I recently returned from an “Amazon Adventure” with “Hooked On Adventures” aboard the Amazon Santana. There was in particular one significant event that I owe David McCarthy and “Naldo”, along with others of the crew, my sincere appreciation and heart felt thanks! You see, I have serious heart disease and had to get my cardiologist’s approval to make the trip to the Amazon. However unbelievable and unexplained, somehow I left all my medicines, including in particular two critical and irreplaceable meds for the heart condition, at the Tropical Hotel in Manaus. Dave and Naldo contacted the hotel and located the medicine box and had it delivered to Barcelos, the launch site for the Santana. A boat was sent back (we had already left port when the absence of the meds was discovered the first night out) to Barcelos to meet the plane from Manaus which had retrieved the critical meds from the hotel and then flown from Manaus to Barcelos and finally retrieved by boat! I owe Dave, Naldo and crew a debt of gratitude for locating and retrieving my heart medications and “saving” my Amazon Adventure from becoming an Amazon Horror! Thank you guys!!!
In addition, even though the fishing conditions were not up to par, I did manage to catch an 18 pound peacock bass on an 8 weight TFO fly rod — for me the fish of a lifetime!! My sincere and heartfelt appreciation to HOA!
~John Flanagan~
