Brazil 2025 part 4

    This morning, I wake up with an unhappy stomach so make the decision I had better stay on the boat. We cannot exactly pull up anywhere on the riverbank for an emergency stop! Pit stops are only allowed on open sandy beaches and those can be few and far between.

Paul waves at me as the speedboat backs away. Naturally, I feel some remorse as I watch the group leaving without me. The good part of my staying on the riverboat is that today we will be on the move and heading up the river. Another good thing is I can stand up and walk around plus there is an awning to stand under and escape the hot sun! Paul and I are both sick of sitting all the time! We do walk laps around the upper deck when we are on the riverboat to get some exercise.

    I observe the crew prepare to leave. The youngest member goes ashore to untie the huge rope that has kept the riverboat moored to a tree during the night. It takes three men to get the lengthy rope pulled back onto the ship. One of them is in the water pulling the rope to the boat, another man pulls it through a hole in the ships side, and the third man wraps the rope around a bar on the other side of the ship. This is all taking place below me, so I have a bird’s eye view of the process. It takes a lot of strength to get that rope back on the ship and secured.

Once we are moving up the river, I stand in the prow and observe the river and the shoreline.  I see birds everywhere, spy an iguana sitting on the edge of the river, and watch a pair of Hyacinth Macaws fly in front of the ship. I did not have my camera in hand so there is no photo of the Macaws.

   I also watch the Brazilians going about their lives as we drift by their homesteads. One homestead has laundry hanging on the line. There is a man and woman preparing to leave in a small boat. Maybe they are going fishing?  A couple of cowboys are driving a small herd of cattle down a road. We wave to each other and by the time I think to take a photo, they have disappeared behind a grove of trees. The riverboat is amazingly quiet which is a nice change from the speed boats. I really am enjoying this!

I watch the crew clean the ship, swabbing the decks and washing windows. This ship is always very clean and well kept. After they finish, I do some laps around the top deck and see several of the crew taking a break on the deck below. I go to our room and get the photo book I brought with photos taken at our ranch. The men do not speak English, and I sure do not speak Portugues but photos they understand. The crew crowd around the man holding the book and one of them points to a photo of cows and says “bison”? No, I reply, they are Angus cattle. Several of them say Angus as though they recognize that word. The photo that gets the most reaction is one of our cows lined up eating hay with snow on the ground and snow on the cattle’s back. All of them react with an ooh or even brr. They hand my book back and thank me for letting them see it, (I think).

    Fred and the group return to check on me late morning, and I am feeling good enough to go with them on a short jaunt before coming back for lunch. Paul tells me they saw Marcela and Ousado but the best sighting was a Tapir! Boy am I sorry I missed seeing that odd animal. I tell myself that we saw two tapirs on our first trip to Brazil so that makes me feel better. Paul has a photo which looks good on his phone, but it is too pixelated when it is blown up to post on the blog.

Our adventure this afternoon is going up a side channel that is very shallow with lots of water hyacinths. Fred must use a pole to check the depth of the water to make sure our boat does not bottom out. There are caiman everywhere and more beautiful birds including Roseate Spoonbills. Unfortunately, it is so blasted hot that everybody agrees we should return to the riverboat early.

   Fred sang for us and gave a great talk on caymans and howler monkeys tonight. The best thing on the buffet in my opinion was the French fries! They were cooked perfectly. We have not had many potato dishes so I ate my fill of them! I love potatoes and am not fond of rice and beans which is a staple in Brazil. Okay, the stroganoff was excellent too.

     This morning Paul and I go out to watch the sunrise but are soon chased back in due to clouds of mosquitos. We have had very little trouble with these pests so far which is kind of surprising.

   We do not leave until 6:30 this morning as Fred is taking us to a place where we can take a walk. Yeah!! The Indian couple decide to forgo this as Fred warns us that there will be mosquitos and the man seems to be a mosquito magnet. It was not a tough hike although in one place there were a lot of loose rocks which made you watch your step. We saw a Pale-crested woodpecker which was new for us and a tiny woodpecker about the size of a wren. When we got out of the timber and onto a dirt road, Paul spotted a jaguar track in the dust. We are just glad we did not run into the big cat on the brushy trail. We walked a couple of miles and boy did that feel good.

