Traveler – Friend
An Eco-Tourist/photographer has visited 112 Countries and is now addicted to fishing
We were introduced to Barbara in January 2020. She was brought to us by Karim as a plan to take an Eco-Tourist with little or no fishing desire to our totally remote area on the Xeruini River Preserve to study, take pictures and evaluate the possibility of future Eco-Tour adventures to the area. When high water forced us to move our fishing operation to another exploratory area, we were blessed with the outcome and of Barbara’s findings. Here is some background of our first Eco-Pioneer to Bucket List Fly Fishing as told in her own words. Ladies and Gentleman – We introduce Barbara Robert…
To say I enjoy traveling is probably an understatement but, how did this interest come about?
Raised and educated in the Midwest of the USA, our summer family vacations were road trips. By the time I was 17 years old, I had been to 46 of the 48 contiguous states. So, I guess, my parents get the credit for instilling in me the wonder and lure of discovering new places.
My wanderlust took me on a two-year journey around the world when I was 23 years old. A friend and I used teaching jobs as an excuse to travel to the Far East and live in Sydney, Australia for 15 months. The journey home took a slow seven months as I visited parts of Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Of course, all this travel was done on a very limited budget!
It was time to come home, settle down and stay put. I chose to live in Washington, D.C. and it was there that I met my husband. Over the years we started family businesses, had our beautiful daughter and enjoyed the occasional holiday vacation. These were the years to go lay on a beach in the Caribbean or Mexico.
But the interest in adventure travel really never disappeared and about twenty years ago, my husband and I started venturing further afield. I had seen the great cities and museums of Europe and now I was much more interested in experiencing the natural beauty of our planet. My college days of studying Biology gave me a little background and my interest in photography was becoming a keen hobby. So now I pick a destination by its natural beauty, interesting flora and fauna, unique cultures and cool experiences. The more I travel, my “Bucket List” gets longer and not shorter!
I have been on the fast track of travel the past ten years, there is so much I want to see and experience. I was asked by a family member if I felt “the clock was ticking?” The Global Pandemic has paused my traveling for the time being but “Not now does not mean, not ever”. My travel is not a contest but 112 countries, 7 continents and counting!
Now Back to the story of how we met this amazing lady. To say the least Barbara’s trip to our new destination Labirinto Da Tartaruga was a success. We spent the week touring creek channels, tributaries and lagoons searching for anything we could take a picture of. Toucans, Macaws, 4-foot-tall Wood Storks and Rosiet Spoon Bills were among the areas amazing birds. A giant ant eater, a rare Mata-Mata turtle, river otters and on the last day of the trip, finally a Jaguar. Barbara also got introduced to the fishing world on her trip and caught several species including a huge Peacock Bass and her first ever fish on a fly rod. Barbara’s enthusiasm rubbed off on her new friend Francisco, who lives and helps protect the Labirinto and was the perfect guide and host for Barbara’s week with us.
Barbara will forever be one of our favorite guests to journey with us on some of our crazy adventures and we are hoping we will once again be able to twist her arm to join us. Her expertise in photography and her drive to see what’s around the next corner makes Barbara a true Bucket List Adventurer. Thanks for everything Barbara – Until next time…
You can view our video of Barbara and her week at Labirinto Da Tartaruga on our YouTube channel Bucket List Fly Fishing, named – Labirinto Da Tartaruga Exploratory Eco Adventure
Join us for an exciting free get-together on zoom. We are going to discuss our upcoming seasons and events and recap some events and outings we have just finished. The highlight of the night will be our January 2023 season at our centerpiece fishing location in the Amazon jungle.
This August we are finally getting another opportunity to have our Care&Share program put to work. This will be our best chance since the outbreak of COVID to have the opportunity to visit several indigenous villages in the heart of the Amazon Jungle.
Terra Preta is a remote village on Xeruini River, state of Roraima, Brazil.
The 2022 Season is going to be amazing. These fish have not seen an angler in almost 3 years and we still have a ton of lagoons that have never been fished on our centerpiece program on Rio Novo