Well, we've only been home a week now, and already Fernando has taken off for his next adventure.
It's been a nice week with him here with us, if only Rebeca and Jason could have been here, too.
Fernando spent most of this past week editing his pictures, getting the necessary medication and shots for his trip to Africa, watching the sad Spurs games, eating out at his favorite restaurants and taking it easy. Today, we took him to the airport for his 2:10pm flight to Chicago, then from Chicago to London, and then from London to Accra, Ghana. He should arrive in Accra at 8pm Ghana time, 2pm our time, on Sunday, May 25th,which means he'll be in transit for 24 hours. I'm sure he and Eva will be happy to be together again. Eva studies the Colobus monkey there in Ghana.
Of course, Guillermo and I feel sad and kind of blah right now. We've been putting away the stuff he left behind, we'll take it to storage one of these days. When we hear from him again, and know he is safely in Accra, then we will feel a whole lot better.
Fortunately for us, Rebeca called RIGHT as we got back home from taking Fernando to the airport, so that was very timely and we thank Rebeca for that!!! That phone call lifted our spirits! She and Jason are driving today to Flagstaff, AZ for a little break from their routine. It should be cold there, with the highs in the 40's and the lows in the 20's. They seem to like Flagstaff quite a bit, as they've been there several times.
So, before Fernando left, he was able to post his favorite pictures to a website. If you go to Fernando's pictures, you'll be able to see some of the pictures he took with his camera.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
So, these are the last few pictures from my camera. Enjoy. And guess who the last picture on today's post is for?
This is one of the usual views from the many bridges on the Transpantaneira Road.
These capybaras couldn't ask for a better place to live - the Pantanal!
This is where we'd have breakfast every morning at the Araras Lodge in the Pantanal.
A view of our balcony at the Cristalino Jungle Lodge
The beautiful Cristalino River
Guillermo and Fernando outside the Cristalino Jungle Lodge.
This is the armadillo that is being pitted against the Energumeno. Fernando took this picure in the Peninsula Valdez, Argentina.
That's it!!
This is one of the usual views from the many bridges on the Transpantaneira Road.
These capybaras couldn't ask for a better place to live - the Pantanal!
This is where we'd have breakfast every morning at the Araras Lodge in the Pantanal.
A view of our balcony at the Cristalino Jungle Lodge
The beautiful Cristalino River
Guillermo and Fernando outside the Cristalino Jungle Lodge.
This is the armadillo that is being pitted against the Energumeno. Fernando took this picure in the Peninsula Valdez, Argentina.
That's it!!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
A few more pictures
This is one of the first things we did when I got to Buenos Aires - we went to an outdoor cafe and watched displays of the tango dance. It was beautiful.
Guillermo standing at the top of a lighthouse that we climbed in Colonia, Uruguay.
Another view from the top of the lighthouse in Colonia, Uruguay. In the distance is the boat that we took to get to Uruguay.
Another view of the falls on the Argentine side.
Same view of the falls, this time with Fernando in the picture.
Fernando and Guillermo on the walkway to the middle of the falls on the Brazilian side. We got wet here because even though we had rain gear with us, we just never took the time to put it on. But it was a warm day, so it didn't matter. We were more worried about our cameras.
I've got a few more pictures to put on, and I'll do that tomorrow.
Guillermo standing at the top of a lighthouse that we climbed in Colonia, Uruguay.
Another view from the top of the lighthouse in Colonia, Uruguay. In the distance is the boat that we took to get to Uruguay.
Another view of the falls on the Argentine side.
Same view of the falls, this time with Fernando in the picture.
Fernando and Guillermo on the walkway to the middle of the falls on the Brazilian side. We got wet here because even though we had rain gear with us, we just never took the time to put it on. But it was a warm day, so it didn't matter. We were more worried about our cameras.
I've got a few more pictures to put on, and I'll do that tomorrow.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
A few pictures - finally!
These pictures are taken with my camera. They are decent enough, but I'm sure Fernando's pictures are much better. He has been working diligently, downloading his pictures to the computer, and working on editing them. I had a total of 161 pictures, he has a total of 3,700+ pictures!!!! I don't know where he's going to put them, on a photo-sharing website or what, but stay tuned and we'll post the place when we know.
This picture was taken in Puerto Iguazu, and it shows three countries at one time. Brazil is on the right, Paraguay is on the left and Argentina is at the bottom, from where we took the picture.
