Good, Bad & Sad

I just returned from a jungle experience near Mamori lake. I used the services of Samir Chandi de Silva, also known as Sammy with Eco Planet. I was introduced to Samir at the Eco Planet’s office, however, I contracted directly with Samir and not Eco Planet, thus this is not a critique of Eco Planet but rather on one of their guides.

The Good. When it comes to understanding the jungle and explaining this amazing world in English, Samir is gifted and very knowledgeable.

The Bad. The service that we agreed on was not delivered. We agreed on, in writing, a private tour with private transportation. The morning we arrived at the port to board the boat and start the trip, we found that Samir had sold his services to other tourist as well. When we confronted him on this, he told us that he could not do the trip for what we were paying and wanted the money that the other tourist were offering. Other problems occurred. When it came time for us to return to Manaus, Samir stayed at Mamori Lake and told us we would have to going back Manaus on our own. A challenge, when you are remote and in the jungle. We ended up with no private transportation of course, but we made it back to Manaus with the help of a few good Brazilian people.

The Sad. Once your journey goes bad, it darkens the entire trip. A private jungle tour that ends up with five other strangers, is not private. Our private transportation ended up on a public bus, public transport boats, etc. There were more problems – but you get the idea. It is SAD that a talented guide like Samir has no understanding of what integrity means. Maybe it is part of the ethos that has gripped the tourist industry in Manaus. Get the tourist’s money. It is evident that we are not the only ones to have run into deceptive and manipulative agents/guides who seek to exploit the boom of ‘eco-tourism’.

Caveat: I think I did a few things correctly at the beginning of this trip. There are a few things that I recommend to all that are planning on going with a guide or an agency. #1. I took xerox copies of all of Samir Chandi de Silva’s personal documents (this allows reporting to the tourist department when things go bad). #2. I wrote down what we agreed on, and had Samir sign it (so when things go bad you have the document and there is no misunderstanding). #3. I choose to go on a short trip, just a few days, instead of the five days or more that the agencies and guides want you to pay for (remember, you can always extend while in the jungle). And, #4. I paid only 50% of the amount up front and agreed to pay the other 50% upon return to Manaus.

This could have been a very good trip, but the misrepresentation and duplicity of Samir created dark cloud over the entire experience. I do not recommend using the services of Samir Chandi de Silva.

Samir or Sammy. Yes, I worked through an agency, "amazon jungle tours", and ended up with Samir / Sammy as my guide. Beware of this agency, they wait at the airport when flights arrive. The business card says "Thomas" is the director, but I met everyone at the agency and no "Thomas". The owner introduced himself as "Armstrong". What a swindler. Also beware of his alcoholic brother "Max" who is just interested in your money to quench his neverending thirst for Brahma beer. A lot of what I read in your post sounds all too familiar. Other tourists plus their annoying guide that is clueless about the jungle came along until the afternoon of the second day. Beware of this guide also, AKA John, Clarke and what not. I really don't want to be in a potentially dangerous situation with this guy. With Samir on the other hand I feel you have a much better chance should something go wrong. The transport was also terrible. The Agency did not give him enough money for the trip and also no money for the other tourists and their guide.

First of all there is a lot of what I call "monkey business" and what Sammy calls "fuckery" going on in Manaus with regards to the tourist industry. I suspected and still suspect it goes on in the whole of Brazil. When I mentioned this to Sammy he explained that he fled from Guyana some years ago and found the people of Brazil to be just like that, full of "fuckery". In my case I blame the agency for the dissapointments that came up. But regardless of what goes on there, I chose to make peace with it the first day of my excursion in the jungle in order to still get the most from the situation I was in. It is a great blessing to have been so lucky to experience the Amazon first hand.

Second, put yourself in Samir's position. I don't think having to compete with what goes on there leaves him much choice. I am of the opinion that the tourist industry in Brazil is currently being left to its own devices and is completely uncontrolled by government. I am sure there are certain regulations laid down by government but these are not enforced. In this regard I feel that Brazil is letting the tourist down who spends his hard earned money there.

I think I would have been offered a better trip should I have been able to work with Samir directly. I own a business and to me it is second nature to constantly do costings of what certain project might cost. For instance for a jungle tour there will be public transport costs, food, water they get for free along lake Mamori, gasoline, Boat rental per day, lodging if you are not camping. I calculated that I could have paid Samir half of what the agency took and he could still go home with decent money. I have no information on what it cost you, but somehow I think that the agency was still involved and the same thing happened, money dried up. Whatever the case may be, the bottomline is that it is very sad that such treachery takes place so close to the garden of eden.

I also did a tour with Sammy and Eco Planet.I ended up spending a lot of time reporting their bad conduct to the Brazilian tourist police.A lot of promises were made but none were delivered.

All the food we ate we had to catch ourselves and that consisted mainly of piranha or other small fish and pasta...for every meal.One time we were even served fish that has started going off.We were promised cold beer at the lodge,but there never was any.The transportation was poor,the organization was poor,the facilities were poor.The mosquito nets had big holes in them.At one stage Sammy and another guide chopped down 5 trees in the "protected" rainforest to catch a boa.How crazy is that? Chopping down trees in front of tourists?I have lots of fotos.We were taken to a village to meet some of the locals and were shown a badly injured young boa that they keep in n box to show to tourists.

The whole trip was a fiasco.I ended up booking anoither trip with the company almost next door situated inside a hotel "9th de Novembre" or something similar. This trip took us to Lago Juma.The accomodation and food and basically everything was of a far better standard.

I would advise any visitors to the jungles to stay away from Sammy and Eco Planet.That trip has lead me to conclude that "eco" part in Brazillian Eco tourism is non existent.