Our second foreign trip was in June. It followed in the footsteps of an historic and nearly disastrous journey. Former President Teddy Roosevelt and Brazilian Colonel Cândido Rondon led an expedition in 1914 to explore what was then called the River of Doubt. No one knew whether it was a tributary of the Amazon, or of another major river, or if it ran all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The expedition was full of discoveries, but also unexpected challenges, and Roosevelt nearly died before they managed to reach a camp of rubber-tree tappers who helped them return home.

Even now, much of this area remains undisturbed by logging, mining and development. So visiting here offers a rare experience of the Amazon as it might have been before “exploration”. It’s also a unique area ecologically because the Amazon’s tributaries in this area (the Madeira, Tapajos, Madeirinha, Roosevelt and more) create barriers for birds, plants and animals. The species can be completely different on the opposite banks!

We traveled to Rio Roosevelt with Field Guides, Inc.; our tour was led by Marcelo Barrieros, a great guide and good friend. It turned out there were only five participants, so we got to know each other very well.  These are some highlights of the trip – if you’d like to see more, come visit and we can share our ‘show’ with more photos, videos and sounds.

We flew from Dallas, to Saõ Paulo, and then on to Porto Velho, the capital of the State of Rondonia. Located on the west bank of the Madeira River, it has about 540,000 residents and is the center for commerce and industry in this part of the Amazon basin. Our first night here, we enjoyed a local beer and one of the special Amazon fishes, the Tambaqui, prepared four ways. The second day we took a river cruise on the Madeira.

The next day we headed for Humaita’, in Amazonas State, on the Madeira’s east bank and near Mapinguari National Park. Our days began early and included birding in forest and cerrado habitat (a type of tropical savanna grassland).

We drove back across the Madeira, returning to Rondonia State and heading south to Jaci Parana’. Here we were seeking the very rare Rondonia Bushbird. A local businessman, Casimiro, had purchased land where it’s been seen in hopes of starting an ecotourism business. He took us on a trek to look for the Bushbird.

We spent a short time along the Candeias River at Amazonas Nauticas, a fishing and camping lodge that is trying to attract birders. We birded on the entrance road, trails, lodge grounds and by the river.

Throughout this part of the trip, we saw evidence of deforestation and habitat destruction.

Back to Porto Velho, this time for a charter flight to the Pousada Rio Roosevelt. This is a fishing lodge built at one of the rapids the Roosevelt-Rondon expedition had to portage. We had a much easier time getting there!

We were lucky to stay here a week. Every morning and afternoon, we went out — above or below the rapids by the Pousada, on the east or west banks of the Rio Roosevelt, usually by boat to small trailheads to hike and bird. The gallery below will give you a sense of the experience.

The lodge itself was a really special place. The boardwalk follows the portage route of the Roosevelt-Rondon Expedition of 1914, but on arrival you find compfortable cabins, great food and wonderful surroundings!

This is a famous place for fishing, too, so we tried a little of that. With the help of the camp guides Semi and Sima, we managed to catch some Peacock Bass and Amazonian Catfish. One morning, they made a shore lunch for the whole group.

Canopy towers allow you to view birds at the level of the treetops. Since many Amazonian birds live high in the canopy, they can only be seen well from this height. We climbed up this tower twice for morning and afternoon birding.

Before we knew it, our week was up! The same charter plane arrived to take us back home and bring a new group of birders to the Pousada. Imagine our surprise when we found our friends Dorothy and Brian from Vancouver were in the new group!

So long, Rio Roosevelt! We hope your forest, river and all their creatures will survive and thrive!