    The Indian couple are waiting in the speedboat when we get back. Our boat driver takes us down a river canal which leads to a huge lake. There is a mountain range in the background so the scenery is stunning. As we motor on, there are lakes and water canals as far as you can see. This means we see huge flocks of water birds, flying, perching, and swimming. It is just surreal. We end up in Bolivia for a few minutes; the border is marked by a white post sticking up out of the water. No, we are not supposed to go into Bolivia, but we have not seen a soul since we entered this beautiful area so figure we are safe. Oh yes, the riverboat is now traveling up the Paraguay river.

     This afternoon we are going to visit what Fred calls the shopping mall. A group of women decided to start weaving crafts from the water hyacinth stems. Fred always brings his groups here because he so admires the innovation of the women. Also, very few tourists come here so they need all the help they can get. Everyone finds something to purchase. Paul and I buy a piece that resembles a capybara. I have no idea what we will do with it when we get it home but the ability it took to weave this piece is admirable.

  We leave the shopping mall behind and motor to the Pantanal National Park headquarters. I cannot remember how many acres the park is but do know it is huge. To patrol the waters and land of this enormous national park there are only two rangers! The head ranger is a personable woman who warmly greets us upon our arrival. We follow her to the office building and sign the visitors’ book. After visiting for a bit, with Fred translating, we head back to the riverboat. One thing Fred shares with us is how isolated the people who work and live here are, twelve hours by boat to a town!

    A wonderful day and I loved this scenic area. Not a bad way to spend your 49^th wedding anniversary!

I have included slideshows in this blog. Below are various birds we saw. Another slide show shows photos when we were touring the expansive waters. Just click on the arrows to see all the photos.

Brazil 2025 part 3

    I always make notes in a journal at the end of the day, and this is what my first sentence was for today. Jaguar heaven this morning! Can it really be better than yesterday?

We have not gone far on the main river when we experience a phenomenon that I will never forget. Fish begin jumping out of the river and one of them lands in the lap of the Indian woman. She jumps up screaming and runs over to my side of the boat. I get down and while trying to capture the flopping fish I keep reassuring her, (okay I am laughing too), that it is just a fish. She finally settles down, and I manage to grab our uninvited guest and toss it overboard. In the meantime, several other fish have landed in our boat. A crewman that is with us this morning is busy grabbing them and tossing them back. I know I should not have laughed as the poor woman really was freaked out. I am fairly certain I was not the only one laughing at her expense.

   We have some good bird sightings this morning before we join a few boats watching Marcela as she is getting ready to cross the narrow tributary we are in. Holy smokes! No wonder Marcela slept all day, yesterday. Her belly is huge! This beauty is either very pregnant, or she stuffed herself to the point of bursting. It does not take Marcela long to reach the other side and then she disappears into the woods.

We continue exploring and twenty minutes after leaving Marcela we cross paths with Patricia and Makala walking near the water. Patricia soon vanishes into the brushy cover, but Makala decides to sit down and stare right back at us. He soon becomes bored and heads in the same direction Mom did. Well, that was cool.

Our driver turns down another channel on orders from Fred and in a few minutes, we find Marcela sleeping in a tree! I guess that swim and short overland hike wore her out. Fred tells us this is one of her favorite trees. The guides obviously know the habits of the individual jaguars very well.

This place is a labyrinth of channels off the main river, and I have no idea where we are or where we have been. I do know that we find two river otters in the offshoot of the main river we are exploring now. These otters are not cute in my opinion. To me they look flat out mean. This couple do entertain us with their playful antics. They crawl up the muddy bank and slide around in the mud, then go down into the river and splash around. Suddenly the otters go on alert. Fred sees what they are upset about as he spots Ousado emerging from some trees on the other side of the river. Ousado approaches the water and is preparing to cross when he espies the otters. He stops and intently watches the otters.

I think all of us are holding our breath as Fred quietly relates to us that jaguar fear river otters. A group of otters will not hesitate to attack a jaguar and if you could see their teeth, you would understand why. After what seems like an eternity, Ousado backs up and takes refuge on the riverbank. The otters seem to accept his retreat and start playing again. Eventually the otters swim down the river and we follow them for a while. They can stay under the water a long time and boy can they swim fast! What an interesting encounter.

