Dawn on the Amazon Captain’s Blog

Our Amazon Tour to the Butterfly Farm, Iquitos Peru

I found something for you. I wish you and everyone that comes to Iquitos Peru could spend one day full of fun and future memories at the Amazon Animal Orphanage and Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm. The biggest benefit for you would be to see and feel, and smell a lot of what you came to the Amazon hoping to see, and feel and smell in the first place. Let’s take an Amazon tour to the Butterfly Farm and let me show you what I mean.

You will find the Butterfly Farm in a beautiful barely tamed jungle setting with a riot of flowers, birds, monkeys, and yes of course, butterflies. As you hike the jungle trail, heliconias, ginger, and orchids are blooming, brushing up against you. Six species of Monkeys are climbing in the trees overhead. Two of the tamest monkeys, Junior and Tony want to climb on you.

That is what we discovered when Captain Bill Blaesing arranged an Amazon tour with us a few days ago. The deal was to use Dawn on the Amazon III for a full day trip with 11 of his friends as long as he was allowed to pilot “that beautiful boat”. From Captain Bill to Captain Bill, “Shake on it Bill, it’s a deal.”

Bill and I talked over several of our options and he decided we should also visit the Yagua indigenous village, watch for pink dolphins, and go swimming. He thought chicken would be good for lunch. When our day trip guests take the half priced Dawn on the Amazon I, the day trip comes with a nice picnic lunch, but when our guests charter Dawn on the Amazon III, it comes with a feast worthy of Thanksgiving. We planned a special day.

On the way to the Butterfly Farm a boy from one of the families told me “This day is very important for me.” That is a good attitude to bring on an Amazon tour.

When is a Butterfly Farm more than a Butterfly Farm?

A Butterfly Farm is more than just a butterfly farm when it is also an Amazon animal orphanage, a botanical garden, and an educational center. There are few places you can go to learn more about the rainforest eco-system than to the Amazon Animal Orphanage and Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm.

We learned how each butterfly species has one host plant species that it lays eggs on so that the larva can hatch right on the only food source to sustain its life cycle. The florescent Blue Morpho larva is brown and green to provide camouflage against predators. Some larvae are capable of releasing a foul smell to discourage predators. A few sting with poison. The coloration of the Owl Butterfly with a two large false eyes are useful to either frighten or confuse small birds that might attempt to to prey on it.

The beautiful and huge jaguar Pedro Bello lives in a very large cage with trees and jungle vegetation growing so thick we could not see him until he came to eat some meat. We learned the jaguar has the most powerful bite of any feline, powerful enough to bite through the protective armor of a turtle shell.

We learned that the tapir is related to the rhinoceros, and that petting and feeding a tapir is a nice experience. The tapir eats 80 pounds of fruit and vegetation per day.

We were surprised at how long and sticky the anteaters tongue is, and that its claws are very powerful for prying open rotten logs to eat the ants that live in the logs.

We saw that the Wattled Jacana toes are so long it can walk on floating vegetation.

That is only a small part of all the interesting things we learned. Every time I go to the butterfly farm I see and learn something new.

Captain Bill Blaesing was suitably impressed to leave a nice donation for Gudrun Sperrer, the owner of the Butterfly Farm, to help take care of the animals. Gudrun is one of my best and most interesting friends in Iquitos. She asked if we had room for one more passenger. Gudrun had never ridden on Dawn on the Amazon III and she was going to a friends wedding in Iquitos so we gave her a ride. One more thing we learned on the way is she is quitting her job as an English and German teacher at the university to devote full time to her unique creation of the Butterfly Farm. It is sure to say with her full time attention the quality of the experience will go up even more.

A feast for our guests

Back at the boat, our Peruvian grandmother had cooked up a feast for our guests. We cruised slowly up the Momon River watching the rainforest glide by as we devoured the tender chicken from the oven, complimented by mashed yellow potatoes from the Andes, some of the best brown rice I have ever eaten, cooked with toasted slivers of Brazil nuts, a fresh heart of palm salad with ripe avacodo, and fresh squeezed camu-camu juice. Did you know camu-camu has the highest vitamine C content of any substance on earth? That was the best meal I had eaten since the last one our Peruvian grandmother cooked.

