Amazon Golf Course Blog – An Amazon Golf Adventure in Iquitos Peru

A Photologue Of The Amazon Golf Course

by Captain Bill

By Mike C0llis

The Entrance To The Amazon Golf Course

The drive way to the Amazon Golf Course clubhouse

The putting green in front of the clubhouse

View from the clubhouse balcony, 9th fairway in front, driving range to the left

Another view from the clubhouse balcony, the first tee, with first hole, (par 3, 120 yards)

One of the bathrooms in the clubhouse

The Amazon Golf Course Clubhouse from the ninth green

Amazon Golf Course driving range shelter

The clubhouse from the driving range, this tree was just a sapling three years ago, now look

The Amazon Golf Course clubhouse, a good place to hang out.

A water trap on the second fairway, swarming with piranahs.

The second green, elevated for drainage purposes.

Amazon Golf Course water traps

Martin Greens bridge over a creek at the Amazon Golf Course

Green number 6, surrounded by piranah infested waters.

Amazon Golf Course Green number 4, an island surrounded by piranah infested waters.

The eighth green with the club house in the distance

Ninth fairway with another piranah infested water trap

A Photologue Of The Amazon Golf Course by Mike Collis

Mike Collis is the founder of the Amazon Golf Course. He is also the editor of The Iquitos Times, among many other projects promoting Iquitos Peru.

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A Relaxing Sunday At The Augusta Of The Amazon

by Captain Bill

Marmelita harvesting seed pods from one of the flower gardens at the Amazon Golf Course to replant later

Marmelita and I took last Sunday off and went to relax at the Amazon Golf Course, which my friend Martin ironically calls the Augusta in the Amazon, a nick name so clever I hope it sticks. It will if I have anything to say about it, which I do, Augusta in the Amazon, Augusta in the Amazon, Augusta in the Amazon, think Augusta in the Amazon.

Sunday is our day off so we lolled around home most of the morning and decided to have lunch at Arapaima Gigas, one of our favorite restaurants, a couple of hundred meters past the Amazon Golf Course. We flagged down a motocarro near our home on the first block of Nauta, negotiated the fare down to S/12 soles and off we went, holding hands, with the wind blowing through our hair, happy to be together. We rode past the Amazon Golf Course, past the lake, and up the lane to Arapaima Gigas where we sat in our usual chairs with our usual view and ordered our usual food.

At the Arapaima Gigas Restaurant, we sat at our usual chairs, with our usual view.

Arapaima Gigas catches a paiche (Arapaima gigas) every Saturday or Sunday from which they make my favorite Cebiche. Marmelita usually gets a gamitana or a sabalo, freshly netted from the lake, cooked over the coals.

I think the ceviche at the Arapaima Gigas Restaurant is the best in Iquitos.

After our delicious lunch we strolled down the lane back past their lake and walked on the sandy road until the attractive grounds of the Amazon Golf Course came into view. I remembered the shrubby over grown jungle cow pasture we started with a few years ago, and felt a rush of pride about the continuing transformation we have been part of. I wish all of you living in Lima, the rest of Peru, and other countries, that haven’t seen the Amazon Golf Course in the last few years, or ever, could be here with us. I know you would be amazed by the miracle we have been blessed with, the Augusta in the Amazon.

Full bloom near the fifth green on the Amazon Golf Course

This is a big project. The grass grows fast. The jungle encroaches. A neighbor is contrary. We have proven conclusively that a hard working team can not quite maintain a 24 acre golf course to Augusta standards with two weed eaters, a couple of machetes, and a push mower, but we do our best, and we do pretty good.

The view looking west from the 5th green at the Amazon Golf Course

We love our trees and bushes. I would like for you to go back in time to May 13, 2009 by clicking on this link; Working on Changing the Amazon Golf Course to your Great Amazon Golf Course; That is the article where I first published our intentions to plant 2,000 trees and blooming bushes. The next photo is the day we started our tree planting campaign. Margarita and Marmelita are planting small saplings.

Margarita and Marmelita planting the first of 2,000 new, young, trees and bushes on the Amazon Golf Course, before it became the Augusta in the Amazon

The next photo is of Marmelita standing next to one of those same trees she planted 22 months before.

Marmelita, next to a tree she planted less than 2 years ago on the Amazon Golf Course

Wait until you see these next photos of trees that were planted about the same time.

