Dislodging to dat other lodge

May 4

Buffet breakfast, then walk through wooded, foresty, marshy area with a different guide named Thadeo. Among our walking group is Camilla, the Brazilian 20-month old daughter of a German father and Mexican mother. Makes me wish Maxi, 19 months, were along, as long as Carol was carrying him.

Words to describe our walk–hot, long, muddy, sweaty, very hot. Saw more birds and plant life, including pink crab eggs. Here are some photos.

Buffet lunch outside and goodbyes to people we’ve met the past couple days. Pack and prepare to be picked up for our transfer to Jaguar Ecological Preserve, where we’ll spend our last three nights in Brazil.

Eduardo, owner and guide at Jaguar, picks us up in a truck. Carol is stuffed in the back seat with the luggage as the truck back is loaded with a solar panel. I’m up front with Eduardo in the sorta air conditioned truck. Turns out that when Eduardo was about nine and his father was raising cattle, a guy from Santa Fe, NM was doing research on birds in the area and stayed with them. He told Eduardo’s father that he should give up the cattle and go into ecotourism. But his father said no, raising cattle was what he knew how to do. A few years later, though, he changed his mind. The guy from Santa Fe sent somebody down to teach Eduardo and some relatives how to speak English and, twenty years ago, the ecotourism business started, and Eduardo is pleased with the way it’s gone. Clearly ecotourism is a family business. His brother-in-law is a guide at the first place we stayed and we passed property of cousins on the way down, one of whose fathers was mayor of a nearby town, which accounts for the road that runs right by their property.

We’re switching to Jaguar, well, because of jaguars. We’re hoping to see one, and this place, because of it’s location, gives you a much better chance. Eduardo is understated, and sorta grows on you. Though he makes no show of it, he clearly knows all of the birds and all about them. Along the way, we stop frequently and probably see birds better, and with much less sweat, than we’ve seen to date. Two and a half hours later, we’ve traversed the 85 kilometers and arrive at Jaguar.

Luxurious it’s not, sort of Motel Eight-like, but not really worse than our prior place. It’ll do. The wildlife here appears great, both in and outside the room. A tree located near our room holds a vulture, 3 hyacinth macaws and another big bird whose identity we’re unsure of, let’s call him, “Ralph.” Inside, Carol captures a small bat she spots on the curtain and escorts it outside. The generator Eduardo has turned on generates air conditioning, which is good. The generator operates from 6PM to 6:30AM each day. If you want electricity at other times, you can get it for $75/hour.

We spend an hour in the room, then go up for dinner, which is actually quite good, especially the chicken and a passion fruit custard dessert. Eduardo joins us for dinner and we learn that his two kids, 16 and 18, live with their mother in Cuiaba, where they are studying. Eduardo expects to move to the US in five years or less to help with a mission of his church, perhaps in NY or San Francisco. It’s tough to find somebody to take charge of Jaguar, though. His son, 16, can’t wait to go to the US. His daughter is planning to go to medical school. His wife is not enthused about moving to the US.

We set out with Eduardo for a night drive, which proves singularly unsuccessful. While that’s a bit disappointing, it’s all part of the game; there are no guarantees when you’re looking for game. We’re back at the room early, which ought to give us a good night’s sleep before our 6:30 breakfast tomorrow.