The 2023 Brazil Journals, Chapter Twelve

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Chapter Twelve

The Suspicious Yellow Box

  

 

The more I traveled, 

the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people

 who should be friends.

—Shirley MacLaine

 

 

I see them ahead of us.   I’m sitting in the back row of the van and can watch them through the windshield as they point to our driver to stop.

 

They are dressed in camo and are armed.   At least one is holding an assault rifle and is standing apart from the others, his eyes  scanning the scene.

A sneaky photo from inside the van.

 

Military?   Police?   Narco-traffickers?  Robbers?   Kidnappers?

 

I wonder about the state of our diplomatic relations with Brazil.   Is there an extradition treaty?  

My very active imagination takes over and goes off on a lark of its own.  I let it run freely.

 

 What if they kidnap us for ransom?   Or march us into the brush and kill us just because three of us are Americans?  Will they let the sole Canadian live?

 

I’ve never before, in all my travels,  felt threatened.   I have no idea about the situation in Brazil but I am aware that in certain parts of the world Americans are at risk

 

Octavio gets out of the van and talks with one who seems to be in charge.   They go around the van, open the rear hatch, and begin removing all our luggage.

 

What are they looking for?

 

We all sit quietly, minding our manners and not calling attention to ourselves.   By this time, I’m pretty sure they’re military.   They have rank insignia on their camo.

 

That’s it, I think to myself.   We aren’t doing anything wrong.  I turn and kneel on the seat to see what's going on.   Surreptitiously, and very, very slowly, I use my cell phone to snap a photo.

Note how the one with the assault rifle stands apart so he can observe the whole scene and be ready to react.

 

“What’s happening?” someone asks.

 

“They’re going through our luggage,”   I reply.

 

Then, to leaven the mood,  “Laura!  They’re going through your underwear”   It’s a big fat lie.   While they ARE searching through her duffle, all her clothing is in packing bags and I can’t tell what’s in them.

 

Suddenly I’m joined by Shelly and Virginia who are overcome by their own curiosity.

 

The soldier with the automatic rifle stands about 15 feet from the main action, surveilling the whole scene and ready to react should something go awry. 

 

Then they start searching my duffle.   When they finish the top compartment, they unzip the lower compartment.   There, right in plain view, is a yellow plastic box.  

 

The soldier seizes and opens it.   He acts like he might have found what he’s looking for.

 

The box is filled with wrapped fig bars that I brought as airplane snacks.   He closes the box and completes his search. 

 

 

 

 

 

Once all the luggage is inspected and replaced in the van, we smile and wave at the soldiers.  A couple of them smile in return.

They never  inspect the camera bags that are with us in the van.

 

Octavio gets back in the van and says, “I’ve NEVER had that happen before!   Never!”   

Then he surmises that we are very close to the border with Peru, whatever that means.   (A few days later, Octavio tells us the military had seized a huge drug shipment and they were looking for more on that route.)

 

So, on we go.

The 2023 Brazil Journals, Chapter Eleven

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Chapter Eleven

Monkey Business and Monkey Wrenches

 

 

When you’re dealing with monkeys,

 you’ve got to expect some wrenches.—Alva Bessie

 

 

 

Time is short.   We leave tomorrow for our next destination and I haven’t done justice to Hotel Cabanas and the critters that roam its grounds.

 

Despite the heat, I take my camera and go exploring.   I don’t have to go far to find monkeys creating trouble.

 

They have found a housekeeper’s cart and are raiding it, tearing open the trash bags and escaping with things edible.   

 

One monkey has a Fanta soda bottle and sits atop a container to drink the sweet goodness.   Unfortunately for the monkey, the lid is still on the bottle.

Such hopeful expectations.

"Where is it?"

 

It doesn’t give up, though, but climbs down, runs across to a tree and when last seen was gnawing on the lid with its teeth.

 

Other monkeys are in trees with drink bottles, doing much the same, while still others continued scavenging through the cart.

This one is chewing on the lid of an orange juice bottle.

And savoring the "fruits" of his labor.

As I leave the monkeys and walk towards my room, I see a monkey climb the wall of a cottage and go in through an open bathroom window.   Suddenly, I realize that it's MY bathroom window.

