DAN SIMMONS Sportsman's Quest MORE COLUMNS Advertisement

While fishing at the Rio Negro Lodge on Brazil's Amazon River, I made a new fishing buddy, Captain Marc Cabos of the Amazon Queen.

He's not only an accomplished skipper, but also a great story teller, and with a little encouragement I talked him into writing one of his stories for you, the Sportsman's Quest reader. I trust you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Chocolate. the Amazon River Otter

One day while the river boat, Amazon Queen, was anchored in the small town of Santa Isabel (a small town on the banks Rio Negro River), we were waiting for our anglers to come back from their day of fishing.

A small canoe came up alongside the Queen. In the canoe were a father and an older man with wrinkled and sun-darkened skin (typical of the local natives). There were also two little girls in the canoe along with some of their fruits, fishing materials and a small turtle. They always come up to us wherever we've anchored.

The Amazon Queen is known for our helping hand to the locals with fuel, food and other needs.

I was in the on-board office when one of the crew came up and told me that a local was asking for me. When I got down to the main deck, we greeted each other and he asked if he could have some gasoline so he could go to his little plantation up river. I asked how much he needed, and he told me only 4 liters, so I told him, "No problem you can have the fuel."

He then told me that he had an otter that his kids had captured but it was becoming too difficult to keep and if I wanted it, I could have it. When I went to the edge and looked in the canoe, there it was, hiding under the seat; she was about 20 inches long and very nervous. So in a way, we traded four liters of gasoline for a baby Giant Amazon River Otter.

We have many guests that like to see the animals, so we allow them to roam freely at our facilities from time to time. Locals bring us injured or abandoned animals and we care for them until they can go back to the jungle. They usually hang around for a couple of months or a season; the animals come and go from the jungle at the lodge. But this otter loved the boat more than the Rio Negro Lodge since the boat was always navigating the river.

That week my two sons, Andrew and Rodrigo, were on board for their summer vacations and they named her Chocolate due to her color. Now she had someone to play with on board this strange monstrous "canoe." With the kids help, Chocolate got accustomed to being on board. They even potty trained her. They found out that when she had to do her 'necessities' she would start to sniff and cry out so we would dock and put down the gang-plank along the river and wait for her to get off and take care of her business.

Shortly after, she would swim back to the boat and look for a place in the sun to rest. At first we would have to put out the plank but soon she learned to dive in and crawl back on board using the ladder on the side.

When the anglers returned from a day of fishing for peacock bass, she would jump in the bass boats and see who brought back a piranha for her dinner. She would go from boat to boat till someone gave her a fish. On the boat for lunch, she would go into the kitchen and see if she could steal a chicken from the cook.

That was a very funny sight to see, the cook running after her as she would dart out of the kitchen dragging a frozen chicken that was sometimes almost as big as she was!

Chocolate also loved the air-conditioned cabins onboard and if a guest left the door open, she would make herself at home and go to sleep on the beds. One day, she managed to get under the bed sheets, and when our angler went to bed that night, well, you could just imagine the surprise he had. Chocolate popped her head out as he was getting in bed and he just about had a heart attack. Both screamed and she ran out of the cabin.

Chocolate had many adventures on board the Amazon Queen for the next three seasons. She was a great pet while she was small but as we all know, all wild animals have to be in their natural habitats. Chocolate soon met her mate, so the next season we had Vanilla come along.

Vanilla got her name from a Brazilian soap opera called Chocolate and Vanilla. So the crew named her appropriately, since it was always like a soap opera on board when they were around. No one knew what surprise was coming up next.

These stories can go on and on. So if one day some readers of this come down to the Amazon, they will have something to remember when they see the otters swimming by and who knows if they see one with a white spot on its upper lip, it may be Chocolate with her new family of baby otters.

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I really enjoy Marc's stories and look forward to hearing many more of them. If you would too, take this opportunity to read this to some of the little folks in the house and let Marc know what they think - he can be reached on the Amazon Queen at marc@amazontours.com.

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If you have a story or comment about this or other articles, contact me at dansimmons@usa.net or give me a call at 775-727-9777.

What's new

The fishing action is heating up on the southern California coast. The albacore bite is on and good numbers are being taken. It's even possible to get a mixed limit of both white sea bass and tuna. My bet is San Diego, but the word is out so boats are filling fast. This month will be the best and it's a lot cooler than our current southern Nevada heat wave. See you there.

For more information and fish reports go to www.hmlanding.com or www.biggame90.com.

Recipe of week

The Amazon Queen is an extraordinary riverboat, with excellent accommodations and great gourmet food. Here is one recipe you might enjoy if you ever find yourself aboard.

The first step is to catch a few Piranha, while taking a break from fighting those monster Amazon Peacock Bass. You see, the captain's a cook too. That's not to be confused with Captain Cook, but Marc is also an accomplished explorer and adventurer.

In Brazil, Piranha are known as the perch of the Amazon. So, if you can't find them in your local waters, try cod, bass or any of the perch family.

Piranha with Caper Sauce

Four 8-oz Piranha fillets; 2 Tbsp flour; 2 tsp salt; 1 tsp white pepper; 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 1/2 tsp ground white pepper; 1 Tbsp butter; 1 tsp minced garlic; 1/2 cup fish (or chicken) stock; 1/4 cup white wine; 1 Tbsp lemon juice; 2 Tbsp capers, drained and rinsed; 1 Tbsp minced parsley;

Combine flour, salt and pepper; dredge fish fillets in seasoned flour; fry fillets in olive oil to desired doneness; remove fish and keep warm; pour off any remaining oil (be sure to keep browned bits to help flavor the sauce); add butter and garlic to pan cook until garlic begins to soften but does not brown; add fish stock, white wine and lemon juice, cook until reduced by half; add in 1/2 tsp white pepper, capers and parsley; remove from heat and pour over fish fillets, serve immediately with a nice risotto and grilled asparagus.