My Trip to Argentina and Brazil

The Andes & Iguazu in Argentina & Amazonas & Pantanal in Brazil

September 3-26, 2007

I made my deposit on this trip in October 2005 so it was a long time in the planning. Nancy Hay also decided to go on this trip so once again we were room mates. This trip was led by Doug and Gail Cheeseman and the resident guide, Ricardo Clark. Following is a brief summary of the trip as written from my very brief notes taken during the trip. We did not have much (any) “free” time on this trip - barely enough time to catch up on sleep. It took me a week after getting home to catch up on sleep!

Monday 9/3/07 We left Menlo Park at 9:30 for our flight first to Dallas. I had am empty middle seat so it wasn’t too uncomfortable but the only thing the airline served was water - not even a bag of peanuts! Good thing I bought my lunch. Doug and Gail were on the same flight as Nancy and I. At Dallas we took the very efficient sky tram to the international airport so we did not have to go through security again - boy what a pain security is. There we boarded the plane for an overnight ten hour flight to Buenos Aires, it was a little longer because we had to detour in order to go around the current hurricane. We arrived at B.A. at 8:30 AM (4:30 AM California time). It was as good a flight as such a flight can be. Again I had an empty seat next to me so I could at least stretch out a bit, but it is still hard to sleep. We had what I thought was the worst airline dinner and breakfast - until the trip home where the meal was equally bad. American Airlines needs a new chef!

Tuesday 9/4/07 We breezed through customs and immigrations and then Nancy and I hurried to get some money in pesos. Then we went with Doug and Gail in a van to the hotel in the center of town were the rest of the group was staying - they had come a day earlier. I had been in Buenos Aires before but I had forgotten what a huge city it was with many very tall sky scrapers of very interesting architectural design. The traffic was horrendous. We said hello to the rest of the group and then waited outside for a while. While standing there a young man came up to us and started talking to us - I wondered what his line was going to be until he said he was Ricardo - our leader. I said do we look that much like birders? But it was our distinctive green tag on our back packs that gave us away. We were a total of 18, Doug and Gail, Ricardo and in Brazil his wife Paty, Nancy and me, Pam & Ted and Bill & Joan - those four we met in Trinidad. Also Bob & Patty, Lisa & Rob, Jim & Linda, and Janet and Carol. It was a good group! After our luggage was stowed we went to a near by park (Costanera Sur Reserve) and did some birding - it certainly felt good to walk but I was a little spacey from being tired so I don’t remember much. It was really nice park in the center of the town along the Rio Plata and was well used by lots of people walking the paths. After a picnic lunch we were driven to the domestic airport where we flew to Salta, in Lerma’s Valley at about 4000 feet. This airline had very tight seats but they served a dinner that could almost be called delicious - it was a steak. Of course Argentina is known for its good beef so it was nice to know that they included the good stuff for air travelers. Finally we were able to go to bed at out hotel - Hotel Huaico in the northwest corner of Argentina at the foot of the Andes.

Wednesday 9/5/07 We had a nice breakfast and then drove to the nearby Reserva del Huaico where we had a wonderful hike in a part of the Andean Yungas Cloud forest covering the slopes of Mount San Lorenzo. It was lovely walking, easy trails and not too hot. Here we began to learn what a marvelous leader Ricardo was. He would hear a tiny sound and tell us where to look for a particular bird. Throughout the whole trip his birding skills were amazing. His ability to bird by ear found us many otherwise hidden birds. We then went to the Reserve’s headquarters where we were served an excellent lunch by Ricardo’s son, Mauricio. In addition to sandwiches we were served a delicious Andean soup. After lunch we met downstairs where Mauricio and Ricardo’s wife, Patricia Marconi told us a bit about the reserve. Paty has done a lot of the work to make this area a reserve and is the president of the foundation. She is a conservation biologist and we were delighted to have her travel with us when we were in Brazil. She added much to our knowledge of the environment. (She was a lot of fun too!) After lunch we drove back to the hotel for a rest and to finally repack some of our stuff from our air flight. Then we drove to a private farm that had a large lake. We had great views of an Andean Tinamou, the odd looking Comb Duck, and some Flamingoes. We were at about 5600 feet elevation. Then we went out to dinner and had an excellent meal. The salad was a buffet and the servers would bring us meat on a skewer - our first of many such meals. The skewers were about 3 feet long and filled with several pieces of meat that had been grilled. You would point to the piece you wanted and the young man would slice off the piece onto your plate. The trick was to take only a small piece so that you could taste several different cuts of meat. They also had chicken and pork, some places had sausages as well. I remember that the beef was excellent and I ate too much, more beef than I eat in six months at home! After we were thoroughly stuffed we went back to our rooms and then the rest of the group went owling - I didn’t go but I heard that they had good looks at some owls.

Thursday 9/6/07 Up for breakfast and then we loaded up and left San Lorenzo by 7:30. We spent much of today driving through the Humahuaca Canyon to the town of Humahuaca which is about 9000 feet above sea level and 80 miles from the city of San Salvador. It is supposed to be an attractive town but since we arrived after dark and left before sunrise we didn’t see the town. We did stop some along the way and saw some interesting birds including the wonderful Torrent Duck. There were a couple of small towns seemingly in the middle of “nowhere”. They were all about the same, cinder block houses, the “usual” rural So. American homes. We arrived at our lodge in Humahuaca, Camino del Inca, basic but clean, a two story building around a courtyard. The dinner was interesting, they had 6 chicken, 4 goat soup, 4 spaghetti, and 4 steak dinners. Fortunately we all seemed to get our choice. Good night’s sleep.