We took target practice with a real blow gun at the Yagua village

At the Yagua village I was so full I barely managed to get off the boat. Our guests were happy to dance with the Yaguas to work off the big meal. Everyone that wanted took target practice with a real blow gun. Bill Blaesing showed us he could survive in the jungle by hitting the target every time. Bill negotiated with our Yagua hosts for a bunch of jungle jewelry, paid too much on purpose, and we were good for the Yagua economy.

We learned the Yagua tribe was living on the Peruvian side of the Putumayo River across from Columbia. They were living a dangerous and difficult life, trapped between the guerilla war activities with cocaine smugglers, gangs of robbers, and the armies from both countries. A non-profit organization helped them escape to their present location on the Momon River. They are nice people, trying to preserve their culture, barely scratching out a living on the fringe of civilization.

We cooled of with a refreshing swim

We chose a good place to tie the boat up and cooled off with a refreshing swim. Dawn III has a metal flap right at the water line where we fasten a ladder to make it easy to climb out of the water. The flap makes a great place to hang out, dangle your feet in the water or dive off. We have two showers to rinse off on the flap after swimming, and fluffy towels to dry with.

Everyone watching pink dolphins

As we cruised back to Iquitos at the end of the day with everyone watching pink dolphins feeding near our boat, one of the boys told me, “This was the best day of my life”

You know what? It was also one of the best days of my life.

Our Amazon Tour to the Butterfly Farm, Iquitos Peru

Bill Grimes, Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises

I hope you will enjoy more photos from our Amazon Tour to the Butterfly Farm at my on-line photo gallery;

An Amazon Tour to the Butterfly Farm, Iquitos Peru

Another article for you to research is Butterfly Farm, Iquitos Peru

Bookmark This Post

Amazon Golf Course, Iquitos Peru, Open under New Management

Golfers, lets play golf at the Amazon Golf Course, Iquitos, Peru. Are you wishing for a great game of golf in the jungle? Now it is possible. We open today.

The Amazon Golf Course in Iquitos, Peru, is the only place in the Peruvian Amazon to play golf. It was designed on 10 hectares, (over 24 acres) near the Iquitos to Nauta highway, 10 minutes from the airport, or 30 minutes by moto-kar from the Plaza de Armas. The Amazon Golf Course’s 9 holes are laid out over 2,500 yards with traditional sand traps, and water hazards and some surprises you will find only in the jungle. The Amazon Golf Course is the only golf course in the world that issues each golfer a machete to carry with their golf clubs.

Over one hundred beautiful Amarillo Palm trees line the fairways, with landscaping in appropriate locations. The driving range is in the shade under a high, typical, palm leaf thatch roof. The volleyball net is set up in a good place. Come on out and play. What are you doing next weekend?

I was at the Amazon Golf Course a few days ago inspecting and photographing the course, and was impressed with the bird watching. The martins, swifts, and swallows are controlling the mosquitoes, and numerous species of flycatchers are hard at work helping control the other insects. Wattled Jacanas made the water hazards their home, walking with their long feet on the water lilies. A pair of Yellow-headed Caracaras landed in the rough in front of me, and didn’t fly until I was within 20 yards. I want to go back in the next few days and concentrate on bird watching. If you plan to bird watch in Iquitos Peru, consider adding the Amazon Golf Course to your birding sites. Bring your binoculars.

If you are in Iquitos Peru, or are planning to visit soon, come on out and play a round of golf at the Amazon Golf Course. Contact Mike Collis, upstairs at Mad Micks Trading Post and Bunkhouse, on Putumayo Street, #163-202 to “pay and play” for only $20, members $10.

The Amazon Golf Course has a new web site and a new blog, Amazon Golf Course Blog that we would like for you to leave constructive comments on. One of the links on the navigation bar at the top of the web site is to the members page, where you will find a list of the investor/members, and the Oversight Committee. The purpose of the Oversight Committee is to;

1. Protect the rights of the investors.
2. To insure the continuing success of the Amazon Golf Course.
3. To promote golf tourism.
4. To encourage the people of Iquitos to take up the sport of golf.

As one of the members of the Oversight Committee I am asking the investors to please share your wisdom, time, and money, to help us accomplish the four goals listed above.

