Day 2 in the jungle is coming to a close and I hope to write a little more than yesterday. After a great night’s sleep in unseasonably cool weather and a decent breakfast, I headed down river to do some piranha fishing off the Rio Napo. We found a quiet little spot in the middle of a grassy area growing to the side of the river. Fishing for piranha is pretty simple - put some cut meat on a hook then dangle it from a strong on a sturdy tree branch. When you feel a nubble, just yank and hope you hooked the little beastie. I must have picked it up pretty good because I managed to snag five including one monster that was easily double the size of the others. After that returned to the ... read more

My first day in the Amazon is coming to an end. As with all trips, it wasn’t without it’s challenges, but for the most part this was a very interesting day. The plane ride was uneventful - cloudy weather made an early morning view of the jungle almost impossible and only a short glimpse of the Amazon was possible just before landing. After arriving in Iquitos a few minutes early, I was approached by a driver for a jungle lodge who asked where I was going. When I told him Hotel Acosta, he said that no one would be there because there were almost no drivers. Apparently, in solidarity with the indigenous people of the north who have been involved in violent protests over the government’s giveaways of tribal lands to those seeking to exploit the ... read more

I’m in the Miami airport following the first leg of my 24-hour journey to the Amazon. The shuttle picked me up a little before 6 am and dropped me off at the DFW terminal nearly three hours before my flight! Fortunately I was able to stop off at the American Airlines Admiral’s Club to kill time and catch up on a few things before catching the flight to Miami. Now I am in Florida awaiting my next flight to Lima in about 3½ hours. It seems like much of the construction here is finally finished. For a long time they were working on many places with ugly white wooden walls with “pardon our construction” signs. What I saw today didn’t look all that special, though. This is definitely not one of my favorite airports. Even though ... read more

About 5 days to go until I head off to South America. My travel plans are starting to come together -- at least for the first half of the trip. I'll leave Wednesday morning and fly to Miami where I have a four hour layover and before catching a flight to Lima. After arriving at 9:45 pm, going through immigration, baggage, and customs should be done in about an hour. From there I'll head over to the LAN airline counter and check-in for my 4:20 am flight to Iquitos and the rainforest. That means about 4-5 hours waiting in the airport -- probably without sleep. Fortunately, they have a great food court, 24-hour internet access, and an excellent restaurant that looks out over the airport from above. I've spent the night in the airport a couple ... read more