Dawn on the Amazon Captain’s Blog

Bird Watching Iquitos Peru

Iquitos Peru is the port of departure for the voyage to tropical bird watching paradise. We are positioned in the middle of the best tropical birdwatching on earth, surrounded by 560 species of neo-tropical birds.

You do not have to work hard or be an expert to appreciate the clear, ascending, flute-like whistle of the Giant Tinamou in the evening, or the “bob-white” call of the Common Tinamou during the day.

Wake up to the haunting, mournful call of the Common Poto just before dawn on a full moon night, or to the hysterical, laughing call of the Gray-necked Wood Rail at first light.

If anyone sleeps through all of this you will appreciate the deep, liquid, honking of the Horned Screamers later in the morning.

Please allow me share my enthusiasm and memories of my personal experiences birding the Amazon Rainforest near Iquitos Peru. Some of these may be once in a life time events, but you never know what to expect bird watching with Dawn on the Amazon.

I will never forget the amazement I felt with 10 or 12 Black-collard Hawks repeatedly swooping down catching ornamental fish within 25 yards of our riverboat on the Nanay River near Iquitos.

While birdwatching in Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve our riverboat was escorted by a migratory flock of hundreds of American Swallow-tailed Kites for several miles.

In a remote rainforest village, I held a baby Harpy Eagle in my hands.

On a night excursion my guide Alberto caught a Pauraque with his hands. After everyone had an opportunity to observe it up close, we released it.

Late one afternoon cruising up the Ucayali River, thousands of Parakeets flew out of Pacaya Samiria National Reserve and crossed the river over our riverboat as we relaxed on the observation deck.

Early one evening in Pacaya Samiria National Reserve one of my guests had a flirtatious conversation with a Tinamou. He called it right up to where our boat was tied. His wife was jealous.

I had never seen a Rufescent Tiger-Heron until we built the larger Dawn on the Amazon III. I am sure we passed many Tiger-Herons up close. Their best defense is to blend in with the thick aquatic vegetation, and let boats go past them, even a few feet away. Looking down from the top observation deck is the best way to spot them

We know that Jacana chicks hatch around April 22th to April 24th in this area, because we saw several tiny chicks scurrying along on top of the floating vegetation on the Yana Yacu River on April 28th. There were 3 or 4 to each clutch. The chicks followed the male, not the female. To observe Jacana courtship watch from the middle of March to late March. The female Jacana, mates with several different males, all competing for her attention.

Early one morning we woke up to the maniacal laughing call of a group of Gray-necked Wood-Rails within a few meters of our riverboat. Nothing sounds more like the jungle than a chorus of Gray-necked Wood-Rails.

I will never have a better sighting of a Capped Heron than the one I saw while bird watching in Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve. The bird was catching a fish from a log sticking out into the Blanco River in the late afternoon. As it flew up and toward us with the setting sun over my shoulder, the blue face and bill was pointed toward our group of bird watchers, and flying slowly past us every creamy feather of its plumage was displayed perfectly. The graceful bird in the golden light is a treasured memory of a wonderful rainforest birding expedition.

Blue-gray tanagers come to my balcony and kitchen to eat the ripe bananas nearly everyday.

We just returned from a great bird watching expedition through Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve. We watched and photographed four Many-banded Aracari, in a leafless tree. Then we spotted three toucanets up close, and then a toucan, all in less than an hour.

Why should you choose Dawn on the Amazon?

We bird watch leisurely. Unless you specifically say, “Bill, I want to go on a strenuous jungle hike,” we won’t. We take short easy hikes to varied habitat, but never long strenuous hikes.

I have learned my lesson. Take half a dozen noisy gringos on a jungle hike and most of the birds and animals will take cover or leave the area. You will see lots more birds my way.

We cruise along close to the shore going slow and easy until we spot a ripe fruit tree, a swarm of insects, or some other food source, and we tie the boat near that food source, in the shade if possible, and we get comfortable and wait for the birds to come to us. If we see some interesting species or flocks of species we maneuver the boat as close as possible for good viewing.

Our boats have bird watching built into the design with three separate areas appropriate for birding depending on the weather conditions. The figurehead is an eagle with a large fish in its talons, carved from blood wood. Other wood carvings in purple heart wood are of two macaws, a kingfisher catching a fish, an egret with a fish in its beak, two woodpeckers, a poto, and a couple of owls for good luck.

The library of Dawn on the Amazon III has four of the best books about neo-tropical birds, as well as books on mammals, reptiles and amphibians, fish, natural rainforest medicines, bromeliads, orchids and rainforest ecology.

