Dawn on the Amazon

Hola amigos, I am in Iquitos Peru again. I apologize for not posting again on TravelBlog sooner. I have been attempting a lot, and some things had to be set aside. Now I want to write about what we have been working on. Dawn on the Amazon I is getting a face lift. We built in a 100 gallon gas tank in the bow. Made the boat wider to improve stability, and longer to increase capacity. The improvements make Dawn on the Amazon I the number one riverboat in Iquitos Peru of her size. My son Mateo, went with me on two Amazon cruises, one to Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve and another to Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. I will let you know about those Amazon cruises and what all we saw and did in future posts. The ... read more

Let me tell you this story about our Amazon cruise from Iquitos Peru to Leticia Columbia. I was hired for seven days to guide a family from Poland down the Amazon River as far as the border. My clients were having a real adventure that started in the Andes at one of the so called sources of the Amazon River. To finish their adventure they were to flush out into the Atlantic Ocean nearly 4,000 miles from where they started. They called their adventure url=http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2008/02/08/an-amazon-cruise-to-determine-the-longest-river-in-the-world/ The Amazon Challenge and that will be the name of their book. They gave me special instructions. Make sure there is one bottle of good whiskey…per day. I laid in a case of Jack and we were ready. We stopped off at a place I know where a guy keeps a ... read more

Digital art by my son Matt Grimes.... read more

Iquitos, Peru, is surrounded by grand rivers and lush rainforest. This charming city has been my home port for adventure cruises on the magnificent Amazon River for three years. Please allow me to share my love for this frontier town with you. Your first impression is the warm, oxygen rich, moist air. It feels good and is easy to breathe. Your second impression is there are thousands of motorcycles and three wheel rickshaws called moto-kars whizzing around. Be careful. The biggest adventure most travelers experience in Iquitos is racing through the streets perched on the edge of their seat in a moto-kar weaving in and out of traffic. The rules of the road are different from what you are used to, so a bad wreck seems inevitable. Be sure to keep your arms, legs, and baggage ... read more

This data for Iquitos Peru is from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Research Center. Latitude: Minus 3.75 degrees south of the equator. The altitude above sea level is approximately 350 feet. The Coordinated Universal Time of Peru is UTC-5, the same as Florida and New York, Eastern Standard Time. The time difference between the longest day and the shortest day is only 18 minutes. The temperature measured by ° F averaged from 22 years of data per month: (Jan. 82.09) (Feb. 81.86) (Mar. 82.60) (Apr. 82.06) (May 82.42) (June 82.20) (July 82.04) (Aug 83.55) (Sept. 85.78) (Oct. 86.59) (Nov. 84.88) (Dec. 82.87) The average rainfall at the Iquitos Port is 103 inches per year. March and April have slightly more rain on a 10 year average, and July and August have slightly less than average, ... read more

This is an account of my interaction with a character I worked with years ago. I hope to develop more stories about Jose and some of what he taught me as I explored the upper Nanay River over 300 kilometers from Iquitos Peru. Jose “Pescado fresco?” Jose brings his fingers to his mouth in the age-old sign of eating. “Comer?” He keeps his canoe steady with a one-handed swirl of his paddle, easy as breathing. He wants to know if we keep the fish we catch today or throw them back. He does not understand catch and release or the crazy gringo who hired him to guide his boat to good fishing on the Nanay River. To come all this way, to expend this energy for nothing is foolish decadence. “Si,” I say. “Fresco.” Fresh fish ... read more

This series of posts should help answer some of the questions I get asked all the time. What is the exchange rate? How much for a gallon of gas in Iquitos Peru? How much does it cost to outfit a major Amazon expedition? How long does it take to get organized? How do you know how much pure water to stock? How much food? How much does your insurance cost? How much would it cost to build a boat like Dawn on the Amazon? This post is about the price of gas and the exchange rate. On October 18th 2007, the exchange rate for one United States dollar was S/2.98 soles. Eight years ago I would never have predicted the exchange rate would fall below three soles for a dollar. I prefer not to speculate about ... read more