Leaving the Amazon and back on the bus we headed south to the Pantanal for the remaining days.   The pavement ended quickly and it was 100 miles of dusty abraded dirt road to the lodges and the Cuiaba River

The speed bumps were replaced with bridges that humped over the numerous sloughs and water areas that made up these vast wetlands.  These were filled with a variety of bird species and caimans, thus the slowing down provided much desirable viewing.

In the more elevated areas that are not prone to annual flooding, large termite mounds rose from the surface of the ground. Most of these were abandoned as the colonies grew in numbers requiring more and more sustenance and then, when energetics required more energy to acquire the food than to maintain the colony, it collapsed and the remaining animals sought new areas where food was plentiful.  Maybe we, as humans, should take heed to the termites’ plight.

Our first lodge was Pousada Pival on a 7,000 acre cattle ranch.

There were good numbers of birds on the open cerrado, flooded wetlands, and in  patches of tropical forest.

Wood Stork

Bald-faced Ibis

Sunbittern

Limpkin

Wattled Jacana

Rufescent Tiger Heron

Red-legged Seriema

Rhea

Shiny Cowbird

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

Chaco Chachalaca

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

A highlight was a trip on a tractor-pulled wagon through the wetlands to a major roosting area for many species of birds.

Caimans were everywhere where there was water

…as were Capybaras, the world’s largest rodent.  I wrongly visualized these critters to be the size of beavers but found that the adults weigh upwards of 150 pounds.

Heron/Black Vulture Hotel

Snail Kites were the most common raptorial species in the wetlands…

…the Savannah hawks frequented drier sites…

…and the Roadside Hawks took advantage of both.

Crab-eating Foxes were regularly seen in the area…

and Yellow-billed Cardinals were everywhere!

After two days at Piuval we were back on the road to Pantanal Norte and the Ciuba River.

Here we found so many birds right on the lodge grounds and it was the jumping off spot for the boat rides up the river looking for jaguars, otters and lots of birds.

Buff-necked Ibis

Southern Crested Caracara

Hyacinth Macaws

But it took a boat to look for the critters along the river; jaguars, otters, etc.

The critters we found was a group of Giant Otters who swam along the banks catching the numerous fish in the river.

Then coming around the bend we encountered an armada of boats…

A Jaguar had been found!

He as pretty bored with all the too-doo…

And finally decided to leave.

Back at the lodge the bird-life was incredible.

Southern Screamer

Hyacinth Macaw

Rufous Chachalote

Toco Toucan

Bare-faced Curassow

Guira Cuckoo

Purplish Jay

Black Nunbird

Our last day was at the Mato Grosso Lodge where raptors, kingfishers and jaribou stocks waited along the river for the guides to toss out fish.

Great Black Hawk

Gray Hawk

Black-collared Hawk

Ringed Kingfisher

Jaribou Stork

Local patches of forest had several additional bird species.

Rusty-margined Flycatcher

Little Woodpecker

Crimson-created Woodpecker

But. like all good trips, it was time to leave the Pantanal and go home.

There are basically two principal steps in the establishment of a successful dictatorship.  The first is to ensure that your supporters need not abide by existing laws as long as they continue to support your objectives.  The second is the imprisonment and/or disappearance of those who do not support your objectives.  We have now noted the first principal has been implemented, both in the selection of the cabinet and now in the courts; can the second be far behind?

It is laughable to see the hand-picked crowds at the political rallies holding up posters (obviously handed out at the door), t-shirt slogans, and a plethora of “Make America Great Again” ball caps acting like trained seals, barking on cue.  And they are too stupid to realize they are the very people who will get the short end of the stick when the dictatorship gains its full power.   As our future dictator likes to Tweet…”Sad!”

“So how big is Brazil?”, someone asked me.  I had also wondered when I decided to venture there.  Having been to several Central and South American countries and I knew it was bigger than any of them but I didn’t know how much.  I wondered if it was as big as Texas.  Big surprise!   It’s a little bigger than the ENTIRE CONTIGUOUS 48 STATES COMBINED.  Over 900 miles of coast; almost 210 million people; 8^th largest economy in the world; and it’s hard to find anyone who speaks English!  But my interests lay elsewhere than the human altered areas (and there is a lot).  My interest was in the birds of the Amazon and Atlantic forests and the Pantanal, the largest wetland in the world.  Birds, birds, birds!  And a lot of other things too.  So, I signed on with a group of bird watchers on a tour run by Jim and Cindy Beckman (Cheepers Birding) and traveled for 36 hours via United Airlines to Sao Paulo, the largest city in the southern hemisphere (and 12^th in the world) where we began our tour.

