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Amazon Angling
Review of Amazon Barge Camps
Mon, 12/11/2006 - 07:53 — gabemartin
S 00 01.185
W 064 22.106
Field Notes/Lodge review
Clearing customs in Manaus continues to be a work in progress. After an on time departure flight on Lloyd Aero Boliviano from Miami we arrived in Manaus as scheduled. It is my observation that while the flight from MIA-MAO goes on to Bolivia, most of the passengers get off in Manaus. Immigrations in Manaus uses two lines, one for locals, the shorter of the two, and one for everybody else. Because the locals clear immigration faster they arrive with their bags to clear customs first.
What I saw was the local Brazilian’s luggage being searched by hand and this took what seemed like forever. Those of us going fishing were forced to wait while the group of locals, who got there first, slowly went through the gauntlet. By the time the anglers got to customs, we were just waived through. Total time waiting in line, two hours.
Brahma was waiting for us outside the customs door and we were all sorted into groups per destination. After some initial confusion as to what group would be flown out first we were taken over to the charter terminal and loaded on a twin-engine commuter style aircraft for the one and a half hour flight to Barcelos, deep in the Amazon jungle.
We waited for about 30 minutes in Barcelos for the Cessna Caravan anfib (float plane capable of landing on land) to pick us up for the thirty-minute flight to the Preto River. After landing on the river next to the camp we quickly unloaded and five minutes later we were in the camp unpacking.
The camp is in fact a caravan of pontoon boats. Each room, four in all, is in itself an independent vessel, less a power plant. The dinning room is a larger vessel, the kitchen as big again and a seventh tent for the staff. A shallow draft boat with a large Cummins diesel engine is the power plant that pulls the caravan of floats wherever the camp owner decides the fishing to be the best.
Luis Brown runs the organization. It is made up of five mobile barge camps and the vessel, The Angle. Each camp, as well as the Angle holds 8 anglers, the max load of the Cessna Caravan, and each camp is independently owned with the owner always staying in/on the camp/boat. In addition to the owner, each camp has a camp host whole speaks English and is an employee of Luis Brown. It is just about perfect. Luis concerns himself with the logistics of getting people to and from the camps/boat and not the actual camp operation itself. Who best to look after the camp/boat and its staff than the owner? Who best to look after the anglers, than the host who reports directly to Luis?
Because we were in a mobile camp, the camp moved 5 to 15 miles up river every day while we were off fishing. Each night was spent on a new spotless sandbar, free of mosquitoes and long on the dramatic Amazon sunset. The food was more than we expected and no one showed any sign of digestive issues. One recommendation about the food. The box lunch has never been a culinary delight in the Amazon. Non-chocolate snacks make a welcome addition to a 10-hour day on the water. Bring plenty.
The fishing the first day was slow. Part of that was having to acclimate some anglers to bait casting equipment, use of the woodchopper and Zera Spook. As time went by all became proficient and as went up river further and further each day the size and number caught grew to the delights of the first timers as well as the veterans of previous trips to the Amazon.
Each angler caught two to three fish a day that weighed over 15 pounds and many more over 10 pounds in conditions that were less than optimal. Parts of the Amazon had received a lot of unseasonable rain and as a result the water level had risen substantially. Groups we had met on the plane ride down who were going to fixed based lodges and were in for an awakening. Unable to escape the water levels outside the lodge door, they were having to endure water levels they could not escape from. Mobility saved our group.
In all we traveled 60 miles up river during the week and never spent two nights on the same sand bar in a row. The result was better fishing each day and without a doubt our ability to move made all the difference. Without it we would have been screwed, for lack of a better word.
Every trip has a story and getting out of the Amazon back to Manaus will always be remembered. We were scheduled to fly to Manaus on Thursday, overnight at the Hotel Tropical and catch the 12:00 LAB flight back to Manaus on Friday. A very civilized schedule might I add!
Did not quite go off like that. On Thursday, thunderstorms over Barcelos caused the commuter airplane to have to turn back to Manaus and the floatplane to stay in Barcelos. Instead of dinner at El Toro in Manaus, we were stuck in camp for one additional night. Over the satellite telephone we were told that everything was backed up with many more groups like us trying to make the noon LAB flight to Miami on Friday morning.
At 10:00, the time we were required to be at check in for LAB, we were still sitting on the beech in the middle of the Amazon when the float plan arrived. If we miss the LAB flight, the next flight to Miami would be two days later. At 10:05 we lifted off the river and the 30-minute flight out turned into a 60 minutes flight back to Barcelos. Waiting for us in Barcelos was a twin-engine turbine powered aircraft specifically waiting to take us to Manaus.
When we arrived in Barcelos, we jumped out of the floatplane and into the awaiting twin engine. (Remember this aircraft is waiting for us, not the other way around.) Yes it looked like a Chinese fire drill mainly due to the fact that half my party was of Chinese decent. Eight people and bags, change of airplanes, landing to take off, 6 minutes. The LAB scheduled departure time was 12:00 and we landed in Manaus at 12:03. As luck would have it, LAB, an airline not known for running on time, was in fact late, three hours late.
Did they give our seats away? Brahma met us as we sprinted from the airplane to the charter terminal and the Chinese fire drill jumped into the bus. We made it. LAB still had our seats thanks largely in part to River Plate Anglers connections with LAB staff in Manaus. Because of Luis Brown being in Manaus, and not in the jungle, he was able to oversee the whole operation. The weather was not his fault but the responsibility of getting us on that flight was and he did everything in his power to make it happen and he did.
In talking to the people we flew down with, and our groups did far better than just about anybody else. People I have come to know from the many trips down to Manaus were in awe at my checking in at 13:00 for a LAB scheduled 12:00 departure. What could be more ludicrous in South America!
