Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! Kim and I have been having a great time in Brasil, although it hasn´t exactly been what we expected thus far. SiOnce the last blog, a lot has happened. Our two days in Rio de Janeiro were clouded in fog and rain. n our first day, we walked along the famous Ipanema and got absolutley soaked! There were no hot babes in little bikinis, all the little kiosks were closed, but we still had a great time getting laughed at by all the bus drivers as Kim waved them all down. We eventually figured out how to pronounce the suburb were our hostel was in (botofogo is pronounced bodjofOH!!go and only like that!) and made it home safely. The next day, I contracted some kind of stomach virus and dry-heaved for half a day while Kim made me soup and bought be crackers and drinkable water (what a great girl). When that was over we took a train up to O Cristo Redentor, but Jesus looked decappitated since the fog was so thick! Unfortunetly we also missed the beautiful view of the city -- oh well.
On day 3, we upped and outted West toward Bonito, having had enough of the bad weather and in search of better. A month later we arrived in Bonito (well, the bus ride felt like a month, but it was really only 30 hours), a small ecotourism funded town with expensive snorkelling trips and still no sun. Instead of hopping on a tour, we rent bikes and rode around the area. We must have biked 30 miles that day! At Balneario Municpal (City Baths) we saw hundred of fish in the clearest water, played with monkeys, and a huge bright red macaw attacked me! I think it wanted to make a nest out of my beard. That night was so cold, Kim refused to get out from under the blankets to take a hot shower! We left the next day at 7 in the morning.
Via camioneta and combi, we arrived at the Pantanal; a vast wetland the size of Texas that floods annually. It´s home to a huge number of speicies and still pretty much untouched by humans. By the time we settled in, the weather was clearing up, and we were excited to see the sun, sky, moon, a star...after a week in Brasil! Then we saw a Monkey! We took a boat tour shortly after and saw 11 monkeys, countless caimen (crocs but smaller), cocibara (like a cross between a guinea pig and a bear), and a hundreds of beautifully colored birds! We went on a night Safari later, and it was too cold out for most of the animals (coldest it´s been in 35 years), but we still got a cool look at some glowing caimen eyes. We woke the next morning feliz como una lombriz! The sun came through like a champ, brightening our smiles and warming our hearts. We were so excited we jumped out of our sleeping bags at 6:30 in the morning for breakfast (bread and coffee). We fished for piranas afterwards, but the only thing in the water was the camera I dropped. oops. During a relaxing break between activities a macaw of every color of the rainbow appeared in our camp! Normally, red and blue macaws refused to mate, but when they do, the most amazing colors appear on the offspring. Apparently there are only a few of these in the wild and only one in captivity. You won´t see this bird in any fieldbook either. Kim says it´s the rainbow bird I summoned with my hippie powers. Truly a rare and special moment for us. Later we galloped on horses through the fields to spot armadillos, bush deer, reah (like an emu), more caimen, more monkeys, and a flock of vivid blue macaws! The best activity was walking through the pirana, caimen, anaconda infested swamp barefoot on a five hour trek deep into the Pantenal! The mud felt great between our toes and the wildlife was amazing once again. We saw a family of monkeys in a tree, a flock of flamingo-type birds, toucans, and got super close to the caimen! They were more scared of us though. We left that amazing place this morning to find ourselves in the border town of Corumba, between Brasil and Bolivia. We´re heading off the marsh and into the Amazon tomorrow! Who knows what adventures await us!
We love everyone,
Mike and Kim
