Here are some details about the amazing Peruvian Raffle Ticket deal from MT Amazon Adventures. Tickets are $50 each, available only to registered convention attendees, and only 50 tickets will be sold. Want to know more about the trip? Read on as Devon from MTAA explains:
Thank you for attending the 2026 All Aquarium Catfish Convention!
MT Amazon Expeditions (MTAE) is proud to support the convention by offering the chance to win a one week-free trip* valid through December 2028. All you need to do is purchase a raffle ticket. One hundred percent of the raffle ticket proceeds go to support the convention, and the more tickets you purchase, the greater your chance of winning. If you purchase a raffle ticket and don’t win but decide to go on a fish-collecting trip anyway, MT Amazon Expeditions will credit you with the value of the ticket(s)** that you purchased. It is a win-win, no-lose, very propitious proposition. And yes, you can choose to donate a winning ticket to a friend, a young aquarist, or even a rival who you hope doesn’t return from the Amazon. We’ll happily accommodate.
Why purchase a raffle ticket? OMG, you have to ask? The Amazon hosts the greatest vertebrate radiation in the world – fish. There are an estimated 5000 species found in the watershed, and new species are described every year. If you’ve ever wondered about the habitats that some of your favorite fish come from, this is your chance to see those in person. White-water rivers, black-water rivers, forest creeks and streams, drying pools, floodplain lakes, sandbars, mud-banks and more. You’ll never look at your husbandry of Amazonian fishes the same way again. Our jumping off spot for the trip is the city of Iquitos in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. This is the largest continental city in the world that is accessible only by boat or by airplane and has a character all its own. A stroll through the Belen Market (the city’s largest) will easily reveal 30-40 species of food fishes in a single visit.
Needless to say, catfishes are one of the hyper-diverse groups that will be encountered. From everyone’s favorite “Corydoras” (in all their new taxonomic glory), to giant [and tiny] pimelodids, plecos and loricariids, banjos, doradids, parasitic catfishes and more, you’ll have no shortage of droolage material. Other extremely diverse groups include cichlids, knifefishes, and the all-time winner, the characins. From neon-tetras and darter characins to massive pacus and the ever-present piranhas (with 4-8 species in most large-river locations) you’ll have no shortage of “tetras”. And then there are the odd balls – freshwater puffers, anchovies, stingrays, stonefish, lungfish, drum, herrings, needlefish and more.
One of the best parts of being on an MTAE trip is the opportunity to participate on a boat-based collecting trip. Unpack once, and every stop is a collecting/fishing opportunity. No changing hotels every night, no long van or mini-bus rides between collecting opportunities. Your dedicated fish room is on the first level. Your dining hall and social center is on the second level, and the third level is the vista-dome equivalent of a luxury train ride. 360o views of the river, beer [or beverage of choice] garden, stunning nighttime star shows, spectacular sunrises and sunsets, and yes, even the opportunity for the occasional open-air shower (OK, fire-house wash-down).
Full disclosure – the rooms are not large, and there are no in-suite bathrooms (but yes, there ARE bathrooms on board!). This is not a $1000/night/person Amazon cruise ship where you never have to break a sweat and are expected to dress up for AC-controlled meals and lectures. We have no intention of boring you at that level. If you are interested in a collecting trip, we know that you are willing to get wet, get muddy get bit/stung/pierced/spindled/mutilated/etc. (by any number of things, including a variety of fish), and simply have fun. You will eat as well as anyone on those luxury boats, however – just ask any past clients.
As a brief point of reference, on a typical trip, 30-50% of participants are repeat customers, so we’re either doing something right, or the food additives are truly working well. We have had one client cash in on a 10th free trip and then return for an 11th trip. That offer still stands, and we’ll even include a free raffle-winning trip as one of those “buy 9, get the 10th free” deals.
MT Amazon Expeditions will discount you up to the purchase price of four (4) non-winning raffle tickets towards a trip purchased.