At my request MT Amazon Expeditions (formerly Margarita Tours) has laid on a trip up the Nanay to the Pintoyacu river (85 miles up from the mouth of the Nanay) for 31 July to 6 August 2011. The Nanay is the river that has the Peru Red-spotted Green Discus - see this article http://www.aquatic-experts.com/Searching_for_discus_in_Peru_and_Colombia_ARTICLE.html. In addition to Discus the Nanay is also a great source for many cichlids and other catfish (especially some interesting cories.)
The purpose of this thread is to ascertain interest in a organizing a group of us going together to take advantage of direct shipment from Peru to BWI. I asked Julio if he'd help with that and he responded favorably.
I recently found a fare to Lima from Dulles for only $233 on Avianca - the downside was a layover in Bogota, but there was an upside too - it was long enough to visit a Colombian exporter. Not sure that deal can be found again, but, I will continue to look as plans develop.
Cost: If you are interested in the trip it would be safe to plan on at least $500 (RT) to get to Iquitos. Then factor in the MT costs, incidentals in Lima and Iquitos, and the shipping of the fish. So plan on at least $2-2.5K. If we get a good number of folks interested we can probably drive down the MT cost.
Please post your interest here in this thread. As we build a critical mass of interest I'll (if folks are willing) organize things to make it easy for the first timers. Meantime, start a savings plan - if you set aside $250 a month starting now you'll have everything covered!!! Just a few good months of auction sales can help too. And to help I'll buy dinner for everyone one night in Iquitos and if we have time in Lima my treat for ceviche.
Link to MT tours - http://www.amazon-ecotours.com/
Michael
The purpose of this thread is to ascertain interest in a organizing a group of us going together to take advantage of direct shipment from Peru to BWI. I asked Julio if he'd help with that and he responded favorably.
I recently found a fare to Lima from Dulles for only $233 on Avianca - the downside was a layover in Bogota, but there was an upside too - it was long enough to visit a Colombian exporter. Not sure that deal can be found again, but, I will continue to look as plans develop.
Cost: If you are interested in the trip it would be safe to plan on at least $500 (RT) to get to Iquitos. Then factor in the MT costs, incidentals in Lima and Iquitos, and the shipping of the fish. So plan on at least $2-2.5K. If we get a good number of folks interested we can probably drive down the MT cost.
Please post your interest here in this thread. As we build a critical mass of interest I'll (if folks are willing) organize things to make it easy for the first timers. Meantime, start a savings plan - if you set aside $250 a month starting now you'll have everything covered!!! Just a few good months of auction sales can help too. And to help I'll buy dinner for everyone one night in Iquitos and if we have time in Lima my treat for ceviche.
Link to MT tours - http://www.amazon-ecotours.com/
Michael