Photography is one of my hobbies. Part of mine and my guide’s job is to take good photos of you during your birding expedition and to share those photos with you.

We make night excursions.

This is not a rice and bean and egg riverboat. Our food is gourmet and lots of it, washed down with fresh squeezed tropical juices. We serve cold beer and cool wine.

Birdwatching Iquitos Peru

If you have joined the many birding enthusiasts who have taken a bird watching vacation, or bird watching tour to Costa Rica, Panama, Vancouver Island, Canada, Malaysia, or Thailand, then your next birdwatching holiday should be Iquitos Peru.

My guides and I love birdwatching, and we make a good team. You do not have to be an expert to enjoy bird watching Iquitos Peru, with Dawn on the Amazon. Please visit my on-line photo gallery of over 70 photos of The Birds and Bees of the Amazon Rainforest, that I took while birding from the Dawn on the Amazon riverboats. I hope you enjoy the photos and feel inspired to join us for your own Amazon adventure, birdwatching Iquitos Peru.

Bird Watching Iquitos Peru

Bill Grimes, Welcome to Iquitos Peru, Bird Watching Iquitos Peru
Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises

Bookmark This Post

In the evening, my crew tied our Amazon riverboat to a tree at the confluence of the Napo and Amazon Rivers. Sitting on the observation deck with dozens of Pink River Dolphins surfacing around us, we looked into the distance across the mouth of the Napo River. The rivers are huge at this confluence. Dawn on the Amazon is moored at the place where Francisco de Orellana and his men first looked at the river they later named the Amazon. What must they have thought when they sailed around that last bend and this giant river came into sight?

A Three-toed Sloth had the bad luck to be in the top of the tree we were tied to. We caught a few catfish while sitting on the observation deck drinking cold beer, and laughing at the predicament of the sloth trapped above. A big thunderstorm swept across the rivers towards us. I felt the power. Looking out across the confluence of the two massive rivers, I saw something I did not like. Both rivers looked equally flooded. The water level of the Napo should have been lower. Fishing was going to be difficult.

The big rain came. Three of the women put on bathing suits and played on the observation deck in the tropical downpour. I went to my cabin to read my book, Musashi, a classic Japanese samurai adventure story. Listening to the women laughing and squealing, and shouting “freedom” and asking blessing from nature in the rain, it was difficult to concentrate on my book. I amused myself thinking that the sloth had never before experienced a night like this.

The next morning the sloth was gone, and so were we, up the swollen Napo River, backtracking Orellana against the flood waters. This was supposed to be a fishing trip. I tried hard to find fish. We went on 6 rivers and 7 lakes in seven days, all flooded. Fortunately we were with friends from my home town on their second cruise with us. They are experienced fishermen, and they knew the fish were feeding in the flooded jungle where we would never get at them. It was a good time to be a fish.

We discovered trouble 250 kilometers from Iquitos, way up the Mazan River at a village and lake called Gamitana. Near the opening to Gamitana Cocha, there are two thatched roof native houses on stilts above the flood waters. I sent two of my crew to the houses in our Jon boat to ask about fishing. As they approached the houses a flock of Yellow-rumped Caciques raised a ruckus, and a man came to the porch with a towel wrapped around his head and neck. Edson and Alberto talked with him for a short time and then hurried back to our Amazon riverboat with the story from the man wrapped in the towel; “Fishing is good when the water is low, bad when the water is high. We are sick. Do you have any medicine?”

All we had were aspirin and Advil. Edson and Alberto took several pills back to the sick man. A few minutes later a woman in a dugout canoe paddled over to our boat, begging for help. The village was out of sight at the end of the lake. She said that all of the men and boys were very sick, coughing up blood. The women were not as affected and were carrying on with all of the work. No one had died but many men and children were weak. The woman told how she had paddled her sick parents by canoe, many kilometers to a poorly supplied health center in Mazan. They were tested for malaria. The results were negative. She paddled her canoe and parents all the way home back upstream still not knowing what was wrong. We told the woman we were returning to Iquitos and would try to get help for them.

Back in Iquitos, the Department of Health responded to our request to help the village of Gamitana. They contacted the health center in Mazan and authorized them to send a doctor to the village. Apparently testing for malaria is a first response and the whole village was tested. A few did have malaria but the large majority did not. Medical detective work revealed the trouble was a non-contagious rare plague like disease called Leptospirosis. The villagers contacted leptospirosis from ingesting rodent droppings in the food or water. The recommended solution was a village wide clean up of each house, burying the accumulated trash and garbage, and controlling the rat population. The villagers are slowly recovering their health.