Marmelita with a tree planted less than 2 years ago on the Amazon Golf Course

And the incredible growth of the tree in the next photo…

Marmelita next to a fast growing tree we planted less than 2 years ago on the Amazon Golf Course

I know Marmelita isn’t the tallest measuring stick in the jungle, but she’s my favorite one. The point is that we are proud of what we have accomplished by not only planting 2,000 trees and blooming bushes, but mulching all of them with half a dozen applications of compost and lime, applying plenty of tender loving care, and watching them grow. As we said we would do. Listen up,…I always try my best to do what I say I will do. That’s a promise.

Bill Grimes waking up from a Sunday siesta at the Amazon Golf Course Clubhouse

For instance, I said I would take a siesta…and I did.

A mixed planting of crotons and palms in the rough

Thanks to those of you that donated money to help finance the 2,000 trees and blooming bushes project. Mike Collis takes a plant with him every time he goes to the golf course. If you were sitting on the fence watching to make sure it was really happening, and now that it has happened you are wishing you had done something to help, it’s not to late. There is still room for many more trees and bushes.

Palms and crotons with the Amazon Golf Course Clubhouse in the background

We are starting a program to plant a tree in your name as the best type of carbon sink to help save the planet. We will plant your tree, take a photo of the planting, post photos of your tree here on the Amazon Golf Course Blog, in your name, as it grows. It will be your tree. You will do something to help mitigate the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere. You will personally do something to help save the planet. We all thank you!

Trees growing along the west border of the Amazon Golf Course

Don’t forget, Mike Collis takes a tree or bush to the Amazon Golf Course every time he goes. He goes there frequently. You could do that to.

Oil palms growing in the rough at the Amazon Golf Course

This is another opportunity for you to help us. You won’t believe how much your tree can grow in the next two years.

The 5th green at the Amazon Golf Course

The 9th green on the way to the clubhouse

Naturally, it’s a golf course, a well landscaped golf course, a beautiful golf course, Augusta in the Amazon.

Leaving the Augusta in the Amazon Golf Course. See you next Sunday

Look how tall the heliconias are compared to my favorite measuring stick. Heliconias respond to compost and tender loving care as well.

Bill Grimes enjoying one of the flower beds at the entrance of the Augusta in the Amazon, The Amazon Golf Course

Marmelita and I will see you next Sunday with another story and photos of our day. We plan to measure and show off some of the crotons. See you then.

A Relaxing Sunday At The Augusta in the Amazon

Bill Grimes is the manager of the Amazon Golf Course, and a big fan. Please join in to help make it better. Plant a tree.

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Augusta In The Amazon

by Captain Bill

A guest post by Martin Green

Martin and John at the Amazon Golf Course, Augusta in the Amazon, machete in hand

Not much sleep last night as the anticipation of playing the Augusta in the Amazon is more than I can bear. Looking down the number one fairway of the most beautiful golf course in the Amazon, I realize how long it has been since I touched a golf club. My caddie is beside me and suggesting an 8 iron for the beginning par 3.

It’s a little hard to see exactly where the flag is because it is only three feet tall and no GPS here. In fact there are no carts, no cart paths and my caddie is carrying a machete. Not so much for protection, although many have run across a boa constrictor or an anaconda on the course, more to mow down the rough if you happen to land there. Which is a distinct possibility since the whole course is rough. After all this is the best course in the Amazon primarily because it is the “only course in the Amazon”.

Mowing the greens with a weed eater at the Augusta of the Amazon, the Amazon Golf Course

We got out early and caught up with the greens crew mowing number 3 mowing the green with a weed eater. Well we got a half mowed green, what more do you want, just stay on the short side. They have two weed eaters and a couple of machetes to keep the course groomed immaculately; well almost immaculately.

Unique rules for this course, if you lose your ball in the fairway you get a free drop. It’s an automatic two putt if you put it close, no need to run the score up and it is difficult to pull the flag from the water bottle that has been buried to hold it in place.

Martin, John, Lucky, and caddie, golfing the Augusta in the Amazon, the Amazon Golf Course

Good thing we have a caddie because the fairways can be deep, a foot in some places. Lucky the dog joined us and found a couple of balls, the only problem was that he wouldn’t give them back. We called him Lucky because in many South American countries they eat the dogs but they won’t eat a black dog; therefore a black dog is generally known as “lucky”.

