next week.

About the café, the menu, our preparation, the food, and my team

The awning for our sidewalk café

The awning frame installation was finished last night after dark, one week later than promised. The welders miscalculated a few things, and had to start over. They ended up making a very good installation, and Marmelita talked them down S/ 100 off the final price.

The awning material upholsterer is here now measuring the frame. He says he will finish three days from tomorrow. That would be Friday, January 29th. We will see. I have learned to doubt all estimates of time in Latin America. I’ll try to be patient. The material is an off white with blue trim that matches the building and our chairs. It will be attractive and practical for shade in the morning, rain protection when necessary, and make it obvious to tourists walking the boulevard that there is a café under the awning. I think we will wait until the awning is up before we open, unless that turns into two weeks. The extra few days will give us a chance to develop and improve our system.

Our simple system

Our system includes serving your meal within 30 minutes of when you place your order. This isn’t fast food. It’s home cooking from scratch. It takes longer but is fresher and better and our Chef Judy is a fabulous cook. Simple orders such as smoothies or soup, must be served within 15 minutes. I will be timing everything for the first couple of weeks, and we will make adjustments as we go. We will develop a simple system with my team of highly trained professionals, to make the work stream flow smoothly. I have the vision. I know how it should be. It will take a little time to implement and improve my system. Who am I kidding? Not you. We will always be tweaking our simple system to make it more efficient.

About the menu

Have you seen the menu? Click this link to The Dawn on the Amazon Café Menu. Note that everything on the menu is less than S/ 20 or $7.

Our signature dish, the Chef’s Choice steamed fresh fish fillet, with a salad, and your choice of the best rice ever, a twice baked stuffed Andean potato or a cup of soup, is only S/19.50 or $6.96.

The tropical fruit smoothies are addicting, so most of our combos include a smoothie with a discount. If you try one, you will want to come back for another. The baked chicken sandwich combo with your choice of smoothie is only S/ 18 or $6.43, the second highest price on the menu, but possibly the best return on investment. The fantastic sandwich by itself is only $4.82, and all of the choices of the large 16 oz. refreshing frosty smoothies are only $2.32.

Gourmet Inchicapi soup

Do you know about inchicapi soup? It’s the quintessential soup of Peruvian cuisine. There is no doubt in my mind that we serve the best Inchicapi Soup in Iquitos. Please give it a try and let me know if you agree.

Sacha Inchi Oil

Do you know about Sacha Inchi Oil? You will. The cold pressed Sacha Inchi oil is making big news for containing 45% Omega 3 fatty acid, 36% Omega 6, and 9% Omega 9. It grows here in the Amazon and it tastes great. We use it in our homemade dressing for all of our salads. Learn more from this article I wrote; Sacha Inchi Super Food, The Inca Nut.

I get to have the cake and eat it to

Once a week Marmelita enjoys making 2 or 3 Chocolate Pisco Cakes and a couple of Cinnamon Cream cakes. It’s one of her hobbies that she has turned into a thriving business. They sell out fast so if your lucky enough to get one you’ll be pretty happy. They are made with Peruvian ingredients, like pisco from Ica, and chocolate and cinnamon from the Amazon. We sell them for $1.25 a slice. The Cinnamon Cream cake goes great with our fresh brewed coffee. The Chocolate Pisco cake with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc tops a perfect meal. We pasteurize our own fresh whole milk with the cream floating on top. A cold glass of our milk fresh from the cow will make you want to eat two pieces of cake, at least it does me.

Doomed diet

I’m supposed to be on a diet, but I’m not doing so good. Opening a Café requires a lot of taste testing to get the recipe right. Those smoothies are addicting. I’m warning you now before it’s too late. I tested 4 new mixtures today. My favorite was the Orange, Pineapple Vanilla Froth. I like this new job.

No bush meat

One final thought; I made an ethical decision not to serve “bush meat” at the Dawn on the Amazon Café. My main business is providing tours and cruises to people wanting to see wildlife, not eat wildlife. You have to get two days away from Iquitos to see a large black caiman or a turtle, but you can still eat caiman nuggets in most of the popular tourist restaurants. If you want to eat “bush meat” go to those other places. Better yet, come to The Dawn on the Amazon Café and enjoy a good old fashioned cheese burger and french fries, or vegetarian steamed vegies on quinua and wash it down with a tropical smoothie. You’ll be glad you did.

More excitement about the new Dawn on the Amazon Café and menu.

Bill Grimes is feeling some pressure to make sure everything on the menu at The Dawn on the Amazon Café the best of it’s kind in Iquitos.

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