I shout at it and it comes out immediately and runs away.   From the outside, I am able to close the window which   I couldn't do from the inside.   I check and everything is okay in the bathroom.   Good thing I was right there!

We visit Buraco das Araras, the macaw sinkhole, one last time, this time we saw it from the other side.

Center left you can see the platform where we were twice before?

Face on the cliff with a macaw in its eye.   It reminds me of the face of the volcano in Disney's short called "I Lava You."

Buff-necked ibis with egg in nest

Macaw nest on cliff face.

As we  photograph macaws and bird nests in the sinkhole, Octavio hears a familiar sound and leads us to a Toco Toucan, the largest of the toucan species.   With its vibrant coloring and huge bill, it is a popular bird.

It is grooming when we see it.

I catch it as it turns its head from its back and I catch it in what I call its Disney pose.

It looks like a blue-eyed sweetie, doesn't it?   Though they appear to have blue eyes, this toucan actually has black eyes.  The blue is blue skin with a smaller ring of orange skin.

This fellow doesn't stick to fruit with that soft bill.   Though they eat a lot of figs when available, they prey on lizards, eggs and nestlings of other birds, including parrots, hyacinth macaws, and buff-necked ibises.

 

That enormous bill is made up of a hollow bony structure and accounts for as much as half  of the toucan's length of 25 inches.    These birds can weigh two pounds and  can live 20 years.

Also near the toucan was another new bird for me--the blue-throated piping guan.

Best shot I could get.  It soon flew away.

Described as being "oddly prehistoric" but "handsome", the piping guan is a medium-sized bird at 23 to 25 inches long and weighing up to three pounds.   Its favorite fruit is the fig, but it also eats leaves.

They are called "piping" guans after the loud-pitched whistles they make at dawn during mating season.

We have, when time permitted, photographed several animals on the grounds that are new to me.

 

 

 

Collared peccary

Collared peccary

Azara's Agouti

 

Azara's Agouti

Also known as cane rats in Ivory Coast, Africa, Azara's Agouti eat seeds, fruit, and nuts.   They're the only animal known that can open a Brazil nut.

Nick-named the "gardener of the forest," agoutis often find more food than they can eat in one day and bury the rest.   Sometimes they return for it but other times they forget where it is and the buried matter sprouts new vegetation.

These 20-inch-long rodents are hunted for "bushmeat."

 

We explored the banks of the rivers that make this a favored playground for humans.

 

 

And, not to leave out the birds—though they were a bit of trouble to get a clear shot of in decent light.

Bare-faced currasow, female

Bare-faced currasow, female

Bare-faced currasow

The crest of a plush-crested jay.

Plush-crested jay

Red-legged seriema

Blue-crowned trogon

Blue-crowned trogon

Thrush-like wren

 

At Rio da Prata, where we ate lunch twice, we found cowboys. 

 

 

 

Our last morning.   Sitting on the deck by the hotel's restaurant, we spotted a Capuchin monkey with a very young infant on her back.   She was checking out the tables by the pool to see what she could raid.

 

She almost had a slice of watermelon but was scared away at the critical moment and dropped it.   Feeding them is frowned upon as they can become quite insistent and possible hurt a guest.

 

We watch her spy on us though an opening in the rafters.

 

 

And now the van is here and we are off on our next adventure—into the Pantanal and the historic Fazenda Barranco Alto Lodge for three nights.

 

 

Until, that is, our van is stopped by stern-looking men with assault rifles!!!

***

erato heliconiam

Rhinoceros beetle.   An interesting fact from the National Wildlife Association:  Another name given to some of these insects is the Hercules beetle, because they possess a strength of Herculean proportion. Adults of some species can lift objects 30 times their own weight without sacrificing any speed (that would be equivalent to a human having no problem carrying an adult male white rhinoceros). Some can even lift up to 100 times their own weight, though they have trouble moving at that point. 

Though in the same family as dung beetles, rhinoceros beetles do not eat dung.   They dine of rotten wood, tree sap, nectar and some kinds of fruit.

This is a Blue-crowned Motmot, photographed in extremely shady light.   Note the extension of the tail.