Dave Caywood
February 2005
S 00 01.185
W 064 22.106
Field Notes/Lodge review
Clearing customs in Manaus continues to be a work in progress. After an on time departure flight on Lloyd Aero Boliviano from Miami we arrived in Manaus as scheduled. It is my observation that while the flight from MIA-MAO goes on to Bolivia, most of the passengers get off in Manaus. Immigrations in Manaus uses two lines, one for locals, the shorter of the two, and one for everybody else. Because the locals clear immigration faster they arrive with their bags to clear customs first.
What I saw was the local Brazilian’s luggage being searched by hand and this took what seemed like forever. Those of us going fishing were forced to wait while the group of locals, who got there first, slowly went through the gauntlet. By the time the anglers got to customs, we were just waived through. Total time waiting in line, two hours.
Brahma was waiting for us outside the customs door and we were all sorted into groups per destination. After some initial confusion as to what group would be flown out first we were taken over to the charter terminal and loaded on a twin-engine commuter style aircraft for the one and a half hour flight to Barcelos, deep in the Amazon jungle.
We waited for about 30 minutes in Barcelos for the Cessna Caravan anfib (float plane capable of landing on land) to pick us up for the thirty-minute flight to the Preto River. After landing on the river next to the camp we quickly unloaded and five minutes later we were in the camp unpacking.
The camp is in fact a caravan of pontoon boats. Each room, four in all, is in itself an independent vessel, less a power plant. The dinning room is a larger vessel, the kitchen as big again and a seventh tent for the staff. A shallow draft boat with a large Cummins diesel engine is the power plant that pulls the caravan of floats wherever the camp owner decides the fishing to be the best.
Luis Brown runs the organization. It is made up of five mobile barge camps and the vessel, The Angle. Each camp, as well as the Angle holds 8 anglers, the max load of the Cessna Caravan, and each camp is independently owned with the owner always staying in/on the camp/boat. In addition to the owner, each camp has a camp host whole speaks English and is an employee of Luis Brown. It is just about perfect. Luis concerns himself with the logistics of getting people to and from the camps/boat and not the actual camp operation itself. Who best to look after the camp/boat and its staff than the owner? Who best to look after the anglers, than the host who reports directly to Luis?
Because we were in a mobile camp, the camp moved 5 to 15 miles up river every day while we were off fishing. Each night was spent on a new spotless sandbar, free of mosquitoes and long on the dramatic Amazon sunset. The food was more than we expected and no one showed any sign of digestive issues. One recommendation about the food. The box lunch has never been a culinary delight in the Amazon. Non-chocolate snacks make a welcome addition to a 10-hour day on the water. Bring plenty.
The fishing the first day was slow. Part of that was having to acclimate some anglers to bait casting equipment, use of the woodchopper and Zera Spook. As time went by all became proficient and as went up river further and further each day the size and number caught grew to the delights of the first timers as well as the veterans of previous trips to the Amazon.
Each angler caught two to three fish a day that weighed over 15 pounds and many more over 10 pounds in conditions that were less than optimal. Parts of the Amazon had received a lot of unseasonable rain and as a result the water level had risen substantially. Groups we had met on the plane ride down who were going to fixed based lodges and were in for an awakening. Unable to escape the water levels outside the lodge door, they were having to endure water levels they could not escape from. Mobility saved our group.
In all we traveled 60 miles up river during the week and never spent two nights on the same sand bar in a row. The result was better fishing each day and without a doubt our ability to move made all the difference. Without it we would have been screwed, for lack of a better word.
Every trip has a story and getting out of the Amazon back to Manaus will always be remembered. We were scheduled to fly to Manaus on Thursday, overnight at the Hotel Tropical and catch the 12:00 LAB flight back to Manaus on Friday. A very civilized schedule might I add!
Did not quite go off like that. On Thursday, thunderstorms over Barcelos caused the commuter airplane to have to turn back to Manaus and the floatplane to stay in Barcelos. Instead of dinner at El Toro in Manaus, we were stuck in camp for one additional night. Over the satellite telephone we were told that everything was backed up with many more groups like us trying to make the noon LAB flight to Miami on Friday morning.
At 10:00, the time we were required to be at check in for LAB, we were still sitting on the beech in the middle of the Amazon when the float plan arrived. If we miss the LAB flight, the next flight to Miami would be two days later. At 10:05 we lifted off the river and the 30-minute flight out turned into a 60 minutes flight back to Barcelos. Waiting for us in Barcelos was a twin-engine turbine powered aircraft specifically waiting to take us to Manaus.
When we arrived in Barcelos, we jumped out of the floatplane and into the awaiting twin engine. (Remember this aircraft is waiting for us, not the other way around.) Yes it looked like a Chinese fire drill mainly due to the fact that half my party was of Chinese decent. Eight people and bags, change of airplanes, landing to take off, 6 minutes. The LAB scheduled departure time was 12:00 and we landed in Manaus at 12:03. As luck would have it, LAB, an airline not known for running on time, was in fact late, three hours late.
Did they give our seats away? Brahma met us as we sprinted from the airplane to the charter terminal and the Chinese fire drill jumped into the bus. We made it. LAB still had our seats thanks largely in part to River Plate Anglers connections with LAB staff in Manaus. Because of Luis Brown being in Manaus, and not in the jungle, he was able to oversee the whole operation. The weather was not his fault but the responsibility of getting us on that flight was and he did everything in his power to make it happen and he did.
In talking to the people we flew down with, and our groups did far better than just about anybody else. People I have come to know from the many trips down to Manaus were in awe at my checking in at 13:00 for a LAB scheduled 12:00 departure. What could be more ludicrous in South America!
Dave Caywood
February 2005
