The Amazon basin is home to ~15% of all fish species (both fresh and saltwater!) in the world, and fish enthusiasts are guaranteed to make exciting finds and see species that are rarely or never found in the aquarium hobby. We work with a licensed Peruvian exporter and a licensed US importer to legally bring back fish that are permitted for export from Peru (this excludes some [mostly boring] food fishes, as well as CITES listed species).
Our base for the trip is the comfortable riverboat M/F Esperanza with cabin space for 16 passengers, but we prefer to top out the trip at 8-10 participants. A dedicated “fish room” with an aeration system and bins, shelving, and coolers to hold fish allows participants to easily manage and care for their fish while on board. In general, we make 2 to 4 collecting stops every day, and anywhere we pull up to shore or put down anchor can become a fishing stop - whether by day or night. Sports fishers will want to bring a rod and reel and accessories. There are some excellent eating fish to catch, and the kitchen is always ready to cook them up for you.
This trip will spend time on the Rio Nanay and the Amazon proper and tributaries. This will provide a nice mixture of both blackwater and white water habitats to sample, with a corresponding fish list to match! The Nanay is the only readily accesible habitat of discus fish in Peru, and produces some spectacular red-spotted green discus. Amazon sandbars, in contrast, are the place to find the ever popular Amazon puffer fish.
Participants should plan on arriving in Iquitos on the afternoon/evening of Saturday 13 August, or on one of the first flights on Sunday 14 August (the first flights arrive around 7 AM). We’ll board the Esperanza at the port of Bellavista-Nanay, at the mouth of the Nanay River. The return to Iquitos will be in the early afternoon on Friday, 19 August. We’ll first get the fish to the exporters (you’ll have opportunity to browse all the tanks and make any purchases you might wish to make), and then have a final group dinner on the Iquitos waterfront. On Saturday morning, there will be opportunity to visit other exporters and/or the Belen market. Outgoing flights can be booked for anytime from mid-to-late afternoon or later.
Cost: $1595/person ($1395 for repeat clients). Minors and children are eligible for discounted rates, and first responders, medical personnel, educators and essential workers receive the repeat client rate. Our thanks to you for your hard [and under-appreciated] work in getting us through the pandemic!
If you extend from the previous week’s trip, you’ll automatically receive the repeat-client rate for both trips.