    Our boat is speeding off again and this time we are taken to a pair of jaguars in mating mode. Typical cat romance, snarling, lashing out with their paws, nothing that would suggest they wanted anything to do with each other. We sit here with several other tourists watching the jaguars’ antics but the two do not mate.  Regardless, a great way to cap off the morning!

It is a relief to be back on the airconditioned riverboat as it is sunny and very hot today. We are served another great meal. These chefs are something else. Fred regals us with stories of things that have happened with other clients of his which is very entertaining. I wonder if the fish encounter will be told to future clients.

    We are off at three o’clock, but the Indian couple decide to stay on the boat. Maybe it is too hot for them, and it is stifling hot. I am wearing a neck cooler, and I am so glad I decided to buy one and give it a try. I have no idea how it works but after soaking it in ice water, it stays cool for about three hours. I do not deal with heat very well and this device has allowed me to stay comfortable.

We find a jaguar grooming himself on a sandy beach. It turns out to be Ousado. Fred says Ousado is about two miles from where we saw him this morning. Fred tells us that this makes him feel more positive about Ousado’s health since he has traveled that far in a fairly short time. My question is how the old jaguar can stand being out in the direct sunlight?

    We meander down different channels, some quite shallow. When we are in the shallow tributaries, Fred asks us to all to move to front seats so the motor will sit higher in the water. This will keep the motor from getting clogged with the water plants. We go back to check on the mating couple which have stayed in the same area we saw them at this morning. There is no shade for the boat, so we are at the mercy of the late afternoon sun. Yikes, have I mentioned it is really hot? The two jaguars move around some, still making threatening noises and gestures towards one another. We move on after twenty minutes giving up hope that the couple will actually mate. When the speedboat is moving the breeze helps tremendously in cooling us down, so we are all happy to leave.

Fred wants to check on Marcella again. I think Marcela must be one of Fred’s favorite jaguars. After we have been there a few minutes, Marcela sits up on the big limb she was sleeping on. Everyone, (a few other boats are here), watch intently in the hope we will see her ambush the caiman that poked his head up not far from Marcela’s perch. Marcela looks at the reptile and then lays back down. What a tease she is!

Another beautiful sunset, great meal, and entertainment from our versatile guide.

BRAZIL 2025 PART 2

    We are up early, 4:30, and eating breakfast at 5:30. This will be our routine for the days we are on the boat. By the way, our boat travels at night so we are at a different place this morning from where it was moored last night. We load up on the speed boat at six a.m. and motor down the Rio Cuiaba river.

   A myriad of birds, caiman, and trees blooming in vibrant reds, pinks, and purples nearly overwhelm me. Fred is amazing on his ability to spot and identify every bird we see, also the trees and flowers. We have not been on the boat very long when it suddenly speeds up and we roar down the river. Since the other people in our group experienced the sudden acceleration yesterday morning, they know what is up and Paul and I have a pretty good idea too.

     We come upon a boat sitting still in the middle of the river and when we pull up beside it, there on the shore is a beautiful jaguar. Our first jaguar! I am pretty sure my mouth drops open and my heart definitely speeds up. The big male, who Fred identifies as Tomas, is busy eating a bird. A paltry snack for this big cat but Fred says even though the jaguar’s main prey are caimans they never pass up an opportunity for a meal. We sit and watch Tomas devour his big kill. He spends more time plucking feathers and spitting them out than finding a piece of meat to eat. When Tomas finishes his snack, he stands up and strolls into the brush and trees, disappearing from our sight. Tomas never even looked towards the boats that arrived to watch him dine, which tells you how acclimated they are to humans.

   We have learned from this experience that the guides share a jaguar sighting with other guides, which is good. There are so many side channels that the odds would go way down in seeing a jaguar if no one shared their good luck at spotting the beautiful cat.

     We head on down or maybe up the river, and I swear we have not left Thomas fifteen minutes ago and our boat is roaring down the river again. Here is the bad part of everyone knowing about a jaguar siting. When we arrive, there are probably twenty boats watching a female jaguar as she is hunting a caiman. We never see the caiman she is after but the big cat will splash into the water, then go up on the shore, walk along the shore a little way before going back into the water. More boats have arrived and are jostling for a better spot which becomes very irritating. The jaguar seems to have given up on her quest for the caiman, as she walks into some dense bushes that engulf her. Our boat and the others proceed in the direction she headed and sure enough the big cat comes back into the open. The jaguar shows no inclination of continuing her hunt. Fred asks us if we have had enough. We all agree we are ready to leave the chaos behind. There were probably thirty boats by the time we left.   

