A little background on the trip and David and John

After having lived in and traveled extensively throughout Latin America over the past 45 years and after two previous month long trips to Peru and Bolivia in 2007 and 2011 together, without our wives, David and John were looking for a really remote area for their next adventure. The Amazon basin easily rose to the top of our list after reading a number of books about the region (“Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon” and “Amazon Frontier” both by John Hemming, “One River” by Wade Davis and "River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Trip down the Amazon" by Buddy Levy). We were further inspired by a movie filmed in the Peruvian Amazon directed by Werner Hertzog. It was important to us the fact that the area remains well off the beaten path ever since Francisco de Orellana made the first trip from the Andes to the mouth of the river in 1541-42. We were motivated also by the concern that the Amazon is in the process of being changed or even destroyed by increased logging, ranching, gold mining, etc.

David and John were classmates at Stanford and have been interested Latin American since stints in the Peace Corps (David in Peru, John in Ecuador) in the 60’s. After the Peace Corps, David lived and worked in Peru and Ecuador until 1978, and is now retired with his wife Susan on San Juan Island, Washington. John lived and worked throughout Latin America most of his career and now lives on their ranch in Alta Gracia, Argentina with his wife Elena. Three of our four daughters were born in Latin America. 

Our trip begins June 6 when we fly into Iquitos, Peru's principal port (population 422,000), in the upper Amazon basin. Our hotel there, the Casa Fitzcarraldo, was named after Werner Hertzog's movie and appears to be decorated as a movie set.

Up Maranon River from Iquitos to the Samiria River, we will spend the first week aboard the Clavero exploring the Pacaya-Samiria Nature Preserve, Peru’s largest. The Clavero, a 28 meters long, steel-hulled Amazon riverboat, was built in Paris in 1878. After service in the Peruvian Navy and later as a cargo ship, the Clavero was rebuilt in 2009 and now includes six air-conditioned cabins. Today, it is used primarily as a research vessel by visiting foreign scientists and ourselves.

From the Pacaya-Samiria, we return to Iquitos and continue downriver on a series of riverboats, canoes and airplanes, until returning home July 3rd from Belem do Para located at the mouth of the Amazon. In addition to Iquitos, our planned stops will be Leticia, Colombia, Tabatinga, Manaus, Santarem, Altar do Chao and Belem do Para, Brazil.  Being the Amazon, there may be unplanned stops also.

You can follow our blog during the trip. We will share our experiences and photos, but none of the negatives such as heat, humidity, biting insects and piranhas, anacondas, and perhaps brushes with malaria, all of which may have motivated our wives to stay behind for the third time. If we are able to score tickets, we may even share with you our impressions of the USA vs. Portugal World Cup soccer match in Manaus on June 22.