This is a first-person travel vlog (YouTube) by Nate Buchanan documenting day three at Otorongo Lodge in the Peruvian Amazon. The clip shows Nate testing a recently repaired drone, then joining guide Hosas on a boat trip through flooded forest to catch bait fish and piranhas (with explanations of local fishing practices and seasonal effects). The video mixes lighthearted reactions with on-site instruction and brief cultural/food anecdotes.
Okay. You can probably tell by the smile on my face, but I think the drone is working. I changed out the two broken blades that were on it, and for, like, 30 minutes, the camera was stuck sideways. Like, it was, like, shooting horizontal. That it was terrible and completely unusable. I got in there and played with the gimbal. I think I have fixed it. So we're about to take it on its first test flight after the big crash to see if it actually works. My hopes are, like, way up here right now, and I'm gonna be feeling, like, way down here if it doesn't work.
Also, I'm sure we're not gonna get lucky twice. Be a little more careful with the drone from now on. It'd be so sad if I lose it.
So far, so good. I'm gonna move it further away from trees. Here we go. One, two.
Why is it beeping working?
It's obstacle footage. It's hovering in one place. It's not a funky thing. Uh oh. Gimbal vibration.
Abnormal. It appears to be shooting decent video.
I'm so nervous to send it up any higher. That's how I got myself screwed up yesterday.
How happy are you, Nate?
So happy. I'm gonna save my, like, super excitement until we watch the footage to make sure it's not, like, coming out super shaky. But it looks great on the phone. So the only thing I noticed is that when I sent it up, like, really high and then was bringing it down fast, I could, like, see it almost, like, made the screen look like water, I guess, where it's vibrating so quickly. So I don't think it's quite at 100%, but hopefully it's usable as long as I just, like, get nice, slow shots. Considering it fell from 150ft in there, I'd say we're doing pretty good.
Today is day three in the Peruvian Amazon at the Otorongo Lodge.
Yesterday was so awesome. We talked about it all during breakfast. We just can't get over how cool it was. So if you haven't seen that one, go back and watch that one first.
So many new experiences. We drank spit beer, which, like, a lady had chewed up to ferment, like, in her mouth and made for us. We ate grubs, kids, catfish. It was insane. Today we are getting back in the boat with our guy Hosas, and he's taking us to see giant trees, giant lily pads. Maybe some piranha fishing will be involved. Should be another awesome day.
Also, I don't want to jinx us. I jinx us, but we are in the rainforest and it has been beautiful blue skies ever since we've been here. I'm not complaining.
Sam.
Oh, my gosh.
They will jump.
Oh, they're swimming.
No way.
Yeah, they'll go the lower one. They're see me.
Oh, there.
Wow.
One more, one more. There go. There go. He goes.
He goes.
There go. Oh, he caught himself high. That was crazy great.
That is so funny.
Well, we need to catch some.
Small fish for bait.
Okay.
Like sardine.
This time of the years, it's been a little difficult fishing because all the fish are spread it out, the whole flat forest. And the best time for fishing is during the low water. So all the fish are concentrated in the main river or lakes.
So we just drove an hour across the Amazon and then way down a tributary to do some fishing. Right now everything is flooded and the fishing is better in the shallow water. So that's why we've driven so far. So one of the really cool things about the Odorongo Lodge is that each guest or, like, group of guests, so for Kara and I gets their own guide, no matter like, how many people are at the lodge. And one of the things I really wanted to do while I was here was go fishing in the Amazon. And so they're making that happen for us, even though it's not the perfect season. So not sure if we'll catch anything, but at least we can say we tried. We are starting by catching some bait fish with a stick and one piece.
Of line on it, dropping the water like a few times. So that means sardine or some of the fish will think it's a fruit dropping from the tree.
Bait.
Got a bait fish.
Got him.
Got it.
Man over the boat.
Good job.
Here we go. For real this time.
Gosh, that was fast.
Oh, I thought you had that one. Oh, almost.
I totally had that one.
Piranha, huh?
Yay.
It's a piranha.
How do you get it off?
Yeah, they. It's hard. You have to be very careful. I'll show you how pretty. We call a red silver piranha. If you look the scale, it's red and has a silver. Bright silver.
Yeah.
So shiny.
It's a wasp. It's one of those carnival.
Awesome.
Bite it.
Bite it.
Bite it.
Do it. Do it.
So we were told that in order to attract the piranhas, which is what we're fishing for, take the end of your pole and just like smack it around in the water. If we did that in Tennessee, where we're from, it would scare all the fish away. But apparently this. The commotion attracts them. So. Here we go.
Got him. Got it.
Oh, he's talking to me. Yeah.
You caught a piranha in the Amazon.
Didn't even get my bait. All right, now the trick. Taking him off without getting my finger chopped off.
It'd be kind of cool if you had a piranha bite.
Yeah.
So freaky.
Kind of dangerous.
Cool.
Way to go. Good job.
Oh, it's in his eye. It's in his mouth and his eye. Can I grab him?
Yeah, you have to take him out by yourself.
I'm scared.
Wait.
Why did you do that? Now he's all upset.
Okay, I'm nervous.
Take the hoog and show the teeth.
Okay. Oh.
Oh.
Get it back. I'm finding him.
We successfully caught how many? A bunch. A bunch of piranhas with violent cold. So we're moving to a new spot. Oh, I'm so pumped. I caught a fish in the Amazon.
Me too. We're saving one for lunch.
Today is day two in the Peruvian Amazon with Oak. Day three, caught the world's smallest angel catfish. Cutie.
I can't believe I caught a piranha. Amazon River.
I think he's been caught before. He has little. Oh, no, that's his nose.
