The 2023 Brazil Journals, Chapter Seven

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Chapter Seven

Travel, Travel, Travel

 

 

It’s not what you look at that matters.

It’s what you see.

—Henry David Thoreau

 

 

 

 

It’s the end of our “pre-extension” trip to the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil. Today, after lunch, Ruan and his father will take us back to Sào Paulo, where we will spend the night.

 

Tomorrow begins the main course of our trip—the Pantanal Photo Tour, four remote lodges that all feature different things.   

 

This morning we hang out on the deck of the lodge watching for new species of birds and feeding the squirrels sunflower seeds.   Later in the morning, we are on the front patio where Sergio has set up a flower to entice hummingbirds.

 

An ibis, perhaps an Hadada ibis.

The gang.

At last the Brazilian Ruby shows the bright red feathers on its gorget (throat).  Unfortunately, my camera focused on the flower instead.   Should have used a longer depth of field.

Violet-capped woodnymph.

And then, we leave the wonderful, welcoming Trilha dos Tucanos for the four-hour drive to the city.   We do stop at a convenience store for a break, and this time we all know what to do with those large plastic devices, but this one throws another hitch into the mix.   

 

I have a couple items to purchase and step up to a machine that looks like a self-checkout register.   I swipe my card and the purchase is noted.  Not until I move about ten feet away and drop that plastic thing into a slot on the turnstile do I get a receipt, as well as an unlocked turnstile.

 

Quite ingenious, I think.   I wonder if this would work in the U.S.?

 

In Sào Paulo, we check into the Hampton hotel and finally meet our principle guide, Octavio Salles Compos, owner/operator of the company.  He’s a photographer, too, and has been published in National Geographic.  We have dinner and then breakfast the next morning.

Bring, boring, another hotel room.

 

Early!   Very early.   We have a flight to catch and Octavio wants to make sure we have plenty of time to get through any situations that might arise.   None do, and after an hour-long flight, we land in Campo Grande, somewhat in the center of Brazil.

In Campo Grande.

We travel from São Paulo, at lower right, to Campo Grande (A) in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, then WSW to Bonito and the Hotel Cabanas(A)

Octavio supervises the loading of our luggage into a steel container on a trailer attached to the van.   I wonder about what is in my luggage that might be affected be this "baking oven."

 It's a five-hour drive to our hotel, and along the way we stop for lunch at a large restaurant.

This is a very large restaurant with many dishes served buffet style.   After you finish there, you proceed to a grill area when you select whatever meat you want.   I ask for rare beef and Octavio translates.   Still no rare beef and it is as tough as the rest of the beef I've had in Brazil.

We aren’t yet in the Pantanal yet, but close.   Today’s destination is Hotel Cabanas, a short distance from the town of Bonito.

 

Our rooms are in a two-story cottage that has several rooms.

There's a common seating area that is very nice.   My room is behind the brick wall to the left.

Another view of the seating area.

Yes, this is my room.   This might explain a lot of things that will occur in the upcoming days.

Lots of desk area for my computer and camera gear.

Three beds.   There's also an area to hang clothes and a refrigerator under a counter behind me in this photo.

And a nice bathroom.   As you can see, the bathroom window is open.   The room is air conditioned so we leave the bathroom door closed.

 

We have two objectives here:  a natural sinkhole called Buraco das Araras and locating a giant anteater.

For now,  we have time to unpack and wander the lovely grounds.   

We meet Octavio in the open-air lounge and place our dinner orders, as he suggests, then agree to meet back at 7 P.M.

I do not take any photos of dinner.   We encounter one problem--the little packets of ketchup are impossible to open.   

I have a solution to the ketchup problem and once I'm back in my room, I slip  the solution into my camera bag so I'll have it the next time: