Traveling Down the Amazon River ft. Conservationist Michael Rich - Epi. 401, Host Dr. Mark Sublette

The next three episodes of the Art Dealer Diaries are closer to actual diary entries than any of my previous podcasts. You see, I went down to the Amazon rainforest because I wanted to get to know more about the indigenous tribes,

I went to the Museu do Indio in Manaus, Brazil which is a huge city, 2.4 million people right on the western edge of the Amazon, and then I got to meet members of the Tuyuka tribe and watch them dance and listen to their stories, as well as going and seeing the sights of the city, which were very impressive to say the least, including one of the earliest and most famous opera houses called Teatro Amazonas, as well as the mansion of the governor. I got this interesting take on what it is to go to Brazil.

And then I went and visited with a man named Michael Rich. Now, Michael was down there to do some fishing and I joined him to be able to see the animals do some fishing myself. I was also as interested in just getting a sense of what it's like to be in the largest ecosystem in the world.

And Michael Rich is a very interesting guy. We did this podcast literally after we had been on the river for probably five hours. We recorded under a tree at about 95 degrees in the shade. It looks like I've been laying in the Amazon for a long time, but it was a very unique take in a way, to talk to somebody about fish biology, which he is very interested in.

He is part of a nonprofit to try to help the menhaden, which is called "the most important fish in the sea." It's what feeds all the other big predator fish as well as osprey. There are companies that are coming in and devastating the stock of these small little silvery fish to make into cosmetics and pet food and all these things.

Anyways, I think I came away from this trip different in the way I saw the world and my own role in it. This is part one with Michael Rich.