As we walked across Hogan’s Bridge you had to watch your step or you might fall through. Not a place where you want to fall in a water hazard or for that matter even reach your hand in to find a ball, full of piranhas and alligators. One, not so smart, golfer tried it and lost the tip of his finger.

John chipping to the green at the Augusta of the Amazon, the Amazon Golf Course

Twenty five dollars for nine holes or for that matter as many holes as you care to play. The greens fee includes club rental, if that is what you want to call them, 12 balls and some broken tees. I can tell you after nine holes you feel like you have gone twenty seven. It has been over a month since I have played golf and Augusta in the Amazon was a unique experience, challenging and thoroughly entertaining. Eat your heart out Sedgefield, thank you John for joining me.

Finishing beautiful No 9 before going into the clubhouse for a cold one.

Augusta In The Amazon

A guest post by Martin Green, publisher of Globetrotting In Style

If you enjoyed this article about the Amazon Golf Course, be sure to click the link to Globetrotting In Style to read more of Martin’s observations. He tells it like he sees it.

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The Amazon Golf Course Crew Visits The Butterfly Farm And a Picnic With Dawn on the Amazon

by Captain Bill

The Amazon Golf Course crew visits The Butterfly Farm and enjoys a picnic on a deserted white sand beach on the Nanay River with Dawn on the Amazon.

The Amazon Golf Course crew, and the Dawn on the Amazon Crew, and their friends and family, joined forces to have a great day together.

Marmelita and I planned a special day to share with the combined crew from the Amazon Golf Course, Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises, and the Dawn on the Amazon Cafe; 20 of the best Iquitanians I know of, and they could invite one friend or family member to join them. When we loaded up in our boat, Dawn on the Amazon we had a total of 41 crew, friends, and family. Our first stop was the Amazon Animal Orphanage and Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm, then up the Nanay River to find a deserted white sandy beach to picnic, play volleyball, swim, drink a few beers, and to share a great day together.

The crew of the Amazon Golf Course and Dawn on the Amazon tour the Butterfly Farm.

Most of the crew from the Amazon Golf Course, and the Dawn on the Amazon Cafe had never been to the Butterfly Farm, or on our boat. I wanted everyone to have a fun day and to become more knowledgeable about what we do at Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises at the same time.

Filo dancing with a Red-faced Uakari monkey at the butterfly

The monkeys put on a show. The owner of the Butterfly Farm, Gudrun Sperrer, gave us a special tour and I was proud how attentive our crew was. They told us it was interesting and that they learned a lot about the life cycle of the butterflies, and their host plants.

Giant moth at the Butterfly Farm

This giant moth is a Rothschiladia. It only lives two or three days, just long enough to accomplish it’s only goal which is to breed. It doesn’t even have a digestive system. The female gives off pheromones to attract the male from up to 15 kilometers away.

Gudrun showing caterpillars to our crew at the Butterfly Farm

I’ve been to the Butterfly Farm dozens of times and always see and learn some thing new. Recently a person suggested it should be called Butterfly Gardens. That is probably a more descriptive name. Some day when our 2,000 trees and blooming bushes at the Amazon Golf Course mature I hope some one might think Amazon Golf Gardens would be more descriptive. I highly recommend you take a day trip to the Butterfly Farm to see some of what you came to the Amazon to see in the first place, orchids, heliconias, gingers, ayahuasca vines, chacruna bushes, caiman, turtles, agoutis, macaws, parrots, flocks of parakeets, 6 or 7 species of monkeys that swing down out of the trees to pick your pocket and lick the salt your perspiration provides, a manatee, a jaguar, an ocelot, good bird watching, and lots and lots of butterflies.

Dawn on the Amazon, this beautiful boat, brought us here together, on this sandy beach enjoying each others company, and the day

After a couple of hours at the Butterfly Farm we loaded back up in the Dawn on the Amazon river boat and motored upstream on the Nanay River, until we came to a big deserted sand bar beach. We pulled in and our crew poured out on the beach ready for fun. On went the bathing suits, up went the volleyball net, out came the food and beer, we let out a cheer. The picnic lunch was a feast, and there was plenty left over to eat again later. I called the second meal a picnic dinner. We had 80 loaves of our ciabatta bread with Edam cheese, hard boiled eggs, and a big jar of orange marmalade plus various left overs from lunch. No one went home hungry.

