Upcoming Events At The Amazon Golf Course

Amazon Golf Course, photographed from the observation deck of the clubhouse on December 5th, 2009

December 8th Charcoal Chicken BBQ

On December 8th, Tuesday, during La Purisima, the religious holiday dedicated to praying to the virgin Mary, combined with partying in Punchana while drinking lots of Pilsen, Margarita and the grounds crew at the Amazon Golf Course will host a Charcoal Chicken BBQ, a parrillada de pollo, working and praying to raise money for their own Christmas bonus, knowing I am not giving out a Christmas bonus. Steve McAlear and I donated S/50 soles apiece to get them started, and I am praying to the Virgin Mary right now to encourage you to help them with a small donation also. They are self motivated, smart, hard working, and deserve your support. If you are feeling generous about Christmas, and helping hard working people with much less than anyone you probably know back home, you can funnel your donation through me, or if you are in Iquitos, plan on buying a parrillada ticket for only S/8 soles, and attending the cookout at the Amazon Golf Club on December 8th.

You can buy a ticket to the delicious Charcoal Chicken BBQ for only S/8 soles

December 12th, Golf Tournament

On December 12th, we are having a golf tournament to determine the annual winner of the Ernst and Edith Schneider Trophy. The tournament will be for all the golf students we have taught at our free Saturday morning golf lessons. They will play a round of 9 holes and be allowed only 8 strokes per hole to keep things moving along at a good speed.

The west flower garden and view of the Amazon Golf Course clubhouse from the road. Don't drive past, pull in and have fun.

December 27th, Charcoal Chicken BBQ, last Sunday of December

We are making the last Sunday of the month our day to host a special meal every month to raise money to help with the maintenance and improvements of the Amazon Golf Course. On December 27th, the last Sunday of December, we will host an after Christmas Charcoal Chicken BBQ at the Amazon Golf Course clubhouse. The red hot coals will have the good food ready to serve around noon.

December 27th will be a full fun social day of golf, volleyball and soccer or just hiking around the beautiful landscaped park. We will all be there. Please join us. Buy your ticket in advance at Mad Mick’s Trading Post, located near the middle of the first block of Putumayo, #163, at the top of the stairs on the second floor, the Dawn on the Amazon office, #185 Malecon, Maldonado, near the corner of the 1st block of Nauta, on the boulevard, overlooking the river, the Amazon Exporers Club, #101 Nauta, the first door on the first block of Nauta, around the corner from Dawn on the Amazon, windows overlooking the river, or at the Amazon Golf Course.

The approach to the Amazon Golf Course clubhouse

January 31st, the last Sunday of January, “THE JUNGLE ROAST”

If you can only come to the Amazon Golf Course for one meal all year it should be this one. Don’t miss The Jungle Roast, all you can eat, the last Sunday, January 31st. The Jungle Roast will be the most remarkable meal of 2010, and one of your best days. You will remember and talk about The Jungle Roast all year. If you are living out of Iquitos, fly in special for The Jungle Roast. It will be worth it. To learn all of the details about the menu, price, and what is included in the day, follow the link below to an article I posted on the Captain’s Blog;

Join us for The Jungle Roast at the Amazon Golf Course in Iquitos Peru on January 31st, the last Sunday in January.

The entrance to the Amazon Golf Course

Upcoming Events At The Amazon Golf Course

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

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We Planted 85 Amarillo Palm Trees At the Amazon Golf Course, Iquitos Peru

Bill Grimes tastes the fruit of the Amarillo Coconut Palm tree, and likes it.

There are at least 3 species of coconut palm trees here in Iquitos Peru, the green, gray and yellow or Amarillo. We have 3 rows of Amarillo Palms lining the fairways, but the rows are incomplete and we want to extend them with the same species. This should have been done in 2004, but it wasn’t, so we are doing it now. I estimated it would take 81 trees.

We found a source of sprouted Amarillo Palm nuts at Recreo Familiar Don Pepe's.