We are preparing to landscape with several hundred more Palm, Ficus, and Pomarosa trees, mixed with Hibiscus, Locura, and other flowering shrubs. Anyone that would like to make a donation toward dramatically improving bird watching, wildlife habitat, and the beauty of the land the Amazon Golf Course is on, please let us know. Your donation will be appreciated.

More than Just a Golf Course, an Adventure Destination

The Amazon Golf Course is your bird watchers paradise and wildlife sanctuary; a peaceful retreat to get away from the hustle and bustle of Iquitos. The Amazon Golf Course creates an adventure story to tell your family and friends, that you were issued a machete to play golf, but thank God, did not have to use it.

As you line up to drive the par 4 #2 green, don’t let the jungle on your left bluff you into the water hazards on your right, and take care not to step on the Red-tailed Boa in the middle of the fairway. Fore!

Amazon Golf Course, Iquitos Peru, Open under New Management

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

Related link; First Lawsuit Defending the Amazon Golf Club, Iquitos Peru

Bookmark This Post

An Amazon Cruise from Iquitos Peru to Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve

If you are traveling to Iquitos Peru and only have three or four days to appreciate nature in the rainforest, I recommend an Amazon cruise to Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve when the water is high, or to Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve when the water is low. Here is the story of our most recent cruise to Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve.

The first five or six hours were spent cruising upstream on the Amazon River. We like to stay close to shore out of the strong current going upstream. That provides an opportunity to observe how the people living along the banks of the Amazon survive.

Nearly everyone has a small grove of bananas and papayas, a little garden of yuca, bushes of hot peppers called aji, natural medicine plants, and other tropical fruit trees. The women cook over charcoal, or a wood fire, and do the laundry in the river nearly every day. The men fish, hunt, make charcoal, and work the gardens. The children laugh, wave, and play. There seems to be time between chores to enjoy a close family life.

The water was high. Our boat bobbed near the top of the river bank so we could look into their homes. Most people do not have doors or windows, many do not have walls.

Alberto is our best wildlife spotter. He pointed out a family of Iguanas, one of them big. They were so camouflaged I have no idea how he spotted them. We could barely see them with binoculars, even when we stopped the boat, backed up, and maneuvered closer with him pointing to them. We watched birds catching fish, birds catching insects, birds eating fruit, and birds eating amphibians. Life and death in the food chain played out in front of us and that was even before we turned up the Tahuayo River. Then things started getting really interesting.

I was happy to be back on the river, and headed for the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve rainforest on Dawn on the Amazon III with our nice guests from Hawaii, and my son Matt. This was Matt’s second Amazon cruise; his first to Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve. Last year he went with us to Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve a couple of days before Christmas. He played Santa’s elf and we delivered Christmas cheer to remote jungle villages. This cruise was a lot different. Of course all cruises are a lot different.

My crew and I like adventuring on the river best. I can be happy pecking on the computer for days, but when I feel the breeze off the river in my face, and the boat handling like a dream under us, seeing where the river and the sky come together, breathing the clean moist air filtered through the rainforest, and the aroma of food cooking in the galley, to me, that is living. We were living.

One of our best series of nature sightings was entering a lake through a narrow channel with monkeys on both sides, parrots all around, and a flock of sand-colored night hawks that numbered well over a hundred swooping up from their day roost right in front of us. Shortly after that we were surrounded by pink dolphins. We had a great sighting of an osprey, which I tried to conjure into a Harpy Eagle, but it remained an osprey.

Why would a sloth swim across the river? To get to the other side! Ha, ja, he, je, hi, ji…No really, why, food, escaping a predator, finding a mate, a random action triggered by a tiny brain? In the middle of the Tahuayo River, there she was, a sloth swimming across. After taking some photos, one of our new friends asked if we could help her across to the other side, so Edson used a pole to put the sloth in our Jon boat, motored across and placed the sloth in a Cercropia tree. All of us humans were happy, I don’t know about the sloth.

We paid our entrance fee, visited two remote villages, donated school supplies, bought lots of handicrafts and hired a local guide. We were good for the economy of the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve community.

Possibly our guests were most happy by the experience provided by our local guide. He led them by canoe through three lakes and the flooded jungle that separated the lakes, to a pristine stand of the giant water lily, Victoria regias.

