Tag: travel

Away from the river …

After two nights on the Pixaim river we headed to the very lovely Araras Lodge, an absolute jewel in the Pantanal.

There are several lagoons adjacent to the lodge and a boardwalk that takes you through some fine forest to a tower. From the top of the tower you have a view of the surrounding plains as well as the nearby forest canopy. The wildlife abounds.

There is also a bar just a short and pleasant walk from the lodge. A good place to haunt during the hottest part of the day … if you can drag yourself away from the pool.

The forest yielded Olivaceous, Great Rufous, Straight-billed and Planalto Woodcreepers, Cream-coloured Woodpecker, Blue-crowned Motmot, White-wedged Piculet and many more. Plus Capuchins, Marmosets and Azara’s Agouti. Around the lodge it was necessary to keep the birds off your plate!

Some of the stars (click on the photos for a better view) …

Chestnut eared Aracari.

Hyacinth Macaw.

And next … to the bar at breakfast time. The best excuse ever!

Pantanal at night …

When darkness falls there is a changing of the shifts. The same habitats are exploited by a different suite of animals, sometimes in a different way.

Over a few nights of spotlighting we compiled quite a list of night birds and mammals.

Birds included the Pauraque, Spot-tailed Nightjar, Nacunda and Band-tailed Nighthawks, Great and Common Potoos, Boat-billed Heron and Great Horned Owl.

Mammals included Crab-eating Fox, Crab-eating Racoon, White-lipped Peccary, Red Brocket and Marsh Deer, Tapir and Fishing bats.

Of particular note was the Brazilian Rabbit. How do you tell a Brazilian Rabbit from a common rabbit? By careful inspection of its pubic region, of course.

The most spectacular find was on our last evening when we had excellent views of an Ocelot.

Unfortunately, I have no photos taken at night to share but I did come across a Great Horned Owl at its day time roost …

Creatures of the Pixaim River …

A couple of days of river cruising turned up Marmosets, Capuchin and Howler Monkeys. Capybara were common, Marsh and Red Brocket Deer were seen occasionally. The Giant Otter chose to spend a little time watching us each day …

Yacare Caiman and Green Iguana represented the reptiles, and so did the Common Tegu. At first glance this appears to be a Varanid, a family that is well represented in Australia, in fact it’s not that closely related … another case of convergent evolution.

Snakes were mainly absent. Where was my Anaconda? This one let us have a good look, I’d be delighted if anyone can identify it for me …

Birds are plentiful along the river, they included Black-capped Donacobius, Undulated Tinamou, Bare-faced Curassow, Blue-throated and Red-throated Piping-Guan, Hyacinth and Yellow-collared Macaw and Sungrebe.

Star of the show … Sunbittern.

Oh, and there goes another Piranha, this time in the talons of a Great Black-Hawk …

The Pixaim River …

We spent two nights at the Pantanal Mato Grosso Hotel, right on the riverbank. A sizeable Caiman had found its way onto the verandah in front of one of the rooms. The polished concrete was too slippery for it to gain a purchase with its feet. Before the lucky guest could access their room the caiman had to be carefully assisted back onto the grass.

The days were spent on the river, after dark we went spotlighting in the back of a truck.

After a while the boatman dropped in a line. Within seconds he had a Yellow Piranha.

What with them and the caimans the life jackets may not have been a lot of use.

The poor fish was banged on the head and then thrown out. Well educated birds were waiting. First in was a Black-collared Hawk.

Subsequent fish were claimed by Great Black-Hawks and by Cormorants.

Jabiru …

In the north of Australia we are lucky to have the beautiful Black-necked Stork …

Many Australians call this the Jabiru, indeed just outside Kakadu National Park there is a town named after this popular mistake. Kakadu, of course, is Crocodile Dundee country. Mick Dundee might well have said, “Call that a Jabiru? This is a Jabiru.”

The South American claim on the word is undeniable, Jabiru is from Tupí–Guaraní for swollen neck. Other Tupí–Guaraní words that are likely to be familiar are jaguar, tapioca, jacaranda and anhinga. Jabirus are found through a broad swathe of Central and South America east of the Andes. They are at their most abundant in the Pantanal. They look fairly gruesome on foot but are the picture of grace once airborne.

The Pantanal …

65 million years ago a huge inland sea, the Xaraés, began to dry out. As it did it became a huge lake and then the seasonally flooded basin called the Pantanal.

Touted as the largest wetland on earth it extends into two Brazilian states, Paraguay and Bolivia covering upwards of 150,000 square kilometres. One to one and a half metres of rain falls each year, mostly between November and March. The water level rises as much as three metres as a consequence. The rains stop, the level falls and by the end of the dry season the roads are dusty and the water birds and caimans are struggling for the remaining ponds. Ranching is the principal human activity but the problems that extensive flooding brings keep the human population fairly low and give the wildlife a space in which to survive.

The Transpantaneira is a highway into the northern Pantanal, in Brazil’s Mato Grosso. It is an unsealed road with numerous wooden bridges. It was the route that took me to the Pixaim river last month.

