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Coffee, nuts and Carnivale in Rio - those are the things that spring to mind when Brazil is mentioned. While I did learn a bit about the nuts, at least, the focus of my trip was birds and wildlife.
So, what’s new? Ah, this eastern South American country is quite different from others I’ve been to down there, not just its huge size but the diversity of habitats and large number of endemic species must inevitably make it a target for the naturalist. Then too, there is the language, Portuguese, which seems to sound like a mixture of Spanish and German, but which, in any case, isn’t pronounced at all like either.
And the food, oh my goodness, what a treat to be in South America and not worry about eating the gorgeous fruits, juices and veggies! Not to mention the excellent and plentiful grilled meats, which seem to be especially common in Mato Grosso. Visits to 2 different churrascarias on various occasions found just about everyone departing with distinctly stretched waistbands! These restaurants are all-you-can-eat sorts of places, with long, communal tables, ample salad and hot buffets, and delicious fresh fruit juices from exotics such as Cashew fruit, Acerola (deep fuschia in color, yet not a berry-ish flavor, just my favorite), and Passion fruit. However, the pieces des resistance in any churrascaria are the grilled meats, which are served by constantly circulating waiters with long spits upon which the goodies have been charcoal grilled. There are lamb chops, sausages, chicken hearts (not an option for me!), chicken breasts, veal, pork and beef, in every shape and form, from fillet to short ribs. The favored cut, however, an absolute gourmet item, is the hump of the Brahma bull, which is indeed tasty and tender, being laced with fat (South Beachers would love it!) After a marathon stuffing session, a cart of desserts is rolled by, which manages to evoke groans followed by reluctant selections. Altogether, too good! The food throughout the trip was excellent, even the pizzas, despite the fact that in Brazil they don’t seem to believe in tomato sauce, and offer some rather bizarre combinations - we skipped the tuna and corn, and the “California” (which turned out to be cheese and fruits), but loved the garlic pizza, for instance. Home cooking was delicious, especially in the Pantanal, where rice and beans were always available, to be topped with fried manioc (sort of like crunchy grits), along with a variety of breakfast breads and cakes (love that cake for breakfast!), veggie casseroles and fresh salads, grilled meats and fish too. The Piranha soup was pretty good, a nice fish & tomato broth. I looked for some little teeth floating about, but no luck.
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After a direct overnight flight from Atlanta to Sao Paolo, I checked into the Best Western Panamby near the airport, where our Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT) group was staying, and met up with my great birding partner, Virginia Willcox, who had flown in from California the night before. We enjoyed poking about the hotel grounds, and managed a few lifers even there, such as the Sayaca Tanager and the huge Picazuro Pigeon. Just a taste of things to come! The next morning we flew to Cuiaba, the booming city of half a million in northern Mato Grosso state, and jumping off point for the Pantanal, S. America’s largest inland wetland area. We were surprised to find it far cooler than we’d expected, downright cold in the early mornings in fact, and very windy. These are not ideal conditions for birding, though we nevertheless did rather well with the local specialties. Our accommodations were very comfortable, though certainly not fancy, at the Fazenda Santa Tereza, a cattle ranch with 12 large, air-conditioned rooms, nice bathrooms with large, hot showers and plenty of hanging/storage space, all situated next to the Pixaim River (“Pee-sha-eem” is the closest I can get - you see what I mean about pronunciation!). We hiked the trails within the gallery forest along the edge of the river each morning, and took boat trips upstream later in the afternoons. Virginia and I, along with Bob Tallyn, another fine and eager birder, had great fun on our own forays along the trails during “siesta” time after lunch. The river was low and sluggish, but loaded with birds, plenty of egrets, with one evening roost of Snowy Egrets being especially memorable as hundreds flew in to roost for the night; lots of herons, of which the Rufescent Tiger-heron was perhaps the most common, always working along in the water hyacinths, and startling into the air with loud, squawking objections to our disturbances. The secretive, quietly foraging Agami Heron spotted by Virginia was a treat for all, and offered the best views I’ve ever had of this beautifully colored, large and long-billed bird, which hangs out in the shade of overhanging vegetation along quiet waterways. To enjoy long, well-lighted views is a rarity!