We learned from Don Pepe if we had planned ahead it takes around 4 months for a coconut to dry and sprout. We’ve already waited too long. I wanted instant impact so we paid S/ 2 soles, around $.60 cents per sprouted coconut palm. We bought 85, every sprouted nut on his place.

Gathering the 85 rooted, sprouted coconuts.

We sacked them up, loaded them onto a motocarro, and headed for the Amazon Golf Course.

Marmelita and a motocarro full of Amarillo Palm tree sprouts.

Half of them were planted that afternoon and the other half the next day. It turned out we were short 10 trees of having the perfect number but we will find them in the next few days to finish this part of the project.

Amarillo Palm tree sprouts ready to plant at the Amazon Golf Course.

This is part of my vision for the future of the Amazon Golf Course. It will take a couple of years for you to see in reality what I “see” now, but these 85 Amarillo Palm trees will be the single biggest impact we will make in our landscaping project.

We are in the process of planting 2,000 trees and blooming bushes. Tomorrow I want to get an accurate count of how many trees and blooming bushes we have planted that are alive and doing well, and I will report back here to you with the species, numbers, and some photos.

We Planted 85 Amarillo Palm Trees At the Amazon Golf Course, Iquitos Peru

Bill Grimes, Amazon Golf Course Manager

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Beware of the Piranhas at the Amazon Golf Course, Iquitos Peru

Mike Collis releasing 105 hungry piranhas to guard the 5th water trap.

The fish had been travelling in a big bucket for over an hour and by the time they were released into their new home over 20 had to be resuscitated by gently holding them upright in the water until they revived and swam off. Fortunately, of the 105 piranhas delivered, only 1 died.
 
2 Irish golfers, Barry Hyland and Sean Feely, were playing a round of golf at the time. They witnessed the release and took the photos. Barry and Sean recommend not retrieving golf balls from the water traps.

Beware of the Piranhas at the Amazon Golf Course, Iquitos Peru

Mike Collis, Iquitos Times

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The Festival of San Juan Blocks Traffic to the Amazon Golf Course

The San Juan Festival is one of the largest parties of the year in Iquitos Peru. San Juan Bautista, or Saint John the Baptist, is the patron saint of the Amazon, and he is honored with dancing, drinking, and feasting on many…juanes, a local delicacy made from either rice, yucca, or chonta, with chicken, fish, or pork, seasoned with regional spices, and wrapped in a bijao leaf from the jungle that adds a special flavor.

This morning on the way to the Amazon Golf Course our moto-carro could barely make it through the crowd in the suburb of San Juan which is the center of the celebration. On the way back to town later in the afternoon we were caught in a traffic jam and were lucky to get through. It seemed like everyone was dancing in the streets of San Juan. In fact after we broke through the traffic, the rest of Iquitos was nearly deserted.

The Amazon Golf Course greens crew were hard at work on the back greens even if it was a holiday, and they planted several more trees today. They are hoping the patron saint of the Amazon will bless our efforts.

Two of our golf students from the Saturday classes came out and practiced today. They are going to be good golfers.

The Festival of San Juan Blocks Traffic to the Amazon Golf Course

Captain Bill Grimes also writes for the Captain’s Blog; click the live link to read more creative content about Iquitos Peru, The Amazon Golf Course, The Amazon River, the rainforest, and to catch a glimpse of our lives lived large on the edge of civilization, surrounded by jungle. Thanks.

This link is to a good article; Celebrate The San Juan Festival in Iquitos Peru.

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Fathers Day At The Amazon Golf Course

Fathers Day at the Amazon Golf Course

We had a nice Fathers Day at the Amazon Golf Course with Marmelita’s father and enough of her family to have a couple of hours of good volleyball games. I used to play a fairly good game of volleyball but my old injuries act up every time I think I am younger.

I hung out in the hammock, read some on Living to Tell the Tale, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, took a nap, enjoyed a perfectly prepared fresh Palometa cooked on the charcoal grill, washed down with an Iquiteńa Extra beer, walked all around the golf course, studied the water flow from the big rain last night, made some plans about where to plant certain species of trees, did some casual birdwatching, more hammock time, and read some more.

While I was studying the water flow across the Amazon Golf Course two eating size fish jumped right in front of Marmelita. Then she pointed out several minnows. Bring your fishing gear to carry with your golf clubs, and machete.

I saw a wide variety of birds without even paying much attentions to details. Several Jacanas fluttered up off of the Lily pads while we walked along the water hazards. I watched a Road Side Hawk catch a small lizard. Two small groups of parrots flew over, and a flock of parakeets, two small green macaws, several Smooth-billed Anis, a Blue-gray Tanager, a couple of Kiskadees, other flycatchers, swallows and swifts, black vultures, several species of small brown or gray birds working the Aguaje Palms for insects. Bring your binoculars, bird watching is good at the Amazon Golf Course.

I hope you enjoyed your fathers day as much as I did. If you are a regular reader of this blog, thank you for being part of the Amazon Golf Course extended family.

Happy Fathers Day From The Amazon Golf Course

Bill Grimes, Amazon Golf Course

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Progress Report On Our Goal Of Improving The Greens On The Amazon Golf Course

We have worked on the greens every day since June 6th when I posted the article The Greens On The Back Side Of The Amazon Golf Course, and I said, “All of the greens are playable today. I expect immediate incremental daily improvement in the quality of the greens, and a noticeable improvement within one month.”

Green number 7 covered with sifted, fine, organic compost at the Amazon Golf Course

Daily progress has been made. All of the greens have been hand weeded, mowed repeatedly, and rolled. Five greens have been spread with a mixture of compost and lime. We had a new heavy duty green roller welded and delivered today that will be a big improvement over our previous roller, which I will have spikes welded on to turn it into a thatcher. Plans are slowly coming along. We will have noticeable improvements by July 6, and sooner. Come on out and play a round to see for yourself.

This is our new heavy green roller. Filled with sand it is a two or three man tool.

In the last few days we found, purchased, transported, mixed, and spread our organic compost mixture. We purchased 48 large bags of old rotten sawdust, 50 bags of old rotten chicken guano, 35 bags of finished compost, and 30 kilos of lime. Our greens crew are mixing them to the following recipe; 5 sacks of sawdust, 1 sack of chicken guano, 1 sack of black dirt finished compost, and two hand fulls of lime.

Margarita and the greens crew built a nursery from the organic compost mixture to grow grass for the greens to transplant in where improvements can be made.

We are using the organic compost mixture to side dress the greens, and established trees and plants. We will use the compost mixture to improve the survival and growth rate of the 2,000 trees and blooming bushes we are planting. Our soil is very acidic, and varies from poor nutrient clay to poor nutrient sand. We expect the organic compost mixture to be a valuable contribution to our success.

This is the worst established tree on the Amazon Golf Course. We side dressed it with our organic compost mixture. I hope to show you a photo of this tree alive and well in a few months.

What do you think? Let us know your suggestions either in the comments below, by email, or in person. Collectively you know a lot more about green maintenance than any one person here can know.

Progress Report On Our Goal Of Improving The Greens On The Amazon Golf Course

Bill Grimes, manager of the Amazon Golf Course.

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Amazon Golf Course on Channel 23 TV

We received an unexpected return on our newspaper advertising dollars. Channel 23 TV saw the advertisements, thought it was news worthy, and interviewed Margarita, our course supervisor, at 3:00pm today.

The interviewer thought it amazing there is a golf course in Iquitos, and by the questions and Margarita’s answers, promoted the free golf lessons on Saturday, the half price for golf in the month of June, and the overall existence of the Amazon Golf Course.

Mike Collis was given the full credit he deserves for having the vision to begin, build, and promote the Amazon Golf Course, the 50 plus founding Peruvian and international investor-owner-members received recognition, and Margarita put in a little plug for me as course manager.