Every Amazon rain forest expedition is different. I will always remember this one, when we played a small role that saved a village from the plague.

Follow this link to see photos of the trip, Six Rivers With Three Friends.

Bookmark This Post

The Newest Lonely Planet Travel Guide for Peru says,

Dawn on the Amazon offers “the best deal for independent travelers.”

“Dawn on the Amazon Tours & Cruises; This small but cozy outfit offers the best deal for independent travelers. It sports two modernly equipped wooden craft for either day trips or longer river cruises up to two weeks, and you can travel with host Bill Grimes and his experienced crew along the Amazon, or along its quieter tributaries. Dawn on the Amazon has exclusive permission to go twice as far into Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve as any other tour company. The larger Amazon III uniquely features deep-cell solar batteries to quietly run the few fan cooled cabins and electrical equipment, and offers an observation deck, kitchen, dining area, toilets, showers and a swimming and fishing platform at the stern. Trips can be customized to individual group desires and cost US$289 per day including a bilingual guide, all meals and transfers. A small launch is carried for side trips. Drinks are extra. The smaller yet still commodious Amazon I is best for groups of up to eight persons and costs US$144.50 per day for the full works, or US$59 per day for day trips including a light lunch.”

www.dawnontheamazon.com www.flickr.com/photos/dawnontheamazon/

Lonely Planet Travel Guide for Peru, © Feb. 2007;
Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises; dawnontheamazon@yahoo.com

Bookmark This Post

We Have Added a New Amazon River Boat, The Dawncita

We always want to make our cruises look easy but things happen. This next expedition is complicated by flood waters, and my having had the flu and staying in bed for three out of the four days before we cast off.

On the morning of the fourth day the door bell rang. Marina yelled up to the crow’s nest, “It’s Mr. Jimmy.” I crawled out of bed feeling weak.

My friend and fellow jungle guide, Jimmy Two Bears, came up the stairs two at a time. His knees and ankles don’t hurt, and he does not have the flu. “I came by yesterday. Your girls said you were sick. You alright?”

“Yeah I’m alright. Let’s sit out here on the balcony and watch the river rise.”

“You don’t look alright. Hear you have a fishing trip. You able to go?”

“Of course I’m able to go, I have to.”

“Water’s up! Fishing’ll be hard. Won’t be good!” Jimmy knows fishing.

“That’s why I decided yesterday we’re going up the Napo River.”

“What’s the water like there?”

“Don’t know, can’t be worse than here.”

“Could be…” Jimmy stared off across the river looking like he remembered when it was worse.

I laughed for the first time in three days. We sat quiet for a while, watching and listening to the Blue-gray tanagers singing and flitting around in the palm trees. Beyond the palms, two fishermen worked their net from a dugout canoe.

After a while Jimmy got to the point, “Bill, remember a couple of years ago you told me if I ever want to sell my boat you would like first shot.”

“You want to sell the Bushmaster?” Jimmy knows boats like he knows fishing. He customized the Bushmaster with long fuel tanks that run most of the length of the twenty five foot boat on both sides, for balance, and ballast, and made comfortable padded seats. It is a reinforced, double-hulled, aluminum river boat, fixed up nice. “Is it registered? Paper work in order? How much you want?”

“Sure. Make me an offer.”

“You got receipts? How about half of what you have in it?”

“That sounds fair.”

My two motoristas went to check over the boat and make sure it was still in good shape. They gave it the thumbs up, “Buen bote.” Then I sent them to the company that manufactured it to get a bid for how much a new boat customized just like it would cost to build. The price for a new boat was substantially more than the half price for Jimmy’s and I determined it was a good price.

I proudly told Marmelita that Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises had another Amazon riverboat. I made her and my crew laugh by naming the boat Dawncita. She asked, “Are you crazy, don’t we have enough boats?” I rationalized the purchase to her, and to me, that Pacaya Samiria National Reserve has a new maximum limit of 40hp motors that can enter the reserve.

The Dawncita will be perfect for that, powered with a quiet 40 hp 4 stroke. We will tow it behind Dawn on the Amazon III, and use her for groups to make excursions into the reserve. Dawn III will be like a floating lodge tied up to shore as far into the reserve as the rangers will allow. We will have very nice accommodations for fishing, bird watching, dolphin spotting, and cruising.

No time to celebrate, or for buyer’s remorse to set in. Our guests arrive on the early flight the next morning. We have a lot of preparation left to do. I feel a lot better. We want this to look easy.

We Have Added a New Amazon River Boat, The Dawncita

Bill Grimes, Dawn on the Amazon Riverboats, Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises

Bookmark This Post