As we cruise down the river, Fred, and our boat driver, simultaneously call out “Jaguar.” Are you kidding me. I must be dreaming, how in the world have we seen three jaguars within an hour or so? Fred immediately knows this male jaguar because he is wearing a radio collar and he has quite a story behind him. Ousado was rescued after a devastating wildfire in this area in 2022. Ousado had been burned badly particularly his feet. I think Fred told us he was under human care for a year and then returned to the wild. He is the only jaguar with a radio collar.  Ousado is ten years old which is old for a jaguar particularly one that went through the trauma that he did. Fred notices that he is missing a back toe which is still raw. When Ousado stands up we see how bony he is and that he is walking slowly. Fred shakes his head and wonders out loud how much longer the old cat will survive. I would have to agree with our guides assessment.  We are joined by two other boats which after the last jaguar encounter is a marked improvement.  As we are leaving Ousado, other boats are speeding our way so we timed our departure just right.

    Our boat driver takes off and soon we have joined several boats that are clustered near a tree growing next to the shoreline. This is crazy. There is a jaguar sleeping in the tree though she is so hidden that all you can see is her head and front paws. All the staring human eyes and boat noise does not even wake her up. Fred identifies her as Marcela. The jaguars in the identification project are named and identified by the markings on their heads or unique spots on their sides. We stay for a bit to see if the snoozing lady will wake up and do something to entertain us but all we get for the time we are there is seeing her open her eyes once.

    Are you ready?  We are speeding away again and soon join a few other tourists in watching a mother and her big cub swimming in the river. How amazing to see cats leisurely swimming. Jaguars often choose to swim in the river to travel to another place rather than go overland. The pair swim near the edge of the river for quite some distance and their entourage of speed boats filled with humans follow slowly on the other side of the river. When the pair emerge from the water, we get a good look at them and see that the male cub is nearly as big as his mama. The cub named Makala has what looks like teeth puncture wounds on his hips. Who knows what put them there but maybe a male jaguar?  Patricia, his mother, slowly ambles into the cover of trees and brush with Makala not far behind although he is more curious about we humans and stops to look at us occasionally.

It is time to head back to the boat for lunch and as we arrive there is a family of capybara standing on the beach not far from where our riverboat is moored. Our boat driver takes us near the rodent family so we can snap some photos of the huge, odd-looking creatures. We have seen many of these giant rodents already, but the lighting and the little ones make for a good photo op.

Once on the boat we enjoy a wonderful lunch served buffet style. We have a couple hours after lunch to rest up. If anyone would have told us that we would see six individual jaguars within a few hours on the river I think all of us would have laughed out loud! I still have trouble believing our good fortune.   

    We leave for our afternoon exploration at three o’clock. It is hot, in the 90’s, but it is cloudy which certainly helps. Fred wants to go back and check on Marcela to see if she is still sleeping in the tree. Marcela has left the tree and is now napping on an embankment a few yards from the tree she had been in. Again, Marcela does not move or even open her eyes. I wish I could sleep that well. We do not stay long as there is way too many boats filled with patient people hoping the lazy jaguar will wake up and entertain them.

Our boat driver takes us down a small channel and we have not gone far when we join a few boats watching a female jaguar walking on the sandy beach. The lovely lady lays down but after a few minutes she decides that she is thirsty and walks down to the river to drink. Watching any cat lap water is fascinating to me as I do not see how they ever manage to get enough water to satisfy them. There are more boats arriving all the time, so we say farewell to the seventh jaguar we have seen today. Paul and I just shake our heads at this unbelievable day in Brazil. I guess the misery of getting here was worth it. Thanks for sticking with getting us here Paul!

   Fred decides we need to check on Marcela one last time and we find her in the same area, and she is still zonked out. Because there are a lot less boats we are able to see all of this slumbering cat. Marcela will probably start prowling once the sun sets and all these bothersome tourists are gone. We enjoy another gorgeous sunset before going back to the riverboat.