This picture was taken at a little restaurant in Colonia, Uruguay.
A picture of Vicki, taken on the Calle de Suspiros, in Colonia, Uruguay.
Iguazu Falls, taken on the Argentine side. The second picture is taken from the Brazilian side. The view of these falls is SO impressive.
Here we are canoeing down the Rio Clarinho. This section of the river was so full of vegetation that Fernando had to stand in front of the canoe and use a pole to push down the vegetation, so the boat could glide through.
A view of the Transpantaneira Road with part of a bridge, in the Pantanal.
This picture shows us just after we had gone with the horses through some really deep water, and this is why Guillermo didn't get his shoes or pants wet, look at him ride like a jockey!!!
Cooking the barbecue on the river. Notice the caiman in the foreground, he got really close to the meat when they took it off of the fire!
The Cristalino River in the evening.
So, that's a few pictures for now. Time to get back to work around the house, writing bills, fixing up the yard, washing clothes - all the usual stuff after returning from a long trip. I'll try to put up a few more pictures tomorrow.
This picture was taken in Puerto Iguazu, and it shows three countries at one time. Brazil is on the right, Paraguay is on the left and Argentina is at the bottom, from where we took the picture.
This picture was taken at a little restaurant in Colonia, Uruguay.
A picture of Vicki, taken on the Calle de Suspiros, in Colonia, Uruguay.
Iguazu Falls, taken on the Argentine side. The second picture is taken from the Brazilian side. The view of these falls is SO impressive.
Here we are canoeing down the Rio Clarinho. This section of the river was so full of vegetation that Fernando had to stand in front of the canoe and use a pole to push down the vegetation, so the boat could glide through.
A view of the Transpantaneira Road with part of a bridge, in the Pantanal.
This picture shows us just after we had gone with the horses through some really deep water, and this is why Guillermo didn't get his shoes or pants wet, look at him ride like a jockey!!!
Cooking the barbecue on the river. Notice the caiman in the foreground, he got really close to the meat when they took it off of the fire!
The Cristalino River in the evening.
So, that's a few pictures for now. Time to get back to work around the house, writing bills, fixing up the yard, washing clothes - all the usual stuff after returning from a long trip. I'll try to put up a few more pictures tomorrow.
Friday, May 16, 2008
The circle is complete
It's been 3 months for Guillermo and Fernando, and 23 days for me. Today, all three of us stepped back into our home at around 9:15 Friday morning.
On Wednesday, we checked out of our hotel in Chapadas and drove to a look-out point from where we should have been able to see canyons and views of Cuiaba and the Pantanal in the distance, but the view was obscured by clouds. We sat there a little while, hoping the clouds would clear, and they did a little, but not well enough to see much. From there, we drove to a nice little restaurant by a waterfall to have lunch and then it was back to Cuiaba to drop off our rental car back at the Cuiaba airport and wait for our 5:20pm flight to Sao Paolo. That flight didn't actually take off until about 6 and we got to Sao Paolo around 10pm. We found our hotel's shuttle and when we arrived at the hotel, we were a little overwhelmed at how fancy the place was. We felt a little out of place, but the hotel, "Caesar Business", was actually a very good place to stay since it was so close to the airport and it had all the conveniences we needed at that point. We had a good dinner at the hotel and enjoyed a good last night in South America.
Thursday, our plane wasn't due to take off from Sao Paolo until 9:15pm and thankfully, our hotel gave us a late check out of 3pm. So we spent most of Thursday morning in our room resting up for what was to come.
Our plane actually left Sao Paolo at 10pm Thursday night and we arrived in Houston at 6am Friday morning. With the time difference taken into account, that was being in the plane for a good 10 hours. We had a layover of about an hour and a half in Houston, and by 7:30am, we were on our way to San Antonio. We are pretty tired, as can be expected. South America is an amazing continent, and it is nice knowing what we now personally know many places there. We know that there are caimans sitting on the banks of the rivers in the Pantanal. We know that there are lots of kingfishers squawking and calling on the Clarinho River. We know that there are people eating at a "per kilo" place called Fellipes in Chapadas. And much, much more!!