This is the type of community awareness and recognition we are looking for.

Amazon Golf Course On Channel 23 TV

Bill Grimes also wrote this informative, interesting article you might enjoy; Amazon Golf Course, Iquitos Peru, Open Under New Management.

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My Favorite Restaurant Near the Amazon Golf Course Is La Tullpa

La Tullpa is my favorite restaurant near the Amazon Golf Course

My favorite restaurant near the Amazon Golf Course is La Tullpa, located across from the PetroPeru gas station on the Nauta Road just before you turn on the Zungerococha Road that the Amazon Golf Course is on. It is clean, with soap and paper towels in the restrooms. The decor is attractive, and the food is delicious. I usually order fried palometa with platanos cooked over the coals, or palometa and platanos cooked over the coals. Because La Tullpa is so far from the tourist center, I have not tried the fruit juice or refresca, preferring to play it safe with an Iquiteña beer or an Inca Cola.

Fried Palometa with cocona sauce is one of the most delicious fish in the world

La Tullpa has a S/5 sole menu, but the palometa is huge and costs S/16 to S/18 soles, well worth the extra money.

Watch for this sign to La Tullpa, across from the PetroPeru gas station

My Favorite Restaurant Near the Amazon Golf Course Is La Tullpa

Bill Grimes, My Favorite Restaurants In Iquitos Peru

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A Round Of Golf Is Half Price For the Month Of June At The Amazon Golf Course

We are running this advertisement for 5 days, only in Spanish, in the local newspaper, La Region;

Let’s Play Golf! Amazon Golf Course Open Now! Half Price For the Month Of June!
First Tee Off 6:30am, Last Tee Off 4:00pm. Only 30 minutes from downtown Iquitos on Zungarococha Road, 500 meters from the Nauta Road on the right side.
Website www.amazongolfcourse.com. Phone 223730

We had a good response from our advertisement last week about the free golf lessons on Saturdays. We have 14 students registered, and a golf professor lined up to teach golf for next Saturday.

A Round Of Golf Is Half Price For the Month Of June At The Amazon Golf Course

Captain Bill Grimes, of Dawn on the Amazon Captain’s Blog

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Statistics and Analysis For the Last Two Months of the Amazon Golf Course Web Site and Blog

Google Analytics chart for the last 60 days, green line April 13 to May 13, blue line May 14 to June 13

A lot of the pieces of this puzzle that makes the Amazon Golf Course are fitting together. You already know about the renewed interest and excitement from our members and supporters. You have seen or heard about the improvements to the golf course. You know about our vision for the future. I thought you might like to know about another piece of the puzzle, how we have grown our web site and blog.

This chart from Google Analytics tells the story. The green line documents the number of views from April 13 to May 13. The blue line documents the number of views from May 14 to June 13, 2009

The green line shows April 22 was our most views with 29. For the entire month we had 59 page views on our home page, and 102 on our blog.

The blue line shows June 8 was our most views with 319. That same day the month before we had 10 views. For the entire month we had 973 views on the home page, and 306 on the blog.

Last month we had views from 30 countries. This month 66 countries have discovered our web site.

Part of the reason is content. We made 19 posts in the last 30 days, which generated 42 positive comments. Part of the reason is promotion and outreach.

I am pleased with the remarkable improvement but our numbers are still low. The Amazon Golf Course is a small niche market, so my modest goal is to average 300 views by the end of this year, and grow to 500 views by the end of 2010.

To accomplish those goals will require that we make some news, that we are interesting, that we are discovered, that we post a lot of great new content on the Amazon Golf Course Blog, that we maintain a beautiful golf course, and that we promote the Amazon Golf Course world wide, as an Amazon Golf Adventure in Iquitos Peru. Please ask what you can do to help.

Statistics and Analysis For the Last Two Months of The Amazon Golf Course Web Site and Blog

Bill Grimes, Amazon Golf Course

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