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Brazil - Samba, Birds and Waterfalls

Part 20 - Around the World 06/2015 - 02/2016

By Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret

January 18^th, 2016

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Introduction

Imagine to sit on a bench in Salvador sipping on your excellent Caipirinha for 1 US Dollar from a street stall. You are surrounded by loudly laughing locals trying to talk to you, which is not easy if you don't speak Portuguese. An extremely relaxed looking guy with a huge car batterie under his left arm, connected to a radio around his neck is passing by, perfectly synchronising his movements with the loud rhythmic music. Welcome to Brazil!

The Pantanal

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The Pantanal is a huge wetland area, 20 times as big as the Everglades in Florida, and full of wildlife. Due to its wide open marshland it‘s way better for animal spotting than the Amazon. Huge areas are private land, mainly used for cattle farming but fortunately in many cases in an sustainable way. I decided to treat myself and stayed 5 nights at Barranco Alto. This Fazenda is middle in the Pantanal in a beautiful region and can only be reached by several hours of driving on a bumpy dirt road or by plane (in the wet season often the only option). There are 2 tours of around 4 hours every day and many ways to explore the area by foot, jeep, canoe, boat and on horse, so I tried everything.

Visitors at the Mango Tree

The big mango tree in the courtyard was not only a gathering point for the guests but also many animals made a visit from time to time to feast on the ripe fruits.

On horse

It´s a long time ago since I was on a horse and never 4 hours. It was good fun, my horse behaving well, but afterwards I was walking like John Wayne (extra wide) for at least 1 hour.

By Canoe

Starting early in the morning for sunrise, rowing along the quiet misty river benches, the canoe is the most atmospheric way to experience the Pantanal.

Cattle Country

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A Birders Paradise

I´m not a birder who runs around with checklists and searches for hours to get a glimpse of a seldom species but if the opportunity brings me big or nice colored or somehow special behaving birds I enjoy trying to get a good photo as it can be quite a challenge. And I can tell you folks, there where many opportunities. I can´t remember that I have been in a place before with so many different types of interesting birds.

Amazing bird, looking and behaving like a branch.

Parrots

What shall I say, they are so much fun. It never get boring watching them.

More Birds

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An Eerie Place - Vampire Bats

Yes, they suck blood (look at the teeth), usually that of bigger animals like cows but if non are around and they are really hungry who knows.

This old shack in the woods would be a perfect location for any horror movie.

By Boat - Piranha Fishing

Definitely the biggest fun part was the piranha fishing. It was amazing, within seconds in the water some action could be felt on the fishing line. It was the 3rd or 4th time I was fishing for piranhas but here it was by far the most exiting time. I asked our guide if he would go swimming here and he said “No, in many places in the river yes, but not here.”

Piranhas are not the only ones interested in the bait

Night Time

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Caimans

I don't know how often I said accidently crocodile. To make it clear, there are no crocodiles in South America this are caimans. On some pictures they really look scary if not evil but I was ensured they are not dangerous to humans and swimming in the river is no problem. I tried and survived. In the nighttime with a flashlight, dozens of eyes were gleaming in the water at once. So there are many around.

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Even more Birds

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By Jeep

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The bush is growing fast, cutting the way free

Mammals

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Giant Otters out of the water, a lucky shot

The Mood of Light

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Finally

In the Pantanal there is no bad weather there are only inappropriate clothes.

Bonito

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Bonito is THE eco travel destination in Brazil. The area lives from its lush green rainforests and crystal clear rivers. Everything is perfectly organized, tours are easily booked via the hostels (tour prices are everywhere the same) and start at exact times. Saftey instructions are detailed in a way they must have been copied from the NASA space missions. I even had to fill out sheets with emergency contact number and blood group (for snorkeling in a river you could stand 99% of the time and you had to wear life jackets).

Rio da Prata and Rio Sucuri

Snorkeling tours in this clear rivers are one of the highlights in the region around Bonito. Rio da Prata is the better one with clearer water and more fish. I did a lot of videos but had no time yet to cut a short movie with the best scenes yet.

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Buraco da Araras

A typical stop if you take the shuttle to Rio da Prata. This place is not a must do but OK if the opportunity for a visit is given.

Gruta do Lago Azul

Without doubt it´s a beautiful place but also very busy and the tour is artificially extended to its limit (close to getting boring), as every group only have 15 min of time at the Lago itself to accommodate the high number of visitors.

Chapadas Diamantinas - Fire and Water

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Many years ago I saw stunning picture of waterfalls on the travel homepage from Karsten Rau. His pictures inspired me already in the past to visit some places I haven‘t had on my radar. Same with this place. This huge area is an outdoor wonderland of waterfalls, blue pools, table mountains and valleys connected by hiking trails. But also the small mining towns of Lençois and Mucuge are charming places with their many colorful houses. I stayed for 5 days but there is so much to discover that even 10 days wouldn‘t be enough. I still wonder how I managed to get this painful blister with my well-worn hiking boots the first day in the park. Due to this I had to skip my plan to visit the beautiful Fumacina Waterfall as this technical difficult hike with many hours of boulder hopping requires good and stable shoes. Fortunately I could do some nice alternative hikes using my trekking sandals. Seeing and talking to people just coming back from the Fumacina hike I was glad about my decision.

Lençois

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A day Trip to Cachoeira da Fumaça

This fall is quite special as the whole fall often runs upwards or down in curves depending on the strong winds. Unfortunately he was running dry at the time but still offered breathtaking views.

Sunset

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CAchoeira da Buraçao

One of the highlights of my trip. Swimming into the canyon and suddenly seeing the fall is breathtaking. And it´s just one hour of walking ;-)

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Fire

The whole area suffered from a serious drought and was very dry. We saw many fires around and it was very hot. With his experience Thiago my guide choose hikes to waterfalls not dried out yet.

More Posing

Yes I know, but the pictures would look to boring without scale otherwise.

Actually no posing, I was relaxing there for half an hour and Thiago took the camera

Mucuge

Another charming town in the area.

Poço Azul

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Thirsty, can anyone switch the shower on?

Impressions

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Salvadore do Bahia

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Salvador was in my itineary only considered to be the hub for the Chapadas Diamantinas, so I was supprised to learn that this city is a tourist hot spot in its own. The former capital of Portugal‘s great New World colonie with many descendents from the time of slavery is now an Afro-Brazilian jewel with colonial houses and churches, african food, rhythm and art. It‘s, according to guidebooks, best explored in the old city, called the Pelourinho. Once a rich area in colonial times it became almost a inner city like favela. A lot of money from UNESCO flew in its restoration and now it shines again. With the restoration came restaurants, coffee bars, souvenir shops and heaps of tourists. Friendly police on every corner ensures security in this otherwise not unproblematic city. Street vendors are registered and carry orange vests, everything is clean and tidy. Still the famous drums and African rhythm can be heard and drum groups make their way around but although a nice experience it feels like the Pelourinho lost its soul. The real Bahian life happens elsewhere in the city.