On Wednesday, we checked out of our hotel in Chapadas and drove to a look-out point from where we should have been able to see canyons and views of Cuiaba and the Pantanal in the distance, but the view was obscured by clouds. We sat there a little while, hoping the clouds would clear, and they did a little, but not well enough to see much. From there, we drove to a nice little restaurant by a waterfall to have lunch and then it was back to Cuiaba to drop off our rental car back at the Cuiaba airport and wait for our 5:20pm flight to Sao Paolo. That flight didn't actually take off until about 6 and we got to Sao Paolo around 10pm. We found our hotel's shuttle and when we arrived at the hotel, we were a little overwhelmed at how fancy the place was. We felt a little out of place, but the hotel, "Caesar Business", was actually a very good place to stay since it was so close to the airport and it had all the conveniences we needed at that point. We had a good dinner at the hotel and enjoyed a good last night in South America.
Thursday, our plane wasn't due to take off from Sao Paolo until 9:15pm and thankfully, our hotel gave us a late check out of 3pm. So we spent most of Thursday morning in our room resting up for what was to come.
Our plane actually left Sao Paolo at 10pm Thursday night and we arrived in Houston at 6am Friday morning. With the time difference taken into account, that was being in the plane for a good 10 hours. We had a layover of about an hour and a half in Houston, and by 7:30am, we were on our way to San Antonio. We are pretty tired, as can be expected. South America is an amazing continent, and it is nice knowing what we now personally know many places there. We know that there are caimans sitting on the banks of the rivers in the Pantanal. We know that there are lots of kingfishers squawking and calling on the Clarinho River. We know that there are people eating at a "per kilo" place called Fellipes in Chapadas. And much, much more!!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Back Tracking a little again
Since we went to two places back-to-back that were very isolated (the Pantanal and Cristalino Lodge), there really wasn't a good opportunity to write about how our days were in the Pantanal. We went from one place to the next rather quickly, so with this post, here's a little summary of those days in the Pantanal.
Our first day in the Pantanal, we stayed at a place called the Pousada Rio Clarinho. It was a very rustic place, our room had 3 twin beds and a small table, a bathroom with no shower curtain and that was it! My pillow was about 1 inch thick. But we liked the place, it was very quiet, the people were nice and the first day there, the food they served was really good. Our guide spoke no English at all, so while we stayed at this place, we picked up a lot of Portuguese!!!! The first evening, he took us horseback riding through the forest, but it was a very short ride and very uneventful. There were a lot of birds at this pousada and that made being outside and walking by their lake very enjoyable.
Our second day in the Pantanal, our guide, Cesar, took us out in a canoe on the Clarinho River, and that boat trip was absolutely wonderful. Cesar never made a sound with the oars while he slowly guided our boat down the river, which was not wide and was so beautiful. We paddled among lots of water plants (lilies and hyacinths), saw many birds and there never seemed to be any shore anywhere. At one point, there was so much vegetation in the river that Fernando had to stand up in front of the canoe and use a pole to push down the plants. Cesar would slowly glide the boat along as the plants were pushed down. When we approached that section of the river, at first it looked like there was no way we would get through, but they did it!! We got through that section, and about an hour and a half later, we came to a place where there was a shore and Cesar pulled the boat up and we were able to get off for a while. As he guided the boat up to this shore, we were lucky to witness a most amazing display of kingfishers on the river. There were probably about 10 kingfishers flying and swooping over the water, screeching and calling and diving right into the water. It was a beautiful sight to see and hear and it made you think that those kingfishers were just so happy because they knew they were living in the most perfect place a bird could live. We spent about 45 minutes on shore, then we got back in our canoe and Cesar paddled us back to the pousada. All in all, we were on the river for about 3 and a half hours.
That evening, we used our own car to do a night drive along the Transpantaneira Road, with Cesar using a poor spotlight to look for animals.
The absolute best thing about staying at the Pousada Rio Clarinho was the amount of birds we saw while staying there, and that canoe ride, which no one else ever came even halfway close to as far as quality.
Our third day in the Pantanal, which I believe was May 6th, we checked out of the Pousada Rio Clarinho and drove the rest of the way down to the end of the Transpantaneira Road. As we drove down, we saw an ocelot, a tayra, lots of capybaras, lots of caimans, and many beautiful birds. As we got closer to the end, the scenery was just beautiful, looking like a wild coastal area, with many big lakes. It was just beautiful. The end of the road was very disappointing, we thought we could get something to eat there, but since there wasn't much of anything, we drove back up the road a little and ate some of our snacks on one of the 125 bridges that are along this road. Then we continued back up the road slowly and we saw a giant anteater very briefly!! When we got to the Araras Eco Lodge, which is at mile 32, we checked in there, just in time for a good dinner!! This place was more upscale than the Clarinho and we enjoyed our nice room and the lovely surroundings.