Friday 9/7/07 We left at 6:30 after a breakfast of ham and cheese sandwiches and hard boiled eggs. Fortunately most places had something besides eggs since I don’t eat eggs. We also had some coca tea that is supposed to help with high altitudes. Today we spent most of the day driving (groan) to and back Lake Pozuelos Natural Monument - all over gravel and very bumpy roads. Our destination lake was at 12000 feet in the altiplano of Jujuy Province. This lake is about 140 miles north of Tilcara and about 60 miles from the border with Bolivia. Along the way to the lake we saw the wild Vicuna as well as the domesticated Llama. The Vicuna, Llama, Alpaca, and Guanaco are all related to the camel. At the lake we saw three species of Flamingo, Andean, Chilean, and Puna. We also saw a Lesser Puna Rhea and even better, an Ornate Tinamou. On the road here we stopped at a gas station and found we had to “pay to pee” - boy I hate that. After the Lake we had a long drive back - I’m getting so I can hardly walk. The scenery was much like the Easter Sierra landscape. There were occasional farms and communities but the area was not much populated. We got back for dinner and were offered a drink and then given two choices - veal or steak. Since I find it hard to eat veal I ordered steak - a safe choice I thought but.... it was a flank steak wrapped around an egg! Never thought my dislike of eggs would cause me so much trouble - I’ve had to scrap them off sandwiches and now this! Well you can imagine I scraped my steak very well - holding my nose the whole time! Finally we were in bed by 11 for a much needed night’s sleep.

Saturday 9/8/07 We had breakfast at 7 AM so we left in daylight and we could see a bit of the town. It was a small town - only a few blocks long, mostly adobe type homes and shops. The sidewalks and side streets were mostly dirt which left a layer of dust over everything. Most of the homes and buildings in the Andes are were of cinderblock or brick with some of an adobe type. They were small and in general colors were earth tones. Most people here make a living from agriculture so there were a lot of small farms planted with a wide variety of produce. Llamas are raised for their wool and some Vicuna wool is also used. I would have liked to buy something made of this wool but we never really were anyplace to buy anything. In fact postcards and stamps were even hard to come by and then it wasn’t easy to mail them. Not a lot of shops where we were traveling! We continued driving down slope through the Humahuaca Canyon stopping for birding along the way. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that served excellent empanadas. They are some what like a small pasty - maybe 2-3 bites size. I think they were fried after being filled. Some had meat, some had cheese, and some had chicken. They kept bringing them until we were full. We continued driving most of the day heading back to Salta. We saw lots of ranches - some with very nice large homes. But when I say large I do not mean large like the monster homes we have around here in Silicon Valley in California. The towns we drove through were similar to many of the smaller So. American towns - a mix of old with new and busy. Salta is a good size town with some very modern buildings next to some old, with a real mix in the type of homes. Here we checked in at the airport in order to fly to Buenos Aires and found the flight was an hour late. Fortunately Ricardo’s son, Mauricio brought us an excellent dinner which was elegantly served in the airport parking lot. We had a fun party there with quiches, empanadas, wine, and fruit. Finally our flight left arriving at Buenos Aires at midnight expecting a driver to pick us up. But no one was there and Ricardo couldn’t get anyone in the office because of course it was closed. I’m not sure of the whole story but eventually a bus driver arrived - either he couldn’t find a parking place, fell asleep, or both. Anyway he took us to a hotel downtown where we sort of slept for three hours in a tiny dumpy little room that was hot as an oven - not the best night’s sleep!

Sunday 9/9/07 We had to get up early in order to fly to Iguazu Falls so we didn’t get much of a breakfast, just some coffee and dry crackers. At Puerto Iguazu on the Argentine side of the falls we were met by a guide, Balen and taken to the Park. We went to our hotel, the Sheraton Hotel, which was inside the park and we rearranged our luggage and then walked to the falls. (google “Sheraton International Iguazu Sheraton” to see web page of this place.) We took a shuttle train from the hotel to the entrance to the falls. It felt wonderful to take a fast walk out to the end of the board walk and see the falls. They are absolutely amazing. Iguazu Falls has been called one of the seven natural wonders of the world and it is easy to see why. It is not just the height of the falls it is the width and the setting. They are on the border of three countries, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Although Brazil has done some damming for power, in general the three countries cooperate in keeping this area in a natural and preserved state. Both sides have some walk ways to allow you to walk out to see the falls - you can walk both below the falls and above them. Then we were given a picnic lunch which we all enjoyed. Then we once again walked out to the falls as a group and since it was less crowded this time we were able to do some birding along the way as well as enjoying the views. There were also lots of fish to see as well as one caiman. The engineering of the bridge was a wonder - very sturdy to walk on and not very obtrusive. Of course we took lots of photos but the falls were far more than any photo can show. They are not just one fall but many falls and very wide. The falls are at least a mile wide and they fall 200 feet. It is hard to compare them to other falls in the world but these statistics are much greater than Niagara. Suffice it to say we were all very impressed. In the afternoon I went back to the hotel about 4:00 while most of the group went on a bird walk in another part of the rain forest. But I was so tired from all the flights and lack of sleep that I really enjoyed some time to relax, do some laundry and repack, plus take a long good shower. I also wanted to write some postcards and it was a good thing I did as post cards were hard to come by on this trip, let alone stamps and places to mail. Since this was really a tourist location the little store in the park sold postcards so I was able to buy some, but they wanted $5 to mail them! I thought that was a little much but I later found out from the hotel people that I could get Argentina stamps for 40 cents and mail them via regular mail. The $5 was in order to have them sent via the private concession in the park! I wrote the cards here and had the hotel people mail them for me. Good thing I did that as there were only a couple of other places along the way where we could buy post cards - at the airports and we also had to mail them from the airport as we were headed home. Then of course there was time - we were so exhausted and went to bed so late that we had little time for writing. Same too for buying any souvenirs - there just wasn’t anything to buy except at the airports and then we had almost no time to shop there. So I didn’t buy any souvenirs from this trip. Anyway I got all this done and then went down to dinner with the group when they got back from their walking - it was a buffet dinner and was all right - nothing memorable.