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We spent two days in the southern part of the Pantanal, the whole of which is basically accessed by one transecting dirt road along its N-S length. The trip of about 40 miles proved to be a bit of a challenge, as some bridge repair was under way, and in no particular hurry, it seemed! We literally walked a plank to get to the other side where, fortunately, our host from the Pousada Jaguar ferried us to our lodgings in shifts in the back of his pick-up. I found it best not to even look at the bridges we crossed which were still awaiting repairs... We had come here especially for the Hyacinth Macaws, and were not disappointed, as a family of 3 was in residence just across the road from our rooms. Two adults were patiently teaching a nearly fully grown youngster the intricacies of picking and eating their favorite palm nut, a process which requires considerable dexterity of foot and beak, as we observed. Their velvety shades of blues, long tails afloat in flight and brilliant yellow facial skin bordering jet black bills make for a memorable sight. There were other special birds to be found here too, as there was more standing water, with open marshy habitat at this time of the year, and lots of “fish traps”, where concentrated food draws hordes of Jabiru Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, and all the other usual suspects. The countless Caiman, too, looked fat and happy, if one can ever attribute a true smile to such a reptile, that is. A special sight here for my old friend, Tom Rivers, was the Maguari Stork, of which we enjoyed some great scope views.
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Back to the Fazenda for a few more nights, and it was now growing warmer by the day, much more typical for this time of year. Our one foray downstream on the Pixaim was planned to find the Giant River Otters, which are an endangered species with small family groups surviving in widely separated wilderness areas of S. America. I had been lucky to have excellent encounters with them in Peru, and was delighted to observe them yet again, but this time even more closely. They had been habituated to humans over the years, so that they would come right up to the boats to receive a treat, a Piranha dangled gingerly by its tail, our boatmen being well aware of the large, powerful bite of the 6 foot otter! We had the privilege of watching 6 of them playing in the water, grooming, and scampering ashore into their sandy dens which were dug up and under the overhanging riverbanks.
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Our return trip to Cuiaba found the bridge still under repair, though much to our surprise, our drivers headed right over the now only slightly more hefty planks, without a hesitation! We could hardly believe it, but their skills were indeed impressive. Next stop, the Chapada dos Guaimaraes - sorry, but I can’t seem to replicate that one for you. However, this is a lovely area, a large plateau, with dramatic views of the escarpment and its waterfalls from below as well as from our accommodations, Pousada Penhasco, right on the edge. Here we enjoyed very nice rooms with all mod cons, and balconies overlooking the view too. A trail system along the top and face of the cliffs was great fun to hike, in our spare time, and offered super views of the red rim-rock formations and cliffs, and repeat looks at some fine birds, such as the Helmeted Manakin, a stunner of a bird. The male is all black, except for a brilliant scarlet back and head which is topped with a helmet-like pointed projection just over its beak! Bizarre and wonderful, and even the drab green female has a little point too! There were lots of other birds in more forested habitats here, the most remarkable of which was an Orange-breasted Falcon, which flew in with a dove in its talons and perched upon a snag to pluck and devour it. We had long, leisurely scope views of this seldom seen raptor, which even our guides admitted were the best they’d ever had! The cerrado brush land on the plateau is home to some very special birds, such as the Horned Sungem, a small hummer with a colorful, tufted head, and the Red-legged Seriema, another crested bird, rather turkey-like and yes, it does have red legs!