    Once we are on the boat, we all head to our rooms to clean up before supper. Our cabin is much like the room we had at the airport. A bed with room for luggage underneath it, a small wardrobe to hang clothes, and a bathroom. It is small but we will not be spending much time in here anyway.

   We head upstairs to the dining area and Fred is already playing the guitar and singing. Yes, our guide is multi-talented. He often sings popular American songs in English of course, but occasionally sings a Brazilian song in Portuguese. Fred then presents his “Fred talks” where he has photos he has taken on a computer about the animals he is educating us about for that night. I think tonight it was on capybaras. Fred also has a camera with those long lenses and his photos are stunning.  A wonderful meal is just the icing on the cake of this incredible, unbelievable day!

Heading to Brazil 2025

   Almost two years ago Paul and I shook hands to seal our agreement that we were finished with international travel as we headed back home from Egypt. Now we are heading for the Manhattan airport to catch our first flight on our way to Brazil. Why did we break our no travel pact? Because Paul found a tour that basically guaranteed that we would see Jaguars. Well heck, the one big cat beside snow leopards that we have not seen. After a few hems and haws from me, the decision was made to go.

    Ah yes, the wonderful part of any trip is the journey to get there. Pure sarcasm on my part. Our flight from Manhattan is delayed by an hour. No problem since we have an eight-hour layover in Dallas. We make it to Dallas and after a few hours, passengers begin to line up to board the plane that will take us to Sao Paulo. Ten minutes before actual boarding time an announcement is made telling us our flight has been cancelled. I guess since the crew had not gotten on the plane yet should have been a clue something was wrong. The weather is fine so it must be a problem with the plane, no explanation is given for the cancellation.

   While we are standing in line for hotel vouchers, Paul is already reaching out to Exito, the people that booked our flights. A young man from Brazil happens to be standing next to us and he asks us about the hotel choices that have come up on his phone app. Paul checks his phone and he too has the hotel voucher on his app. We tell the young man that none of the choices are great, but we will go with La Quinta over Motel 6 and Super 8. Ed goes with our decision for his hotel choice too. We also get meal vouchers you can use at the airport worth twelve dollars which makes our new acquaintance laugh saying you might be able to buy a cup of coffee for that amount. Ed gets on his phone and connects with the hotel who has a shuttle in route to pick us and other passengers up. Paul continues to work with Exito and now has a representative from the tour company making suggestions too. We have more confusion as we cannot find the shuttle once it announces it has arrived but Ed who is conversing with the driver realizes we need to go down one level.

   On the way to the hotel, Paul continues to correspond via What’s App, with Abigal our tour operator and Exito. We make it to the hotel, and before going to our room we make plans with Ed to catch the same shuttle in the morning back to the airport.

   I take my glasses off when we get to the room and hear something hit the floor. For crying out loud, one of my lenses fell out. Well, this is why you bring an extra pair. By the time I am ready for bed Paul and the people helping him have booked us on a later flight to Cuiaba that will still allow us to catch our private flight to Port Jofre with the rest of our group. I forgot that if our flight had not been cancelled, we would have been spending the night in Cuiaba before taking the final flight to Porte Jofre.

   I wake up early to find Paul on the phone again chatting with our tour and flight coordinators. Guess what? Our departure time was moved back in the middle of the night so a new set of plans must be made! Upon hearing what it entails I tell Paul maybe we should just go home. Paul considers this but decides we should try to follow through. I reluctantly agree. The new plan is that we will get to Sao Paulo in the wee hours of the morning, spend about three hours in an airport hotel, catch our Cuiaba flight, then be transported by a private driver and a guide to Porte Jofre. We darn well better see a jaguar!                      

    After eating a typical hotel breakfast, we join Ed and other passengers on the shuttle that takes us back to the Dallas airport. Our flight is delayed this morning due to heavy rain, but we do get off the ground around noon. Ed has joined us while we wait to board the plane. At one point he needs to go see if he can get his connecting flight to Cuiaba straightened out and asks if we will watch his carry-on luggage. Of course we will. When Ed comes back, he gives us a big box of Lindt mini-candy bars. We protest that we should be treating him for all his help. How kind is that?