Monday 9/10/07 This morning 6 of us slept in while the rest of the group got up early to go birding in the forest. It was nice to sleep until 7:00 and then have a leisurely breakfast. Then Nancy and I - and the other four also went for a walk along the falls. We covered all the walk ways, both below the falls and then along the top of the falls. The views were absolutely spectacular. Seeing the Great Dusky Swifts made the whole walk worth while. I have seen swifts before and seen them from the distance flying in and out of a water fall but never have I seen them so close up. We were right next to the swifts and could see them clearly without binoculars. There were lots of young clinging to the cliff walls and the parents were feeding them - flying in and out and straight through the water. It was absolutely fascinating to watch - one of those rare natural phenomenon's that I felt privileged to watch. Finally we had to go back to the hotel where we repacked and then met the rest of the group - they brought us back our box lunch which we ate in the lobby. Then we loaded up the bus and drove to Brazil. Entering Brazil reminded me very much of entering East Germany in the 80’s before the wall came down. First of all before we left the U.S. we had to pay $100 for a visa to enter Brazil - they do that because the U.S. requires the same for Brazilians to enter the U.S. We crossed the border where there was a very large station house. We had to park the bus and all of us got out where we stood in line to have our passports checked. We had to fill out a form that eventually was stamped. We were warned if we lost it we would have to pay $75 when we left Brazil. We stood in line for a very long time - close to an hour and the line was very much longer when we left. There were a lot of uniform men standing around but only one was working at the check in window. Some lady was having some kind of trouble and she took all his his attention plus two other men. She was still there when we left. Finally another man came to check us in and it was all very serious and official. Fortunately Ricardo speaks Portuguese so he was there if we needed help. It all seemed very silly and so officious to me but I guess they have their reasons. Eventually we were done and drove to the park to see the falls. At this place we parked our bus, paid our fees and then a two story park bus drove us into the park. Efficient way to control the traffic. Here we walked down the path with lots of pristine views of the falls from various angles. We could see our former hotel across the river at one point. At the bottom we could walk clear out to the end of the board walk and feel the spray of the falls beneath us. When we were finished enjoying the views at the bottom of the path we were able to take an elevator back to the top - which saved us from a long hike back up. Then we drove to our Hotel - the Carima - what a strange place. It was like a huge warehouse with halls branching off to rooms, more halls, restaurants and so forth. The front “lobby” had a display of cars, old movie projectors and so forth. You could hear the echo as you walked and you could also get lost very easily. It was strange. Photos help a bit and they have a web site at: www.hotelcarima.com.br that show the outside and inside to give a feel for the place. We had a buffet dinner - again all right and were happy to go to bed although we had to get up early for a 5 AM departure. It should be noted that most nights on this trip we went over the bird list - checking off the birds we saw for the day - we usually did this after dinner or while waiting if dinner was to be served.

Tuesday 9/11/07 We were up early and left at 5:15 in order to fly to Sao Paolo and from there to fly to Manaus. Here we started a series of flights on TAM airlines. We had to pay a $80 departure tax from the city of Foz do Iguazu. When we got to Sao Paolo we found our flight was one and a half hour late so we checked in and then hung around. On both flights we were given a small snack package - not much but better than anything on U.S. flights, some cheese and crackers and a yogurt bar. In one city - before our flight we stopped at a hummingbird garden. The owner had several humming bird feeders set up and we just sat down and watched the birds and tried to identify them before they flew away - they were gorgeous. Finally we arrived in Manaus. Manaus is the capital of the state Amazonas and is only accessible via air from other places in Brazil. It is in the middle of the Amazon forest and was once a major rubber producing city. The rubber barons wanted to make it a major cultural center so among other things they built a huge and elaborate opera house which opened in 1896. It was overhauled in the 1990’s and is a showplace. The city of about a million and a half population is today a center supplying much of the electrical and electronic goods for the rest of Brazil. I think there is some tax incentive by the government to encourage this. There is a road out of Manaus that goes to Caracas, Venezuela, but the rest of the transportation is done via air and water. The plane was full as we flew in and many people had bags that looked like they had been shopping. There were a lot of businessmen dressed in business suits, although how they did that in the heat and humidity I don’t know. We had a pizza lunch across from the opera house so while we were waiting for it we were able to walk around the building and peak in the windows. Some of the nearby buildings were also very elegant and with more of a European style. It looked like an interesting city - I would have liked to have seen a bit more of it - it seems such an anomaly in the middle of the jungle. After lunch we drove a slow 15 miles to our hotel in Punta Negra, a large peninsula in the Solimoes River. I finally have decided that different areas have different names for the Amazon River. Some people just call everything the Amazon River. Some of the rivers that flow into one big river are given separate names. Manaus is supposedly on the Rio Negro and this river which is black and the Solimoes River which is brown flow side by side before they merge into one river with the same color. Our hotel was really the main business in the area - it had a small courtyard with some shops where we were able to buy some post cards and stamps - hurrah! This was another cavernous hotel - it took us 15 minutes to walk to our room from the lobby and we all got lost a couple of times. We birded around the hotel area for a while until it was too dark to see anything and then we went to our rooms where we had two hours to get ready for dinner! Nancy and I even had time to go downstairs to the bar for a drink before dinner. I can’t remember the dinner but it was probably all right. In general the food in Brazil was not as good as the food we had in Argentina - the beef was much inferior but they still served a lot of it. I ate more beef on this trip than I normally do in a whole year!