On the morning of our fourth day, we got up at 5:00am for a 5:30 nature walk. After the walk, it was time for breakfast, and then after breakfast, we did another horseback ride. This ride was a lot better than at the Clarinho, but we think the place assumed a lot of its clients, because the horses took us through some very deep water, which actually almost went up to our knees!!! The only person who didn't get his shoes wet was Guillermo, he rode his horse like a jockey. And I almost had a terrible accident on my horse, because it veered off the trail at one point, and I didn't think quickly enough as I saw him approach two very low branches with thorns on them. I knew those branches were going to knock me off that horse, and the only thing I could think to do was try to lift those branches over my head as the horse went under them. Somehow or another, don't ask me how, I managed to do that, but the force of the branches started to knock me off the horse. I sincerely believe a guardian angel was with me at that moment, because somehow or another, I was able to stop myself from falling off that horse. The other people on the ride who saw this happening to me commented later that it looked real bad for me, and they were all shocked I only had two little scratches on my face.
After dinner that day, we all got on a wonderful vehicle that took us on a night drive. The guide used a powerful spotter, but even so, we didn't see that much. We did see a tamandua eating termites from a termite mound that was in a tree, and that was exciting!
Our last day in the Pantanal, the guide took us again in that special vehicle to a river, and we all got in canoes and floated down the river. This float was nowhere near as good as Clarinho's float was, because since there were so many people, we all had to man our own canoes, and that is not a good setup. It's almost impossible to take pictures when you have to be rowing. The float was also very short, but when we got back they had a good barbecue waiting for us. It was very relaxing sitting by the bank of the river, watching birds and caimans and enjoying a good barbecue. After that, we got back in the vehicle, headed back to the lodge, packed up, and drove back to Cuiaba.
I really wish there was a way to upload our pictures, so that we could include images of what we are seeing, but unfortunately, we just aren't able to do that.
Today we are staying in a little town called Chapadas, but the National Park here is closed, so there is nothing really to do but just hang around. We did drive out to see the cliffs in the evening and they were just beautiful with the evening sun shining on them.
Tomorrow, we drive back to Cuiaba, and catch a plane at 5:20pm to Sao Paolo. We should get to Sao Paolo at 9:40pm and our plane leaves on the 15th at 9:25 at night. That is going to be a long night for us!
Our first day in the Pantanal, we stayed at a place called the Pousada Rio Clarinho. It was a very rustic place, our room had 3 twin beds and a small table, a bathroom with no shower curtain and that was it! My pillow was about 1 inch thick. But we liked the place, it was very quiet, the people were nice and the first day there, the food they served was really good. Our guide spoke no English at all, so while we stayed at this place, we picked up a lot of Portuguese!!!! The first evening, he took us horseback riding through the forest, but it was a very short ride and very uneventful. There were a lot of birds at this pousada and that made being outside and walking by their lake very enjoyable.
Our second day in the Pantanal, our guide, Cesar, took us out in a canoe on the Clarinho River, and that boat trip was absolutely wonderful. Cesar never made a sound with the oars while he slowly guided our boat down the river, which was not wide and was so beautiful. We paddled among lots of water plants (lilies and hyacinths), saw many birds and there never seemed to be any shore anywhere. At one point, there was so much vegetation in the river that Fernando had to stand up in front of the canoe and use a pole to push down the plants. Cesar would slowly glide the boat along as the plants were pushed down. When we approached that section of the river, at first it looked like there was no way we would get through, but they did it!! We got through that section, and about an hour and a half later, we came to a place where there was a shore and Cesar pulled the boat up and we were able to get off for a while. As he guided the boat up to this shore, we were lucky to witness a most amazing display of kingfishers on the river. There were probably about 10 kingfishers flying and swooping over the water, screeching and calling and diving right into the water. It was a beautiful sight to see and hear and it made you think that those kingfishers were just so happy because they knew they were living in the most perfect place a bird could live. We spent about 45 minutes on shore, then we got back in our canoe and Cesar paddled us back to the pousada. All in all, we were on the river for about 3 and a half hours.