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After returning to Cuiaba, we flew on to the northern edge of Mato Grosso, for some rain forest transition zone birding. This is the southern edge of the Amazon Basin. The flight up took us over vast fields of soy beans, which have replaced much of what was once lush rain forest. Here too we were to find things exceedingly dry, as they had not had a drop of rain for over 90 days. The rain forest should get a bit of rain even during the dry season, and the disastrous lack of precipitation was evident at every turn - dust everywhere, piles of dry, crackling leaf litter on forest trails, trees with drooping, dried epiphytes, very few insects. The birds were struggling to stay alive, not singing and probably not breeding either. Again, these were difficult birding conditions, though our guides worked long and hard to draw out every possible species. We surely missed some that should have been easily seen, but were simply absent, yet there were many memorable sightings.
Our destination was the lovely Rio Cristalino Lodge, accessed via a long, bumpy ride to the river, and a short boat trip up stream. Here we were housed in large, comfortable bungalows with cool tile floors, overhead fans and great showers. Lights were out ca. 10PM when the generator was turned off, though I seldom managed to stay awake that long! Meals were again excellent, served in a large, screened dining area with bar, and with a very nice library/lounge attached. Here I finally indulged in a Caiparinha, an altogether too delicious drink made with crushed fresh limes, sugar, and some sort of light, rummy liquor - yum! There was Brazilian wine available, though it was far more expensive and not memorable, and as I don’t drink beer, the Caiparinha became my evening treat, and only one was necessary! Our routine here was much like that in the Pantanal, as we headed into the rain forest in the early AM, came back for lunch, followed by a few hours of down time (though not for me!), and then enjoyed cooling breezes on boat trips along the river in later afternoon.
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Virginia, Bob and I set out on a trail one day following lunch, thinking we would return to the site of a small ant swarm we’d encountered earlier that day. However, we took a wrong turn, and ended up finding a lovely, much larger swarm which we were thrilled to observe for an hour or so, as the ants worked their way across the forest floor, exploring up and down every single sapling and twig, while all other creatures fled for their lives in advance and to the sides of the ever moving mass. Eventually, the ants crossed the trail in front of us, as we enjoyed the 4 species of antbirds which attended their progress. Antbirds don’t eat ants, by the way, but pluck up the abundant morsels which are scared up by the aggressive ants. The birds seem to go through periodic feeding frenzies, popping around the swarm, darting after anything that comes their way, like hyperactive kids in a moving candy store. It was perhaps the most memorable experience of the trip for me.
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Here too the river was low, with a couple of rapids requiring great skill to maneuver through and/or some hiking around the trickier spots to rejoin the boats further upstream. There was a new observation tower, at approx. 160 feet, a bit too high in some regards, as we were well above the canopy there. Still, the sight of Blue and Yellow Macaws, flying in tandem beneath us in the early morning light, was worth every step up the narrow stairways. Red-necked and Curl-crested Aracaris (rather Toucan-like birds) and Black-girdled Barbets put on excellent displays for us as well. One morning we were taken up and across the river to a rock-domed hill, which required the use of fixed ropes and ladders to get up to the top where we enjoyed yet another group of birds which we hadn’t seen elsewhere.
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Towards the end of our stay here the air was becoming increasingly smoke-filled, with bits of ash floating down occasionally. Upon leaving we could look back from the boat to see that fires were burning on either side of the reserve, quite possibly set by those who would take advantage of the drought to further their interests in clearing the land for timber and, eventually, more cattle and soybean fields. We stayed one night at Floresta Amazonica Hotel, whose charming hostess has been a pioneering force in preserving the Rio Cristalino forests. Here, in a small remnant forest patch just behind the hotel, we found an immature Harpy Eagle, perched by its nest and patiently awaiting the return of its parents with a meal. This is an awesome, powerful raptor, its tarsus can reach the size of a man’s wrist when fully grown, and as virtually the last bird of the trip, it was a very special finale.
I realized early on that a return trip or two will be necessary, as Brazil is so vast and offers so many special birds. The NE and Southern Atlantic forests, for instance, are definite musts, and Iguazu Falls offers some excellent birding too. My introduction to Brazil and its birds was a delicious taste of trips to come, I hope!
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