Wednesday 9/12/07 We were up early for a long drive along a dirt road to a canopy tower (150 feet) in the Anavilanhas Forest Reserve. (It is this dirt road that continues on to Caracas - several trucks passed us.) I believe this tower was built by NASA for weather observation. I was looking forward to this as tower birding is usually so exciting to see birds at eye level in the middle of a forest but this experience was a little disappointing. We saw few birds close up and most were in the distance. On the way we did get to see a golden-handed tamarin (a marmoset) which was a real treat. After the tower we drove to a restaurant where we spent two hours getting our meal. We rather overwhelmed them with our number although they did have a large number of tables and not many customers. We drove to Iracema Falls and walked along the trail there to the falls. The trail was difficult in parts with rickety steps through a very narrow spot. Eventually we turned off the path to look for bats in a cave and it was at that point we realized Linda was missing. We spent a rather nerve wracking time until she was found. The group headed back to the bus on the main well marked trail while the leaders split up and each went on a different trail looking for her. Of course she was eventually found and we were all happy to see her. At this point we drove back to the hotel - a long drive. We ate dinner at 8:30 - Nancy and I got lost in the hotel on the way to the restaurant - it is a huge place!.

Thursday 9/13/07 We did some birding around the hotel in the morning and had good looks at several birds and a black faced squirrel monkey, an endemic species. Then breakfast and we were on our way to the airport in order to fly to Tefe. We made a stop along the way and I’m not sure of the name of the town but I think it was Coari. It was along the River Solimoes. The man next to me tried to tell me a bit about the city and I think he said it was a very rich oil city. The plane was full and the passengers looked like locals returning home. We looked like the only tourists on the plane. After the stop here - with lots of luggage and boxes unloaded we continued on to Tefe. There we were met by a woman from the management of Uakari Lodge. She loaded us in several taxies along with all our baggage and we were quickly driven through the town of Tefe to the harbor where the boats were docked. Everything was very chaotic and it was hard to keep an eye on your own luggage until it finally got loaded in the luggage boat. Tefe is a port town on the portion of the Amazon River that is known as Solimoes. From what I saw it is not a very well off town but it did seem to be a busy jungle town - with school children at school, people riding bikes, and lots of businesses. Soon our luggage was loaded on one boat and we were loaded in two boats for our two and a half hours boat trip to the Uakari Lodge where we would be staying for 5 nights. It was exciting to be in the heart of the Amazon Basin on one of the main rivers. For the most part the river was mostly brown and about a mile wide. This was not the rainy season so we could see on the banks how high the river would go. We could see how the banks change, sometimes collapsing and sometimes building up. Many villages are built next to the river and are sometimes lost in a season. There were various small villages that we could see along the river, small wood frame houses, sometimes a school. At this time of year there were long steps down to the river where small boats were often waiting for transportation and fishing. Along the way we were delighted to see River Dolphin, including the pink River Dolphins. There are two different stories about the pink dolphins, one person said the pink was formed by scar tissue from fighting with each other - but the book I read said the pink is from blood flowing just under the skin and the deepness of the color is related to the cloudiness of the water. In any case we saw lots of the pink and the gray Dolphins. Finally we arrived at Uakari Lodge - our floating home for 5 days. There are about 5 buildings housing 2 bedrooms each that are built on floats that can rise and lower with the changing water level. They are all connected to the main lodge building via wooden walkways. The water level in the rainy season would be some 30 feet higher that it was at this time, so instead of walking in the forest we would have ridden boats through the forest. This lodge sits in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve and the whole area is the result of the initial work of one man, Jose Marcio Ayres who came to study the white uakari monkey in the 1980’s. Through his work the Brazil people and government created the reserve and eventually the lodge was built to accommodate some eco tourists and provide a source of income for the area. The native people of the forest have continued to live inside the reserve and the work is done with their cooperation. They supply much of the food for the lodge. Many of them work at the lodge in various capacities and they are very well trained. Some of them go to various schools to learn what they need to know for the job they are going to do. Our guides on the trail were excellent, they were wonderful at spotting birds and if they couldn’t say the name they could show us a picture of the bird. They were also very good at putting each of us on the bird - no giving up. They carried water for us, made sure we were keeping up on the trails, and shared lots of sites and information with us. They were a delight. Apparently they only work at the lodge for a week or so each month so they can go back to their homes and family and maintain their usual way of life. The lodge is run by solar power and works pretty well although for 3 out of the 5 mornings we had no light and had to dress in the dark. The rooms were comfortable with enough room to unpack our stuff and the shower was a good one - we didn’t need much hot water since it was warm all the time we were there. Bugs were somewhat of a problem, some people slept under the mosquito netting to keep the bugs off of them but it was too hot for me. When I walked into the room at night and first turned on the light I chased several cockroaches out the door and with the satisfaction that I couldn’t see anymore I went to bed without thinking of them anymore. The food was served buffet style and we learned the hard way that if there was something you really wanted but you didn’t get there first and they ran out you were out of luck. Potatoes were particularly popular and they always ran out of those before everyone got some. Since all supplies had to come some distance by occasional boats they did not have a stock pile of extra food. I did not like the food here. The food probably was in the local style. Some people didn’t mind it as much as I did because beans and rice were served at every meal but I don’t eat beans. Also the breakfasts were horrible, just fruit and some bread, nothing of substance. A couple of times I asked and got a piece of cheese but they ran out of cheese too. Considering our long four hour walks in the morning we needed something more lasting. Fortunately Lisa gave me some of her nuts which got me through. Anyway that is the setting of this lodge. After arriving we ate lunch and then had a rest during the heat of the day. Then we had a lovely forest walk from about 4 to 6, dinner and a lecture, on the history of the Reserve - I think. Going to bed we could hear the caiman that were in the waters around our lodge as well as the most curious fish, the pirarucu - one can reach 9 feet and 400 pounds, one of the largest fish in the world. Our cabin was surrounded by these. They can live in these low levels of water which are low on oxygen at this time of year because they can breath oxygen from the air by rising to the surface every 15 minutes or so. They do so with a huge splash of water left our balcony and walk way soaking wet. We could hear them all night long and at times they would rock the cabin with their splash.

