By Pat Ford
We had just left the Amazon Indian village of Kendjam and were on our way to Untamed Angling’s Lodge on the Iriri River. I had just climbed out of a 30’ aluminum river boat powered by a long shaft ‘mud motor’ known locally as a ‘peque peque’ and was standing on a rock formation watching our Kayapo guides maneuver it over a waterfall! We had flown 530 miles from Manaus into the heart of the Amazon to get to Kendjam and now we were in the middle of a 3 hour trip over a winding river of pools, rapids, rocks, waterfalls and jungle shorelines that are the same today as they were 500+ years ago. We were told that, just before we arrived, a black jaguar had been spotted along the river bank and videoed by guide Agu Toso while his anglers were fishing! All I could think of was “How in the world did they ever find this place”.
All of Untamed Angling’s endeavors are unique in their origins and destinations. “Untamed” is the perfect label. Founders Marcos Perez and Rodrigo Salas are constantly searching for remote (to say the least) fishing areas in Indian territories. They have had amazing success with their Tsimane and Piraracu Lodges by negotiating with tribal leaders for permission to bring up to 8 anglers in each week during a short specific season. Each angler would pay a fee to the tribe for the honor of sharing their territory. Angling would be fly fishing only and all catch and release. Most of the Indians had never heard of fly fishing and couldn’t comprehend a reason to ‘catch and release’ anything.
What an amazing adventure! Put Kendjam on your bucket list right now! Check out untamedangling.com and the Kendjam videos on Youtube.
