Expeditions

Coming Soon! On this page we will share our various trips over the years to South America. We truly have enjoyed our travels and we hope you will enjoy reading about them.

Trips to South America to Date

2010 Puerto Maldonado – Rio Las Piedras, Rio Pariamanu, Rio Madre de Dios

2018 Mitu, Colombia – Rio Vaupes, Rio Cuduyari, Cano Sangre, Rio Mituseno

2019 Puerto Carreno, Colombia – Rio Bita, Rio Orinoco, Rio Meta, Cano Verde, Cano Nerga, Rio Juriepe

2019 Florencia, Colombia – Rio Magdalena, Rio Guayas, Rio Caqueta, Rio Orteguaza

2021 Iquitos, Peru – Rio Ampiyacu, Rio Amazonas

2022 Lecitia, Colombia, Santa Rosa de Yavari, Peru, Tabatinga, Brazil – Rio Amacayacu, Rio  Atacuari, Rio Amazonas

2023 San Jose Del Gauviare & La Uribe, Colombia

2010 Puerto Maldonado, Peru

Introduction

One can never forget their first trip to South America. You wait all your life for such an event.  The months, weeks, days and hours of anticipation leading up is overwhelming! And once you are there taking everything in, it is life changing. You come to the realization that you are not home anymore. The way of life you know back home is not the same as where you currently are. You feel like you are in another world and yet you are still on planet Earth.

Growing up, we had gone to fish conventions and listened to such aquarium greats as Jeff Cardwell, Paul Loiselle, Hans Evers and Ingo Seidel. From then on, we dreamed of the opportunity to one day travel and go collecting for fish species in South America. We knew if the timing was right and we could afford to go, we would make it a priority.

This trip came to be as we had been researching possible trips to South America. Unsure about taking the plunge, we knew that we wanted to follow in the steps of other aquarium greats. The opportunity to try and see new species of fish was constantly on our mind. We were not disappointed!

Ready, Set, Vamonas!

Where the jungle meets the Rio Pariamanu, a tributary of the Rio Madre de Dios.
Where the jungle meets the Rio Pariamanu, a tributary of the Rio Madre de Dios.

2018 Mitu, Colombia

Carved by the river, boulders like these can be found everywhere in the areas on the upper Rio Vaupes.

2019 Puerto Carreno, Colombia

The Upper Cano Verde is a natural spring. Here the water clarity is pristine making the vast schools of fish easy to watch even from above.

2019 Florencia, Colombia

The Andes Mountains host many endemic species yet to be found and described by science.
Duringlanis altae collected at the type locality, upper Rio Caqueta basin, Colombia, December 2019.

2021 Iquitos, Peru

The mighty Amazon River even during the dry season is nearly a mile wide!

2022 Lecitia, Colombia

Another trip to the Amazon looking for a special fish.

2023 San Jose Del Gauviare & La Uribe, Colombia

Amazing rock formations abound on the road to La Uribe, Colombia.
This Echinodorus sp. was a surprise growing along the edge of a small creek on our way to La Uribe, Colombia.
A nice Hemigrammus sp. found in the same creek as the above Echinodorus sp.