Friday 9/14/07 We could hear birds singing early in the morning - many on the railing outside out window. We could also hear the Howler Monkeys.We were up early and had to dress in the dark because there was no electricity in our cabin. Good thing we had flashlights. There was a candle but because of the humidity the matches were damp but I think I finally got one lit. We got dressed and went outside at 6 AM where we had some wonderful birding from the deck in front of the dinning room. Then we had our breakfast and got into boats and went to one of the trails for a four hour walk in the forest. This walk was absolutely wonderful. I was walking along in 100 degree temperature, 95 % humidity, my clothes were soaking wet and I thought “I paid money for this voluntarily?”. But I looked around me and felt an overwhelming sense of joy that just took my breath away, I haven’t felt that joy for several years now. We were surrounded with such an amazing diversity of vegetation, the freedom to just walk was wonderful, the birds beautiful - I have always loved rain forest birding and I was glad to be back. Speaking of the heat and humidity, I was glad that I tolerated it so well - better than I used to. I think losing weight has helped a lot. Every morning on these walk I would drink two bottles of water for a total of 32 ounces - this was just to replace the water lost to sweat. In the rainy season this whole area would be under water - at least 30 feet of water, this forest is called the varzea - a seasonally flooded forest. (The other forests that are not under water are called the Terra Firme forests.) Anyway it was a wonderful walk and felt great. You hear so much about the troubles with the destruction of the forest - and we could see that from the plane - but it is good to know that there are places like this that are saved from destruction and that there are so many people working on the environment. It is nice to hear some good news once in a while. We walked across an area and the guides signaled the boat drivers with a whistle and they came over and took us back. We ate lunch and then had a 2 hours rest period which was most welcome. I slept a bit, worked on my bird list, and laid in the hammock and watched the river flow by. Then we had a boat ride on the “lake” and saw lots of birds plus the caiman - there are two types that we have seen, spectacled (or black) caiman here and Paraguan Caiman in other areas. Back at dusk for dinner and a welcome sleep.

Saturday 9/15/05 Up for breakfast at 6:30 hearing again the Howler Monkeys in the background. We heard them all the time throughout every day, the sound is part of the fabric of the jungle. I love the sound. Once when we were walking the guide pointed to his nose and said “Howler” - that is how they find them. We had smelled the smell before so it was nice to know what it was. Again we went into the boats and went to another trail which we walked on for four hours - hot and humid as usual but you do get rather used to it - as long as you drink plenty of water. We spent some time watching a very large frog (toad?) near his burrow. He was photographed extensively. We also found a sloth that was down near the bottom of the tree, it had an interesting pattern on its back - it might have been a young one. We did see both the three toed and the two toed sloth in this area. Then back to the lodge for lunch and a 2 hour rest period. I slept and did some laundry. Then we took another afternoon boat ride and saw even more species of birds. It amazes me that each time out in the same sort of habitat we continue to see new species. I don’t know the numbers yet because I haven’t done my bird list but it is several hundred I’m sure - the group list will be even more but most of us saw most of the group birds when we went out. Back for dinner and then some of the people went out for a night walk but I stayed back - I don’t want to stumble around in the dark.