Pink Dolphin showing his flipper in the Nanay River

We swam, soaked or waded for a couple of hours. Cooling off in the river was the best choice for me. The crew played high quality volleyball all afternoon, the winners and losers cooled off in the river between games.

Part of our crew enjoying the day with Dawn on the Amazon on the Nanay River

As you can see from the photos, we have an attractive crew.

Part of the group of 41 that shared this great day together

Along about the middle of the afternoon dark clouds blew in with a steady breeze. We enjoyed overcast cloudy conditions with a cool breeze and no rain. Perfect.

Bill Grimes and Dawn on the Amazon

I was exhausted by the end of the day. I mean absolutely exhausted. The young crew played hard until the very end. It’s good to be young.

Marmelita loves swimming and volleyball in what little spare time she has.

As usual, Marmelita had all of our events well organized and was able to play. No one enjoys swimming in the river more. She was part of the young crew that was still playing hard at the end of the day.

Part of the crew from the Amazon Golf Course on the beach watching the volley ball game

Margarita and Caesar are used to working hard in the hot sun at the Amazon Golf Course so they were still going strong at the end of the day.

Part of the crew from the Dawn on the Amazon Cafe, enjoying the day on the Nanay River.

Our day together was a big success. I’m sure we accomplished our goals. Everyone had such a good day we are already talking about when we can schedule something like this again. Our goal was to encourage team work, camaraderie and mutual respect, and for everyone to learn more about how our companies work, while having fun. Success!

To learn more about this story, and to see more photos of our day, please click these live links; Day Trip To The Butterfly Farm And the Sandy Beaches Of The Nanay River; and A Fun Sunday On The River With Dawn on the Amazon.

The Amazon Golf Course crew visits The Butterfly Farm and enjoys a picnic on a deserted white sand beach on the Nanay River with Dawn on the Amazon.

Bill Grimes is the manager of the Amazon Golf Course, and president of Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises.

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Welcome Time Magazine Readers

by Captain Bill

Welcome Time Magazine Readers

Thanks for coming to the Amazon Golf Course Blog from the article Amazon Golf: Where Water Hazard Means Piranhas in Time Magazine, writen by Lucien Chauvin . I know you are savvy about blogs and the internet or you wouldn’t be here, because Time didn’t give us a link, and your here anyway. Your smart, but there is a lot on the Amazon Golf Course Blog, and I want to take a second to show you around.

First of all, if you like what you see here, subscribe to the blog, by clicking the Entries RSS feed in the right side column, or bookmark us to your favorites, and come back soon for our new posts. Until then, here is a list of live links to posts I don’t want you to miss;

Welsh Golfer Makes The Cut At Amazon Golf Course; He was told not to retrieve balls from the water hazards, that the piranhas were dangerous, but he didn’t listen…Why didn’t he listen? We hope this does not happen to you.;

Golfing Amazon Style, From The Fringe; “We always, always tell golfers not to retrieve balls from the water traps unless they really are intent on feeding the local wildlife”.

Easter Resurrection Of The Amazon Golf Course; I wish you could have stood with Marmeltia and I looking up the lane through the Hibiscus, and Heliconia, to the clubhouse and felt what we felt. What a change in just 11 months.

The Clubhouse Is Painted And Trimmed, Dec. 5th 2009; We do actually have a clubhouse and it’s nice to hang in the hammocks in the shade from the observation deck and look out over the beautiful golf course.

How The Amazon Golf Course Looked Thursday November 5th; It was bound to happen sooner or later. Both weedeaters were broken down waiting for parts for two weeks, and the push mower needed repair last week. It is a jungle out there, and difficult to keep up even when the equipment works. Imagine taking care of a 24 acre golf course with just two weed eaters and a push mower. It’s quite a job.

The Amazon Golf Course, November 12, 2009; I like to sit on the top floor of the Amazon Golf Course clubhouse and watch the trees grow.

Here Are Some Of What I Saw At The Amazon Golf Course, November 14; I give full credit to our hardworking crew. Today all of our full time crew signed contracts giving them health insurance, and a retirement fund. Most of them got pay raises, and all of them make at least minimum wage.

I’m glad you came and I hope you found your visit interesting, and that you will be inspired to come play a round of adventure golf with us at the Amazon Golf Course in Iquitos Peru.