Actually, the only piranha I saw were on the end of a hook or on a plate with rice and beans. But I thought the title would grab your attention. And it obviously did, because you’re reading this, right?

Towards the end of June 2003, I boarded a plane for Peru, and the Amazon River Basin. I had made arrangements to participate in a photo trip offered by Florida-based Margarita Tours. This was actually my second trip to this region, but my photographic take the first time had been so mediocre that I had been waiting years for another chance. This was also my first major photographic endeavor since switching to 100% digital. I must admit I booked with some reservations. I am not a gregarious person by nature and do not thrive in group situations. (I used to say I was a borderline sociopath, but Nancy says she’s not sure about the “borderline” part).

I am also a worrier by nature, but, much to my annoyance, everything I was prepared to worry about had already been taken care of by Margarita Tours. They even arranged the transfers and hotel arrangements in Lima and Iquitos, and I began to feel pampered even before I left home. My only responsibility was to book my flight to Lima, Peru on the designated date. As it happened, I arrived one day early because of 4th of July flight conflicts. I was met in Dallas by David Schlesser, the trip leader. David is a professional photographer and retired Curator of the Dallas Aquarium. In Iquitos, I met Devon Graham, the on-site director of Margarita Tours. Dave and Devon have forgotten more about the natural history of the area than most people ever knew. With their guidance, I used my extra day to tour Iquitos, Belen market and the harbor. Iquitos is the largest inland port city in the world, being quite a few miles from the mouth of the Amazon and a fascinating mix of Spanish colonial and European architectural styles. It is a safe and comfortable city to explore and photograph, with transportation around town being easy and inexpensive. The people are unfailingly friendly, and unlike in many South American countries, the police and/or military presence is subtle and not intrusive.

After gathering the other members of our tour, we left Iquitos by motor launch to our final destination, the Madre Selva biological research station on the Rio Orosa, a tributary of the Amazon. This float took most of the day and was delightfully relaxing—a perfect wind-down for someone just escaping from the tentacles of urban stress and a great introduction to the rhythm of the region. The boat is roomy, with berths below and two heads, fore and aft. It has a self-contained generator, galley, and machine shop and is quite comfortable. Coffee, tea, soft drinks, and beer were provided, as well as meals on-board. We made our way past villages and miles of riverbank rainforest, past other vessels, ranging from tankers to dugout canoes. I think I saw Humphrey Bogart.

Accommodations at Madre Selva are quite comfortable and more than adequate for the purpose. As far as the food is concerned, I am somewhat of a picky eater, and I gained two pounds. ‘Nuff said.

Word had been spread to nearby villages that the crazy gringos were back, so folks carrying frogs, snakes, and bugs of all shapes, sizes and degrees of toxicity began to appear. The going rate was one T-shirt or a pair of D-cells for one reasonable specimen. There was never any shortage of critters. Of course, if all else failed, one could step out on the short trail leading out of the station and within a 10 minute walk , potential photographic subjects of all types would present themselves. I never had time to finish photographing some of the animals that were brought in.

The on-site staff is top-notch and gives 110% effort. Everything was handled smoothly and when unforeseen situations did arise, as they always do, they were managed without skipping a beat.

DIGITAL NOTES:

Advantages of Digital Photo Trip:

No worries about airport x-rays.
No worries about heat damage to film.
Eliminate cost of film and processing.
Eliminate bulk and weight of film.
Instant feedback=fewer bracketing situations=fewer rejects.
Change ISO in midstream to adjust to different lighting situations.
Greater contrast range:
Slides—5 stops
Negatives—7 stops
Digital Capture—3 steps above, 5 below middle tone=8 stops

Disadvantages of Digital Photo Trip:

Guaranteed piece-by-piece inspection by airport security. Each digital camera has its own rechargeable batteries and associated charger. My bag must have looked like a bomb factory. Every sock and bandana was hand-checked.
Need for recharging. If your batteries go, your trip is over. And, of course, NONE of the batteries and chargers are interchangeable.
Fortunately, both the boat and the base camp had generators. The AA cells did not work wonderfully in the D100 battery pack. The error message on the LCD read, “Please Contact Your Nikon Representative’. Not much help in Beaver, Pennsylvania, never mind on a minor tributary of the Amazon.
Need to clean CCD periodically to avoid the “black blotch syndrome”.
Loss of some wide-angle capability because of CCD size. Your 24mm lens is now 36mm. This is offset by increased macro and telephoto magnification. Your 200mm is now a 300mm. You now have the same size image from further away-an advantage when photographing fer-de-lance, coral snakes, or “Bala” ants.
Marketing—both of my stock agencies now (reluctantly) accept digital images, but many editors still require film.
Film still provides higher resolution than most digital capture.
There is a need for back-up, either by laptop or peripheral drive (or both).

In The Bag (which in my case is a Sundog Medium Backpack):

Nikon D1X
3 rechargeable batteries and charger
Nikon D100 with battery pack
4 rechargeable batteries and charger
MC-30 cable releases for each

Lexar WA cards:
Two 1GB 32X
Four 512 MB 40X
Two Lexar 256 MB and one Delkin 640 MB as back-up
Lexar Card Reader

Nikkor 24-120mm VR
MicroNikkor 200mm
Nikkor 80-400mm VR
Polarizing filters for each lens
Split neutral density filter
Canon multi-element close-up lens

Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod
Arca Swiss Monoball

SB-80DX flash
SC-17 short cord
Wimberley Macro Flash Bracket

Quantum Turbo 2X2 high voltage battery
with cords for flash and cameras (all different, of course)
and charger

Nixvue Lite 60GB accessory drive (without LCD)
4 rechargeable batteries and charger

Macintosh PowerBook G4 40 GB laptop
2 rechargeable batteries

In addition, I carry spares of every cord or part, which would jeopardize the success of the shoot if the original part should break or malfunction.

Perhaps you can judge from the images presented here whether or not I felt the trip was a success. Would I do it again digitally? Absolutely. Would I do it again with Margarita Tours? Same answer. The only concerns I had were photographic—all other details were handled without any expenditure of energy by me. And I should also mention that, from an economic standpoint, their tours are bargains. You could pay a lot more and not get as much.

Bottom line—I‘ve already reserved my space for next July. Call, email or write if you want more details or if you’re interested in joining me for a photographic week you will never forget! Check out the Margarita Tours website at http://www.amazon-ecotours.com for full descriptions of all their trips.

Happy Traveling and Shooting!

Michael