Sunday 9/16/07 Again we went for an early morning walk from about 7 AM until noon. We went on a new trail but still in the same kind of forest and yet we saw new species of birds - amazing. The other amazing thing is how wet we get - we sweat from the heat but it is so humid we stay wet. I wonder how people get used to it. One day I wore a cotton shirt and it stayed wet for hours - I can see the advantage of the synthetics we now have. Anyway it was a nice walk and among other birds I got to see well was a jacamar which is one of my favorite birds. We came back for lunch and a 3 hour siesta - we slept, did laundry, tried to work on my bird list. Then we went on a boat ride up to one of the lakes were we planed to stay for the sunset. The sunsets in Brazil are absolutely beautiful - the red color starts an hour or so before the sun actually sets and makes for some beautiful pictures. Unfortunately the color is the result of the pollution from the smoke of the burning forest fires. They still are burning lots of land in order to clear it for planting. We could see some of that from the air when on the planes. Anyway on this boat trip I found a White Bald Uakari - a very rare endemic monkey. We were sort of watching for jaguar which is always a hope so I was watching along the banks when I noticed some trees swaying. I thought it was odd that the wind was just moving the one tree but then I looked more carefully and saw the white coat and red face of the monkey. Everyone in our boat got to see it too and we watched it move through the trees - beautiful animal and one of the reasons for this reserve. It is found no where else and may be in its own genus. We were also lucky enough to see a margay which is also hard to find.We also saw hoatizin - very prehistoric looking birds that are so clumsy as they move through the trees. We arrived at the lake where I saw more egrets in a group then I have ever seen before - it was a beautiful and amazing site. We enjoyed looking at the birds while we also watched the sunset. Then we headed back for the lodge - in the dark. We had several adventures coming back. We were warned that fish might be jumping in the boat - they jump up to get the bugs above the water and with the headlights and spot lights there were even more bugs around the boat. Well the fish seemed to land in the space in front of me and I did not like it. At first there was a little one - well I couldn’t stand watching it die but neither could I stand to touch it and get the fish smell on my hand. Finally someone threw it back in the water. But then this kept happening for a total of 7 fish jumping in the boat and they got bigger - we had 3 that were at least 18 inches and they flopped around a lot getting the fish smell on my clothes and bag. One actually cut Paty’s leg with it’s fin. So each time someone had to pick up the fish and throw it over while I climbed up on the seat to keep it off my feet. Ricardo had to climb over the seat several times to get it. So it was a lively boat ride back. The other boat had the same problem and Linda was the one to suffer through this “fun” (some thought it was fun). I had to work hard for the next boat ride to not be afraid of the same experience - I didn’t like it. As we continued the ride the driver told us a storm was coming and to cover up so we put our gear in plastic bags and got ready. The lightning was wonderful and far enough away to not fear. We had both the heat (sheet) lightning and the jagged lightning. Until the clouds covered the sky we enjoyed the stars and a satellite passing by. Eventually we did get rained on but I can’t remember if it was very much. I don’t remember having a problem drying out back at our room (of course you never really dry out here). Anyway it was a “fun” adventure. “Some” people still make references to the time a cow chased me on a birding trip some 20 years ago, I suppose the same people will now forever refer to the night the fish attacked me! Oh well!

Monday 9/17/07 It was cool this morning and had rained during the night. Again we took a morning walk and again we saw new species of birds. We saw two new Kingfishers so we have now seen all the kingfishers that live in Brazil. We had great looks at a trogan and an Ivory Billed Aracari - both fun birds to see. We also finally got to see the Horned Screamers - such strange birds. Once again we were so impressed with the quality of our native guides. By now we have come to expect and accept the amazing expertise of Ricardo but it was a delight to find that our guides were so good as well. They were also very thoughtful and helpful. I wish we didn’t have a language barrier so we could have told them how much we appreciated their help - but we did say thank you with words and money. We had our usual 2 hour break and then a woman who was doing research on the dolphins came and talked to us about her research. She gave us a well presented presentation and it was most interesting. Then we took a boat ride to see the dolphins which we did - but not as well as the ones we saw on our trip the first day. We went to the point were the Solimoes and the Japura Rivers meet to see the Dolphins. All these rivers join together to make the Amazon River but in Brazil the name Rio Amazonas is only applied to the lower reaches. Many of the rivers are periodically divided into separate channels by islands that form so everything on the water is constantly changing. As usual we saw a couple of new bird species and then headed back for dinner. Later in the evening a local band played for us but I didn’t go as I’d already taken a shower and was in my pajamas - but I could hear them - they were plenty loud.

Tuesday 9/18/07 In the morning we took a short walk on the back side of the lodge area - still had to take a short boat ride. We were rewarded by seeing a Howler monkey with a juvenile. We hear them much more than we see them. Then we packed up and loaded up in the boats for our trip to Cuiaba in the state of Mato Grosso. I can’t even remember the details of this trip as we were in and our of planes all night and it was 36 hours before we slept in a bed again. We really lost one night. We arrived in Tefe and had the mad scramble to load up in taxies - ourselves and our luggage while standing around on the sandy beach in the hot sun. First we stopped at the office where we at least could use the rest room and then went to the Tefe airport. We flew to Manaus via Tabatinga I think - a small town on the border with Columbia and Peru. We flew from Manaus to Sao Paolo from about midnight to 5:30 AM. Then we flew from Sao Paolo to Cuiaba arriving around noon. In between and during this flights we tried to sleep, eat a decent meal, eat (or not) the snack package given on the plane and try not to be crabby! We all survived pretty well.