Coatis cross the Transpantaneira

 

Every puddle held something …

Say hi to the Yacare Caiman. Spotlighting at night reveals the density of these creatures to be astounding, and by the end of the dry some will be encountered going cross country, maybe even on the balcony outside your door! They mainly eat fish. The Capybaras don’t seem to show them a great deal of concern …

Click on the pictures to see them in better detail. More to come soon …

Santuário do Caraça …

The continuing saga of my recent trip to Brazil …

Leaving the not quite visited Serra da Canastra National Park in flames behind us it’s another six hour road trip to the Santuário do Caraça. This is a beautiful 17th century seminary set in a stunning mountain setting. The sanctuary covers a little over 11,000 hectares and is home to the Maned Wolf and Masked Titi monkey as well as birds of the Atlantic forest. It’s about two hours drive here from Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais and Brazil’s sixth largest city, getting on for 2.4 million people, weekends and holidays are best avoided.

The accommodation is simple but comfortable, meals are provided in the refectories, alcohol can be purchased. The church is fully functional and a place of pilgrimage.

Walking paths quickly get you to lush forest or up to heathy scrub. If you are a birdwatcher preparing for a visit don’t miss this post.

Another regular guest is the Maned Wolf, or lobo-guará because of its reddish fur. After dinner a tray of food is set out for it in front of the church doors, a priest calls “Guará” and in it comes … within an hour or three if you’re lucky. They are solitary beasts not pack animals, they come one at a time and they are quite unconcerned about the tourists and their flash photography but maintain a sharp lookout for other wolves. The food tray has fruit and meat on it. Interestingly the fruit was the first to go on the evenings I was there.

The birding was fabulous, the list included Velvety Black-Tyrant, Cliff Flycatcher, Blackish Rail, Serra Antwren, Biscutate Swift, Swallow-tailed Cotinga, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Hyacinth Visor-bearer and Large-tailed Antshrike. Dusky-legged Guan and the Rufous Gnatcatcher posed for their photos.

Guianan Squirrel and Masked Titi Monkey presented themselves for inclusion on the mammal list.

It’s hard to predict the highlight of a trip. This Brazil trip provided many and lived up to expectation in every respect. Caraça, though, was really special. I could go there for many reasons, I don’t believe in god but I do believe he commissioned some wonderful works, the setting is magnificent and the other creatures on hand to share it with … splendid.

 

 

Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra …

Twelve hours on the road will get you across the state of Minas Gerais from Caratinga to São Roque de Minas, site of the closest hotel to the Canastra National Park.

The great attraction of this part of Brazil is the Giant Anteater, not easy to find anywhere this is where your chances are best. The park opens at 8 am … unless of course it’s on fire.

A major grass fire was ripping through the park, it was closed for the two days we were in the neighbourhood. Not an unfamiliar situation for an Australian.

There is a stream at the foot of the range with some remnant forest and not too far away the private Reserva Natural da Cachoera do Cerradão. The birdlife is prolific and colourful. Another primate graced us with fair views, the Maked Titi Monkey.

The contest for the most beautiful bird in Brazil would be a very difficult one to judge but at the Reserva we saw both the Pin-tailed and Helmeted Manakins, both would be in with a chance.

And wandering across the countryside a distant Giant Anteater …

 

And the wildlife …

… treated me very kindly.

The South American Coati, Nasua nasua, is quite common at Iguaçu. It is a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae). They are about 30 cm tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 2 and 8 kg. Males are much bigger than females and once mature live a solitary life except in the mating season. Females and young tend to travel in bands with their tails raised. They are equipped with powerful claws and sharp teeth, the long tail is not prehensile. Their snout is capable of quite a range of movement.

 

The Black Capuchin is less intrusive in its habits. It is a primate, of course.

One of the rarest and most spectacular birds that I saw on the trip was the Black-fronted Piping-Guan, Aburria jacutinga, crippling views …

 

Cataratas del Iguazú …

Argentinians speak Spanish with a marked accent. I studied Spanish with a teacher of Argentine origin. Some years ago I met some tourists from Barcelona who thought my Spanish was so awful because I was Argentinian. On my recent day trip to Argentina I met some locals who thought my Spanish was so awful because I was Brazilian. There is a consensus on my Spanish.

The trip from Iguaçu to Iguazú was relatively painless, recent changes mean that there are no formalities at the Brazilian border post but there is still a delay on the Argentinian side. The journey takes you in sight of the confluence of the Iguazu river with the Paraná. You can see Argentina on one side, Brazil on the other and Paraguay in between. Poor Paraguay, history has not been kind to her.

From the car park it’s a short walk and a train ride out towards the falls. From the end of the line there are a number of paths that lead to spectacular views. The most spectacular of all is to a platform on the very tonsil of the Devil’s Throat, la Garganta del Diablo. If you want a photo from here take a waterproof camera and a very wide-angle lens. Here you are conscious of the sheer power of the falls.

Other walks trade power for panorama.

It’s easy to see why Eleanor Roosevelt on seeing Iguazu  exclaimed “Poor Niagara!”