As I ended up with good images of over 110 species (and a lot of bad ones of many more as I shot almost 10,000 frames , I’ll have to do this blog in 2 parts to let you have time to rest your eyes.  Thus, it will begin with the Atlantic and Amazon forests and then on to the Pantanal.

Atlantic and Amazon Forests

Initially we traveled on freeways equivalent to those in the USA; then onto local roads where the government has significantly reduced urban and sub-urban traffic deaths by requiring speed bumps between 100 and 400 meters apart (you just never know until you see the sign).  The max here is 40 km (25 mph) and you basically come to a stop over the bumps.  Therefore, it’s very slow going.

Of course, no trip is complete without a few misfortunes and we had one or two.

 We began at the Ype Lodge in Itatiaia National Park where there were a large variety of forest birds and mammals.  The lodge maintains several fruit and nectar feeders that attract a variety of birds.

Hotel Ype

Some of the species I was able to photograph at the lodge and vicinity included:

Green-headed Tanager

Brazilian Tanager

Red-necked Tanager

Olive-green Tanager

Magpie Tanager

Golden-chevroned Tanager

Maroon-bellied Parakeet

Saffron Finch

Chestnut-bellied Euphonia

Blue Dacnis

Red-breasted Toucan                                                                     

Brazilian Ruby

Gray-necked Woodrail

Red-rumped Cacique                                                                     

Golden-winged Cacique

Chestnut-collared Sparrow

Tufted Capuchins

After 3 days we traveled to the coastal city of Ubatuba that reminded me of the Southern California beach cities where I grew up; lots of surf board and dive shops and many bars, restaurants and tourist lodges along a beautiful beach.  (But it was weird as THE SUN ROSE OUT OF THE OCEAN!!!!)

Ubatuba, Brazil

Following our time in these  coastal areas  we returned to Sao Paulo and boarded a plane for Cuiaba, capital city of the state of Mato Grosso and considered the geographical center of South America.  From there we headed north to the edge of the Amazon rain forest.

Our first lodge was the adjacent to Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park.  But the weather turned rainy and cold so we had limited success there.  We did go to Veu de Noiva waterfall, the face on which red and green macaws roost but none came close enough for images.

Veu de Noiva Waterfall

But, there were a few cooperative birds around,  such as:

Orange-winged Parrot                                                           

Peach-faced Parakeet

             

Ruddy Ground Dove

Blue and Yellow Macaw                                               

White Woodpecker

Rufous-bellied Thrush

On to Gardens of the Amazon, a lodge on the Rio Claro River.  I spent my time on the lodge grounds while the birders went up the river in a boat.

Gardens of the Amazon

Birds I found included:

Rusty-margined Flycatcher

Amazon Kingfisher

Muscovy Duck

And then it was on to what had drawn me to Brazil,  the Pantenal!  That’ll be chapter 2 in a few more weeks.

“Quality of life is subjective and multidimensional, encompassing positive and negative features of life. It’s a dynamic condition that responds to life events.” (Forbes Magazine). Yet we as Americans have been conditioned by our capitalistic principles that quality of life is primarily defined by economic factors, factors that affect our pocketbooks personally for the present.  In our current mind-set, if we can only afford one automobile, quality of life sucks; if we can afford two, it’s a bit better; two, plus a boat is good and add an RV and a 3,500 square foot home in the suburbs and it’s great.  Then if we can retire at age 50 and ride around in our RV on cheap gas, go on cruises, and buy everything on credit…well, that’s how it should be.

While both political factions in our country follow this philosophy, the conservative bent basically (or at least, currently) ignores the existence of any other contributing factors while those of the liberal bent just whine.  That is until disaster strikes; a hurricane, flood, epidemic, cancer, etc., then the big RV doesn’t matter that much and the question is “why wasn’t this prevented?”  But, until that time we cast our votes primarily based on a single issue, “Does it mean more money in my pocket for the immediate future?”  Effects of a degraded infrastructure, health and safety concerns, increases in pollution levels are afterthoughts…things to deal with when we have all the bells and whistles commerce advertises we must have to be happy in the steady stream of commercials on our 72 inch television screens.

I wonder about my current quality of life.  Sitting here in my dark living room with the air conditioner on full throttle because the temperature is 105 outside and has been that way for over a month (one day the thermometer hit 115) does not please me.  Will I again be able to sit out on my deck and enjoy my evening glass of wine as I did much of the summer 15 years ago when I moved here?  When…in November?  Does my future now fear the summer months rather than looking forward to them?  Do I fear driving across the highway bridges or have to wonder if the dam above my home will collapse and wash it away?  How about the effects on my aging lungs from breathing the smoke from wildfires regularly blocking out the view of the valley?  Do I really have the same quality of life I enjoyed as a child?  I certainly have more “stuff” but in actuality maybe there’s more than dollars to quality of life, at least for some of us.