Wednesday 9/19/07 We arrived in Cuiaba this morning - exhausted from 24 hours of traveling. Cuiaba is the capital of the state Mato Grosso which means “large forest”. It contains the Pantanal region as well as an area of abundant savannah and woodland. It probably has the most area in Brazil subject to destruction by burning. It is mostly an agrarian state with an economy based on cattle raising. We were picked up at the airport by a bus and were delighted to see it was a new and comfortable bus and our driver had filled the back of the bus with lots of drinking water. Our driver, whose name was Joseph Carlos was a wonderful driver and got us comfortably over rough roads and out and in tight spots. We drove through Cuiaba and headed south-west, Cuiaba seemed to be a very busy and congested city. We drove about 60 miles to Pocone where we stopped for lunch. It was a place that brought pieces of grilled meats on a skewer to the table and cut pieces off for you. Some of it was pretty good - especially the spicy sausages. It is here that we entered the area knows as the Pantanal. The Pantanal is called “one of the most immense, pristine, and biologically rich environments on the planet”...And from our visit there ...with good reason! It is the worlds largest freshwater wetland system and extends through central-western Brazil, eastern Bolivia, and eastern Paraguay. We had absolutely wonderful wildlife experiences here in the Pantanal. After lunch we left the paved road and drove some 30 miles along the Transpantaneira. The Trans-Pantanal highway is a raised 80 mile dirt road with about 125 crude wooden bridges over the low spots. Not all bridges are kept in good (any) repair but since this is the dry season our bus driver was able to go down and around those broken bridges. We did see crews working on one bridge. This area is seasonally flooded and attracts huge numbers of water birds. But during the dry season the water is more concentrated so along the road in the wet areas we saw huge numbers of Jabirus, (a huge stork), Ibis, herons, egrets and so forth. It was awesome. We stopped along the way for several photo opportunities and to see the other small birds. I got to seen a guan which I wanted to see as its species name is “Penelope”. This road is mostly used for tourism and Ricardo told us that 10 years ago there were only 3 eco tourist lodges and today there are 42 in this area. Finally we arrived in Pixaim, along the Pixaim river. Because our hotel was called Hotel Best Western Pantanal I sort of expected something along the lines of a Best Western - how wrong could I be! Fortunately the place was clean but my it was small. We had to have a major discussion about where to put our suitcases so we would both have access and not trip over them on the way to the small bathroom. But the place was delightful and comfortable with a swimming pool which we all took advantage of. The wildlife around the hotel was abundant and the food was reasonably good. It was served buffet style. We stayed here two nights.

Thursday 9/20/07 It was great to wake up after a wonderful nights sleep in a bed! We had a good breakfast after a pleasant early morning walk along the river - a lovely setting. After breakfast we drove around the area and stopped and walked and saw lots and lots of birds - it was great. We could barely study and enjoy one bird before another arrived. We also saw a marsh deer which is one of the symbols of the Pantanal as it can live in the marshy areas. We also saw the Little Brocket Deer. Back for lunch and a nap then in the afternoon we boarded a boat and went up the river with two characters for drivers. Our goal was to see the giant river otters. First we saw a tapir and I got to clearly see a sunbittern in flight with its beautiful wing pattern. We also had several close views of capybara - the largest rodent. Eventually the other boat saw some otters but they were gone by the time we arrived - but not to worry - these guys earned their money. They continued on to a place where they knew the otters had burrows and gave a whistle. Eventually one otter came out - lured by the promise of a free fish which the drivers had lots of. We later found out that this one otter had grown up near a family and was later released here. But other otters came out and we could hear the wonderful sound the rest made in their burrows. We could also see the bushes move as they swam around. One otter came out and walked on the land so we could see how big it really was. It was close to 6 feet long - they get to weigh about 75 pounds. I was surprised how big they were and close up they looked almost mean - not cute like the sea otters. They are seriously endangered because of excessive hunting. Eventually we left them to their own devises and headed back to our motel enjoying a beautiful smoke enhanced sunset. After dinner one of the guides came and gave us a performance by playing his guitar and singing. It was wonderful - there is a mystique about the Pantanal shared by the locals that is special. It is like the old west in California or the outback in Australia. I enjoy his songs and wished we could have listened longer but facing a early morning after a long day we finally had to say good night and go to bed.

Friday 9/21/07 Left at 8:30 in our bus and drove to Porto Jofre. Along the way we stopped many times for some wonderful scenes and lots of birds. We continued to hear Howler Monkeys. We stopped at an old hotel along the way for a lunch break - we had sandwiches from the hotel with us and were lucky enough to see the Hyacinth Macaw - a beautiful deep blue bird. It is very endangered because there is a black market where some Europeans pay as much as $50,000 for a bird. They are not allowed into the United States. Unfortunately they have not been successfully bred in captivity so there are some warped people who will pay anything to possess one, even if 5 die for the one that survives the trip. This place where we ate lunch is a tourist motel but it has not been kept up very well. They opened one room for us to use the toilet and we were surprised to find the toilet filled with small tree frogs! That was an interesting and memorable experience! Eventually after several hours and about 60 miles we arrive at Hotel Porto Jofre, Pantanal Norte. Porte Jofre is on the Cuiaba River, less than 30 miles from the Bolivian border. This hotel caters to fishermen but this was off season. Apparently there are some very rich businessmen in Brazil who fly their airplanes in for fishing season - also for the weekend. There were several planes and several men over the week end (no women) and they were all gone by Monday. The owner and his wife came one day and enjoyed a visit with Ricardo. He is one of the few birding guides to have brought groups here. The area of the hotel is very large with a variety of buildings and rooms. We had a row of rooms that were made up of 5 or so buildings, each with two rooms side by side. We had a very large room with two twins and a double so we had plenty of room for our stuff. The room was air conditioned and we had great racks to hang our clothes up. We had no trouble drying out our clothes. After checking in by about 3:30 we had time for a wonderful swim, shower, rest, some birding and dinner. I walked around the complex several times to get some walking exercise after all the riding we have been doing and felt much better. Again the food was served buffet which is really the best way for a large group like ours. We also tried the national drink - caipirinha. Excellent, very sweet and very strong. It is made with Cachaca which is made from sugar cane, and with lime and sugar over crushed ice. After one I really could feel the impact of the drink - I don’t know how some people drank 3. We had them several other nights - it was fun to have but not a drink I’d care to continue drinking outside of Brazil.