That evening, we used our own car to do a night drive along the Transpantaneira Road, with Cesar using a poor spotlight to look for animals.
The absolute best thing about staying at the Pousada Rio Clarinho was the amount of birds we saw while staying there, and that canoe ride, which no one else ever came even halfway close to as far as quality.
Our third day in the Pantanal, which I believe was May 6th, we checked out of the Pousada Rio Clarinho and drove the rest of the way down to the end of the Transpantaneira Road. As we drove down, we saw an ocelot, a tayra, lots of capybaras, lots of caimans, and many beautiful birds. As we got closer to the end, the scenery was just beautiful, looking like a wild coastal area, with many big lakes. It was just beautiful. The end of the road was very disappointing, we thought we could get something to eat there, but since there wasn't much of anything, we drove back up the road a little and ate some of our snacks on one of the 125 bridges that are along this road. Then we continued back up the road slowly and we saw a giant anteater very briefly!! When we got to the Araras Eco Lodge, which is at mile 32, we checked in there, just in time for a good dinner!! This place was more upscale than the Clarinho and we enjoyed our nice room and the lovely surroundings.
On the morning of our fourth day, we got up at 5:00am for a 5:30 nature walk. After the walk, it was time for breakfast, and then after breakfast, we did another horseback ride. This ride was a lot better than at the Clarinho, but we think the place assumed a lot of its clients, because the horses took us through some very deep water, which actually almost went up to our knees!!! The only person who didn't get his shoes wet was Guillermo, he rode his horse like a jockey. And I almost had a terrible accident on my horse, because it veered off the trail at one point, and I didn't think quickly enough as I saw him approach two very low branches with thorns on them. I knew those branches were going to knock me off that horse, and the only thing I could think to do was try to lift those branches over my head as the horse went under them. Somehow or another, don't ask me how, I managed to do that, but the force of the branches started to knock me off the horse. I sincerely believe a guardian angel was with me at that moment, because somehow or another, I was able to stop myself from falling off that horse. The other people on the ride who saw this happening to me commented later that it looked real bad for me, and they were all shocked I only had two little scratches on my face.
After dinner that day, we all got on a wonderful vehicle that took us on a night drive. The guide used a powerful spotter, but even so, we didn't see that much. We did see a tamandua eating termites from a termite mound that was in a tree, and that was exciting!
Our last day in the Pantanal, the guide took us again in that special vehicle to a river, and we all got in canoes and floated down the river. This float was nowhere near as good as Clarinho's float was, because since there were so many people, we all had to man our own canoes, and that is not a good setup. It's almost impossible to take pictures when you have to be rowing. The float was also very short, but when we got back they had a good barbecue waiting for us. It was very relaxing sitting by the bank of the river, watching birds and caimans and enjoying a good barbecue. After that, we got back in the vehicle, headed back to the lodge, packed up, and drove back to Cuiaba.
I really wish there was a way to upload our pictures, so that we could include images of what we are seeing, but unfortunately, we just aren't able to do that.
Today we are staying in a little town called Chapadas, but the National Park here is closed, so there is nothing really to do but just hang around. We did drive out to see the cliffs in the evening and they were just beautiful with the evening sun shining on them.
Tomorrow, we drive back to Cuiaba, and catch a plane at 5:20pm to Sao Paolo. We should get to Sao Paolo at 9:40pm and our plane leaves on the 15th at 9:25 at night. That is going to be a long night for us!
May 12 - leaving Alta Floresta
The routine was the same this morning, with us getting up early, having breakfast, and then starting some activity at 6:30am. Guillermo and Fernando decided to do the trail that was scheduled for today, but I decided to take it easy by hanging around the bungalow. I spent my time taking pictures of the place, walking just for a little while down the trail they had gone on and sitting on the floating dock that the lodge has on the river. When they got back from the trail, we had one hour to shower and pack everything up for our boat ride back to the Teles Pires River. The rest of the day was nothing special. The drive in the 4-wheel drive car back to Alta Floresta wasn't as pleasant this time, because the guy drove really fast over those rough roads so it was a bumpy jerky ride. We stopped at the same restaurant for a wonderful lunch again, (buffet style and you pay per kilo) and then it was time to get to the airport and head back to Cuiaba. We stayed at the same hotel as before, and got the rest of our luggage out of their storage.
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