    Paul and I opted for Premium Economy and boy is it worth it. We have two seats on the right side of the plane and our friend Ed is on the left side. Glad we were not in the middle where there are three seats. We arrive in Sao Paulo at 1:30 in the morning but our checked bag which is packed with trail cameras for the people that run the Jaguar Identification Project does not show up. There are several passengers who have luggage that does not come on the carousel. A young woman comes up to me and asks if our bag is a duffle. Yes, it is. She tells us that they found their duffle bag in the lost luggage area. Someone told them that the baggage handlers do not put them on the conveyer belt since they tend to fall off. I walk over to lost luggage and sure enough our duffle bag is sitting there. Thank goodness for that thoughtful person to let us know or we might have never found it.

   Guess who has been waiting for us all this time while we were looking for our luggage? Our guardian angel Ed. He and another Brazilian who works for American Airlines, walk us to our hotel which is in another terminal. Along the way Ed tells us where we will have to check our luggage in and points out the gate where our flight leaves from in the morning. A good thing they escorted us as we would never have found this hotel that is tucked away in a corner of the airport and at this time of morning there is hardly anyone around to help you. After our personal escorts make sure we have a room they leave to go to the other airport hotel. We enter our room at three in the morning. The first thing I do is hit the shower before laying down in hopes of a little sleep.

   We are up at 5:30 and out of the small room by six o’clock. It is a good thing as we walk into a mad house. People are everywhere. We go to the area where we think we need to check in our duffle bag, but Paul cannot get the woman who is standing at the entrance of the aisle to pay any attention to him. People keep pushing in front of him but eventually he gets confirmation on where to go. After getting the bag checked in, we proceed to our gate. Paul has the tickets on his phone, and he gets through just fine. He gives me the phone and for some reason my ticket is refused. The women running the gate will not let Paul back out and she points and tells me to go over there. Over where? I am freaking out that I may have to go back to the check-in area but Paul sees the line she is talking about and walks down to show me where it is.  I join lots of other passengers whose ticket codes were also rejected. I get through this check point with no trouble. Obviously, a rejected code is not unusual.

  Once inside we find the gate where we will be boarding and Paul goes off to buy himself a sprite. After sitting there awhile I am astonished to look up and see Ed. He tells me he wanted to make sure we found our gate. Paul shows up and we visit with Ed until it is time to line up to for boarding. I still find the kindness of this young man unbelievable. I will add that on our last trip to Brazil almost 20 years ago, our connecting flight out of Sao Paulo was cancelled. As we were talking about what we should do (no cell phones then) a young man came up to us and asked if we were the Miller’s. It turns out he was our guide, so he took over and solved our problem! What are the odds?

    We boarded our flight on time, but we are not sitting together, guess we were lucky they had 2 seats left on this flight. Once we reach Cuiaba, our duffle bag shows up, our guide, Zainia, is waiting for us and she takes us to the vehicle where Reece, the driver, packs up our luggage. Reece drives us to a barbeque restaurant where the waiters bring all kinds of meat to your table and slice off what you want at your table. You go through a buffet for the side dishes. I do not eat much but what I have is excellent. Paul tries small pieces of just about all the meat except the fish.

   We take off on our four-hour drive with most of the road trip on the Transpantaneira highway which is a very rough dirt road with around a hundred or so bridges. The last time we were here they were all wooden, but many have been replaced with modern bridges. These are small bridges. We see cayman, lots of birds, horses, cattle, and a few deer on our drive while we listen to Zainia tell us about what we are seeing along the way and some of her experiences as a guide.

Once we reach Port Jofre, we wait 20 minutes for our guide Fred to come pick us up in the speed boat. We see a hyacinth macaw plus other birds while we are waiting. The other six members of the group are also in the boat. We say thank you to Zainia and Reece then get on the speed boat. The boat driver takes us to the river boat where we will spend the next six nights. I assume that Paul and I will get off with our luggage but Fred says no, we are going with them to explore a river channel. We meet the group, a couple from Colorado, two more couples from South Africa but one of those couples are from India who moved to South Africa. The three men and the woman from Colorado have cameras with unbelievably long lenses on them!

    We see birds everywhere and Fred knows every one of them. No jaguars but we do have a gorgeous sunset. Paul and I are exhausted but we enjoy the excellent evening meal and find Fred very personable and knowledgeable. We visit with the other people in the group a bit but excuse ourselves early to go to bed as we are exhausted!