With all the prep work we put into getting ready for an South American angling adventure, the most over looked area is the task of actually getting there. Here are a few well-tested suggestions to try and minimize one's exposure to the dreaded traveling nightmare.

Travel as a team, not as a group of individuals. Sure take a bottle of aloe Vera. Just do not take 12 bottles. Get with others and try coming up with a list of items you will carry not just for yourself but also for the group. Have other do the same.

Don't put all of your rods in one basket. Rod tubes have a hard time making connections. They are an odd shape and the longer the tube the longer the odds of their making it. Put half of you poles in a buddies tube and half of his in yours. If one of you looses a tube, the two of you still have rods to fish with. Using a 7-foot tube is asking for trouble. More and more routes are being taken over by the RJ's, Regional Jets with an aft luggage compartment not big enough for the 7 footer. Using two-piece rods will help a great deal shortening the risk of loosing the tube

Three piece rods. Love them. Easy to carry on the plane and as such harder to loose. I carry on board three, three piece rods, three reels, and a change of fishing clothes, toiletries and any needed prescription drugs. Never even consider carrying lures on board an aircraft. Always check them below. If the airlines loose your checked luggage, bum what you can from the others. I have never seen anybody short on lures or flies. Just remember to do the same for your fellow travelers.

Connections: Most flights to Central and South America leave out of Miami. Try and get a direct flight to Miami. Doing so will seriously cut down your exposure to missing the Miami flight and loosing luggage to boot. One detail that I learned long ago is to have domestic tickets separate from international tickets. Here's why. When I get to Miami I will claim my luggage instead having it checked through. If the airline looses my rod tube or luggage, I know about it now and as such can fill out the necessary paperwork before I head south. In addition, the amount of compensation you are entitled to is twice as high for a domestic loss than an international loss. Domestic compensation only applies for domestic loss and if the ticket has a foreign destination, you loose. The airlines will only award you the lower international amount. Again two separate tickets.

Most people like to have their bags checked through to the final destination. Yes it's nice, but I do not like my bags sitting for long periods, unlocked is some unmonitored area of the terminal. If you have a tight connection this area of vulnerability decreases but then you are only setting yourself up for the biggest nightmare, missing the flight out of Miami!

Traveling from, say Memphis, I always book the earliest nonstop to Miami. It gets in at about 12:00 noon for a 10:00 pm connection out of Miami. No I do not like 10 hours in an airport, but I do like the option of having a later back up flight if the first one fails to depart. Many of these international flights run sporadically and tie in with a charter aircraft at the destination. Not a flight you want to miss.

Use the ten hours to claim your bags and go to an airport hotel and watch a ball game with the rest of your crowd. No more stress. Say good by to "will I make my connection?"

People ask me all the time" How early should I arrive at the ticket counter for my flight?" If it leaves Saturday night, I tell them to get there Friday morning. All joking aside, you can never lineup in front of the ticket counter to early and he is why.

Never forget that Central/South America begins at the ticket counter. Foreign carriers are notorious for over selling a flight. It starts to feel like a first come first served mentality and in some ways it is. Two hours before departure is not enough. The more the merrier.

If after all the careful planning you get told by the gate agent that you are going to be rerouted 26hours because the flight was over sold here is a bit of advice that has served me well for many years. Stay cool. Do not get mad. Clearly state that you cannot take another flight because you are going fishing with a group and you are meeting up with a chartered flight. This caries some weight and when your on the ropes, every bit helps.

There seems to be this back room that the ticket personnel go into for instructions from higher up. I don't know exactly what goes back there but the person who makes the decision is in that back room. I have had great success talking in a calm mater about the fact that this situation was unacceptable and enjoyed some success. Another tactic. Tell them that you have buddies who are already onboard and you reached him on his cell phone and he says there are plenty of seats. This bluff worked for me once! Words that seem to help are, tourist, connecting charter flight, bought these tickets long ago, and my favorite, In all my times flying with your airline, I have never had this problem before!

Carry a fully charged cell phone. Turn it off when airborne as most cell phones use up lots of battery looking for lost signals. Cell phones are great for getting in touch with each other in the airport, area hotel, or somewhere in route.

In all of my travels I have had very few problem, because I practice a few basic rules. On your way down south on a foreign carrier, try this advice.

No tight connections
Have a back up domestic flight or two
Loose the long rod tube
Plan as if your checked luggage did not make it
Have a cell phone and necessary phone numbers
Travel to Brazil Traveling Angler