Our Amazon Cruise to Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve with our new Hawaiian friends was more than we expected. Our guests were wooden boat people who walked the deck barefoot to have a better feel for the wood. It was as if we found each other, but really they found Dawn on the Amazon III on the internet. Few guests have appreciated my boat more. While drawing from their personal artistic experience, they gave several simple suggestions I can hardly wait to follow up, for the love of my Amazon river boat.

An Amazon Cruise from Iquitos Peru to Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve

Bill Grimes, Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve, Welcome to Iquitos Peru, Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises

Articles about Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve for your research;

The Advantages of Bird Watching from Iquitos Peru, with Dawn on the Amazon

Celebrating the New Year with the Monkeys in Tamshyacu Tahuayo Reserve

Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve, Iquitos Peru

In Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve with Friends

Bookmark This Post

Sample Itinerary of an Amazon Cruise to Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

The itinerary begins with assistance from the Iquitos Airport to the hotel or the boat.

Boats can not leave port without the Captain of the Ports inspection and by his authority. We have very little, to no control of our starting time, but usually it is by 8:00 AM

First you will be introduced to the crew, assigned your cabin, and given a complete tour of the boat. Coffee and tea will be ready, and you can place your order for breakfast. Three large meals plus snacks will be served every day while you are on board. Coffee will be brewed every morning by first light. We are Dawn on the Amazon. The food will be better and more of it than you probably expect. You can whet your appetite over a sample menu at this link;

http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/08/29/peruvian-cuisine-with-dawn-on-the-amazon/

Please let us know in advance about your special dietary requirements.

One of the great nature appreciation voyages and destinations is an Amazon Cruise to Pacaya Samiria National Reserve with Dawn on the Amazon. Pacaya Samiria National Reserve is a huge protected wetland larger than some countries and states. There are three entrances that we can access depending on conditions and circumstances. We will choose the entrance that should provide the best experience depending on the water level, and other factors at the time of the cruise.

All of the first day, and most of the second day will be on the Amazon River, and can include an opportunity to visit a water buffalo farm, a rum making operation, or to observe a family of wooden boat builders at work with hand tools, the old fashioned way.

Safety is our primary concern and trumps the itinerary every time. Flexibility is the keyword for an Amazon cruise itinerary. Distances are great, so we will run well after dark as long as conditions are safe.

We will start the next morning at first light around 5:00 AM. In the afternoon we will come to the geographically significant confluence of the Ucayali and the Marañon Rivers, where the Amazon River begins. A complimentary Pisco Sour, the Peruvian national drink, will be served.

When we enter the confluence you will have arrived at Pacaya Samiria National Reserve which is located between the Ucayali and the Marañon rivers. You will cruise along side the reserve until we arrive at one of the main entrances of choice.

If the water is high, and conditions favorable we will probably choose to take you up the Ucayali River to enter the reserve on the Pacaya River on the fourth day. The distance from Iquitos to the Pacaya River is 341 kilometers.

If the water is low we will probably choose to take you up the Marañon River and enter the reserve on the Samiria River on the third day.

Either way we will run as late each night as safety permits, and start each morning at first light until we enter Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

When we enter the reserve it is like entering a different world, even our pace will change. We slow down to 6-8 kilometers per hour, because that is our best bird watching, wildlife, and plant life observation speed. We will stop frequently when we see interesting wild life, or plant life such as blooming orchids or bromeliads. Chances are good we will be surrounded by pink dolphins. You will have the opportunity to swim, fish, take jungle hikes, and make small boat excursions both day and night. We will tie up before dark, preferably near a ripe fruit or nut tree, to lure wildlife to us. If our lure works we will remain tied up the next morning for a leisurely breakfast. In the evening we will hoist a Peruvian champaign toast.

One of the best benefits of Dawn on the Amazon is electrical power is stored in 8 deep cell batteries that weigh 320 pounds apiece. When we tie up for the night we shut the engines off and listen to nature’s sounds, instead of diesel generator sounds. All of the boat’s electrical equipment continues to run, including the refrigeration to keep the beer cold. Sweet. Dawn III is the only boat in the upper Amazon of Peru that provides the benefit of jungle sounds while you charge your camera batteries for the next morning’s photo shoot.

When appropriate we will use our excursion boat, Dawncita, the little Dawn, a 26 ft (8meter) double hulled aluminum boat, with a capacity of 15 passengers. She is powered by a 40 HP 4 stroke Johnson, one of the quietest motors on the Amazon River. We also will tow our open Jon boat with a 15 HP four stroke, and a large canoe.

