World Cup 2014

[FuglyDragon]

World Cup 2014

Seems an ideal opportunity to visit the home of loricaridae and the home of South American football.

Which city of the list hosting games would be best for someone keen on plecs ? Manaus ?

How do costs run in Brasil? Whats a 2 - 3 week stay likely to cost ?

I presume there are organused guided tours of the amazon, negro etc.. can anyone reccomend any ? or any other locations a keen plec fanatic should check out ? Zoos ? National parks etc....

Yes I realise im getting in early but I have allways wanted to go see the Amazon, Xingu etc and its likely to take me 4 years to save upn the money to go...

[MatsP]

Surely, unless you are desperately interested in Football, traveling at just about ANY other time of the year would be a better choice - flights will be less expensive, and hotels and such will also be more available and less expensive.

Manaus is in right in the middle of the Amazon, and nearby Rio Negro is a black-water river that is well-known for many fish that we keep -

Ancistrus dolichopterus

is probably the most common.

Recife is another place that is near the mouth of the Amazon and I seem to remember some common name involving "Recife", but I can't find it with with the quick-search.

Cuiaba may also be interesting.

However, Brazil has quite difficult export restrictions, both in what species can be exported, and how difficult it is to get export license, so if you plan on catching your own fish, you'd probably be best off working with a company that does "fish-collecting trips".

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Mats

[Suckermouth]

I've heard from a Brazilian that Barcelos is the place to go if you're interested in aquarium fish.

[MatsP]

Which is another few hundred km/miles up the Amazon from Manaus, but not one of the cities where the football is supposed to go on.

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Mats

[Shane]

However, Brazil has quite difficult export restrictions, both in what species can be exported, and how difficult it is to get export license, so if you plan on catching your own fish, you'd probably be best off working with a company that does "fish-collecting trips".

Mats is dead on here. If you are looking at the Amazon proper it would be better to base out of Colombia (Leticia) or Peru (Iquitos area). There are ferries several times a week between Leticia and Manaus, so you could always grab one to catch a game. Of course then you have to figure out what to do with your stock. Maintaining collected fishes in the field is a full time job alone.
Given the current political climates in Ecuador and Bolivia I would avoid those two choices just now. I would avoid Venezuela for Orinoco collecting for the same reasons and use Colombia (Puerto Carreno).
Who would have believed, just a year or two ago, that Colombia would end up being the safest choice in the region!
-Shane

[Suckermouth]

I would avoid Venezuela for Orinoco collecting for the same reasons and use Colombia (Puerto Carreno).
Who would have believed, just a year or two ago, that Colombia would end up being the safest choice in the region!
-Shane

I've heard the same exact thing about Venezuela. Actually, this surprised me considering all of the fieldwork Jon Armbruster's previous students did in Venezuela, including one a few months ago. But now with this reversal I've had the idea of going to Colombia for collecting to round out our Orinoco collections.

[MatsP]

I've heard the same exact thing about Venezuela. Actually, this surprised me considering all of the fieldwork Jon Armbruster's previous students did in Venezuela, including one a few months ago. But now with this reversal I've had the idea of going to Colombia for collecting to round out our Orinoco collections.

This would actually be a good thing for us fish-keepers - I mean from two perspectives:
1. Scientists going to other areas to catch fish for scientific studies -> more variation in new descriptions.
2. Different political climate -> different exporters being favoured by the importers -> more variation in fish in the shops...

And yes, before anyone says that I've missed this part: it would be much better if this wasn't caused by safety concerns...

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Mats

[FuglyDragon]

Given the difficulty of importing anything into New Zealand (quarantine, customs etc etc) I doubt I'd be able to actually collect anything, was more thinking along the lines of just seeing the place. Is there any / much likely hood of actually seeing any plecs in native habitat, or zoo, or exporters holding tank or whatever ? Any one got any links to the 'fish collecting trips' that were mentioned ?

As for the going outside the world cup yes i agree, but then its much easier to convine the wife if its a combined football / sightseeing trip than if im just going to see more 'fish porn' as she calls it.

[Bas Pels]

most likely, the matches wil lgbe held in the south. Better cilmate, more people, only benefits.

Hower, Going a but further to the south, one comes in uruguay, with many interesting catfish. So I would assume the soputh of brasil also has more than enough fishes to fill the gaps between matches.

Personally, I'd forget about them matches, but that's another matter

[MatsP]

This photo shows the places that they are going to have matches in. Manaus is one of the places.
http://www.fifa.com/newscentre/photo/ph ... ml#1064789

Edit: And one option for export is to find a friendly NZ importer of fish that will help you with the import license, and that already imports from an exporter in Manaus. You catch the fish and give to the exporter to add to the next shipment to your contact in NZ (and perpahs look at the exporters tanks) - of course, make sure it's valid to export from Brazil and import to NZ. Sure, you'll probably have to pay a little bit for the exporter to hold your fish (and to NOT sell them someone else if you caught something unusual), and pay your importer for the quarantine period. But it should be possible to do...

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Mats