Saturday 9/22/07 Up early as usual - before sunrise because our goal today was to see a jaguar and supposedly sunrise was the best time. We loaded up on two boats and headed out. Within 15 minutes we saw a jaguar - he was beautiful. He was at the river edge and standing sideways to us so we saw his full body. He turned and looked at us for maybe 20 seconds and then turned away and faded into the forest. We all got wonderful looks but no photos! The photographers were not ready so soon for him. Well Bob did get a photo with his more or less point and shoot camera which I thought was pretty good but it wasn’t good enough for the heavy duty photographers who wanted their own photos. My how they obsessed over that! We continued on the boat for another 4 hours seeing some great birds and a tapir and a troop of Capuchin Monkeys with juveniles who put on quite a show for us - jumping from tree to tree - but no more jaguars. We went back for lunch, had a swim, walk, rest and in the afternoon headed out in the boats again with the hope for more jaguars. We did see two more jags - one very briefly in the dark - I saw the eye shine first, and one we saw his head very well while his body was in the grass. He stood still and watched us for a long time. We also saw lots of capybaras in family groups, some swimming and lots of young ones. On the way back in the dark we once again had some fish in the boat but I was sitting in a different place and they weren’t near me.

Sunday 9/23/07 The photographers just weren’t happy with no good photos of the jaguar so Doug rented a boat this morning and several people went on another boat ride. I chose to go walking and looking for birds. We walked along the road starting at 6:30 and again saw some wonderful birds and new trip birds. In additions we were treated to the excellent view of a Collared Anteater - walking down the runway. He was a beautiful animal and lots of fun to see. Not to forget weather reports it was 100 degrees at 8:49 AM - hot I guess. At least it wasn’t quite as humid so although I sweated a lot my clothes did get a chance to dry off. I should also mention that we were not bothered hardly at all by bugs on this trip. There were a few mosquitos - mostly at night and mostly in the boats when the lights were on but bites were not a big problem. The bus was going to pick us up at noon or so down the road but by 11 or so several of us were out of water and Gail decided to go back and get some - I decided to go back period so we walked back and eventually everyone else did too. We rested, swam, and went for lunch. We were glad when the boat group came back to hear that they saw a jaguar - he was swimming near their boat and they got wonderful close up photos of it. After lunch and a rest we again went out walking - the bus drove us a distance away and we started walking there. Incidentally one of our “target birds” was the Hyacinth Macaws and this place had 2 or 3 pairs of resident birds. I was able to take photos of them with my point and shoot camera. So we walked and found even more species of birds. Meanwhile Doug decided to walk back to the hotel and we later heard that he again rented a boat and he and Jim went out and saw another jaguar and got great photos. They were “higher than a kite” when they arrived back just in time for dinner. Meanwhile we continued birding until dinner time and went back just in time for dinner. During the night it got cold and windy and rained.

Monday 9/24/07 We loaded up and left early this morning for a long drive to Cuiaba. It was a good day to be driving because it was cold and windy and raining often. We did stop along the way for some birding. We stopped at our former hotel in Pixaim as well as the place with the frogs in the toilet (they were gone this time). We eventually arrived in Pocone where we again had lunch - mostly the same as we had on the way into the Pantanal. Pocone is the “Portal to the Pantanal” and it is here - traveling east - that the road becomes paved. After a long day we arrived in Cuiaba but since our plane didn’t leave until around midnight Ricardo took us to an urban park, “Mae Bonifacia”. We were looking for some special marmosets but along the way we found some more birds. Almost at dusk Ricardo finally spotted the Silvery Marmoset - the Pantanal race so we enjoyed some fine views of these little monkey like animals as a whole family gathered and snuggled together for the night. Then we headed for dinner at a nice restaurant - Cuiaba is a pretty good size town with several high rises downtown and a good eating spot. Again the meat was brought around on a skewer but I just couldn’t eat any more meat. I did have some salad and some fresh baked rolls. Then we went to the airport for our midnight flight arriving in Sao Paolo about 3:30 AM Tuesday morning. We checked in and went to bed - I didn’t even open my suitcase - I had my nightgown in my back pack.

Tuesday 9/25/07 We both slept until about 10 in the morning. When we finally got up and showered and dressed we went downstairs for lunch - again buffet style and pretty good. We had to be ready to leave at 5:00 for the airport so we just relaxed in our hotel. We looked out the window and could see that we were in a pretty depressed area of town so we weren’t interested in going outside around the hotel. And we had heard that Sao Paolo was one of the least safe cities so we were not particularly interested in a city tour in an hour or two. So we packed for our trip home - got dressed for the trip and left with the others for the airport at 5:00. The trip from Sao Paolo to Dallas to San Francisco went pretty smoothly. I had an empty seat next to me which was nice for sleeping and I did a little. Didn’t have to wait long for the shuttle to take me home and I got the driver who has taken me before. Got home and had something to eat before I went grocery shopping. I unpacked my suitcase and back pack out side just to make sure I didn’t import any bugs. So that was the trip. A very hard and exhausting trip but very worth while with lots of great memories. I would go back to South America in a minute (in fact I am next spring - to Chile!).

I saw 285 species of Birds in Brazil, 190 species of birds in Argentina (for a total of 220 for Argentina). I saw a total of 421 species for the trip. I added 185 species to my life list for a total of 2299 world species.

written from my notes and memory 10/6/07

Penelope Bowen