We will time our departure from the reserve to arrive back in Iquitos late afternoon on the last day of our scheduled Amazon cruise, or in time to catch your flight out of Iquitos to Lima.

Sample Itinerary of an Amazon Cruise to Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

Bill Grimes, President of Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises

Click the link to learn more about Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

Read an interesting post about our Amazon Cruise to Pacaya Samiria National Reserve to study Pink Dolphin communication.

Technorati Tags: Amazon cruise,Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

Bookmark This Post

Hello my friends, I am back in Iquitos Peru. It has been too long since I posted here. No excuse is adequate, but you should know I do my best work when I can concentrate on one or two projects. There have been too many projects. I have been practicing triage. The Captains Blog and personal correspondence suffered. Now I hope to revive the Captains Blog and communicate with my friends by reporting some of what my crew and I have been working on.

We are creating a better Amazon adventure river boat out of Dawn on the Amazon I. Now it is longer and wider and will sleep 6 comfortably and eight if everyone is friendly. Before it slept 4 guests comfortably, 6 if everyone was friendly. When Dawn I was outfitted for an overnight Amazon expedition there was too much weight in the stern causing a drag at the back of the boat and thus a loss of efficiency. We have rebuilt it with a one hundred gallon aluminum fuel tank built into the bow, under the observation/sun deck at the front of the boat. This improvement will distribute the weight much more efficiently, and is a better use of space. The extra width at the stern not only increases stability, but means those of us that are getting larger will have easier access to the private bath room at the back. This new version of Dawn on the Amazon I will be the best, most attractive, and safest Amazon adventure river boat operating out of Iquitos Peru.

I am working on another writing project which I will tell you more about when I have more to show for it, hopefully soon. Combined with the writing will be a new web site about a new subject. You will be the first to know if you subscribe to the Dawn on the Amazon Captains Blog RSS feed by clicking the orange rectangle (like this, ), near the top of the column to the right of this article. It is free. When you click the orange RSS FEED another page will open. At the top of that page you will have choices of which reader to use. I use Google Reader. Click Google, they will prompt you to open an account to use the free reader. It will take 5-10 minutes, and it will be time well spent.

Have you clicked on the About Dawn on the Amazon link right below the orange rectangles in the column to the right? There you will see new information about Dawn on the Amazon, and Bill Grimes. Below the About Dawn on the Amazon, is a link to Contact Bill. Send me an email. Tell me about yourself and what subjects you would like to see more of on the Captains Blog. It won’t cost a penny and you never know what good might come from that simple communication. If you need help setting up an RSS FEED account just ask and I will talk you through it by email.

My son Mateo has been visiting me for the last 6 weeks. This is his second visit to Iquitos Peru. He likes it. We are just getting caught up from back to back cruises to Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve and Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. I am already working on posts about those successful Amazon cruises for the very near future, so please check back here in a day or two. (Or, the RSS FEED will alert you.)

My friends Dave and Wilma Volkmann have been visiting Iquitos Peru for a couple of weeks and it has been a pleasure spending time getting caught up on their lives. Dave is one of the original investors in the Amazon Golf Club. Dave went to the golf course and says it looks much better than when he was here a year ago.

Marmelita and I have been working too much. Yesterday we took the afternoon off and went to La Casa Fitzcarraldo to swim and relax. We are feeling rejuvenated. If you live in, or are visiting Iquitos Peru, La Casa Fitzcarraldo, makes a lovely place to spend a quiet afternoon in a jungle garden setting, swinging in a hammock, reading a book, swimming in the pool, drinking a cold beer, or enjoying interesting conversation with the owner Walter Saxer. Walter was the Executive Producer of the most important movie made in and around Iquitos Peru, Warner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo. Marmelita and I lived at La Casa Fitzcarraldo for several months so I know that story well and will tell it here on the Captains Blog in the near future.

That is just a little of what I have been doing, besides running a business full time. It feels good to be back in Iquitos Peru. Thanks for dropping by.

Bill Grimes, You Could Love Iquitos Peru,  Welcome to Iquitos Peru,  www.dawnontheamazon.com

Technorati Tags: Iquitos Peru

Bookmark This Post