By Jill Lathuilliere
The main reason for my recent visit to Brazil was my son's wedding to a lovely Brazilian girl. My son has been in the Mato Grosso (West Brazil) for five years now doing his research in the Pantanal. I was finally able to visit this area, which is not on the normal tourist list of places to visit, but above all, to be able to see and maybe understand my son's passion and research.
Mato Grosso is like the Wild West with many farms of over 1000 (thousand) hectares of cattle spread out on the Brazilian Savanna.
Behind are the Chapada Mountains which harbour a canyon and overlook the plateau Di Mirand. We spent two days in Chapada do Guimaràes, a lovely town typically South American. A getaway from the scorching city heat. It was winter time and 36°.
We drove to the National Park and walked a good 4 km in the red, sandy soil. I regretted wearing a long sleeved white blouse which was later binned, as it was impossible to remove the red dust.
Arriving on the canyon edge, we saw the most magnificent waterfall of spring water "The Bridal Veil", surrounded by a lush tropical forest. Just at that moment, a couple of blue and red McCaw parrots flew by, almost as though they had been released at that exact moment.
After our coconut drink, which consisted of a straw stuck in a coconut bought from a vendor nearby, we continued our walk. Following a path and finding ourselves in a lush tropical forest with plants (I have only seen in people’s homes as house plants until then) groping up trees and roots that seemed to be coming from the sky, we came upon another waterfall, smaller, which we were able to walk underneath. It really felt like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.
We visited the Pantanal, a vast tropical wetland, of universal importance, harbouring diverse wild and plant life. It was wintertime, the dry season. In the summer months and during the rainy season, the Pantanal fills up with water which gushes down from the Amazon, up to two meters in height, overflowing rivers and filling up the Savanna. Hence the importance of this unique area, known as the main oxygen supplier of our planet. It’s protected by Unesco Heritage. We stayed in a SESC lodge near Poconé for three nights, taking early morning excursions down the snake-like river, to watch the sunrise and wildlife wake up. We saw varied animal life, such as Caiman crocodiles and their predator, the red necked Jabiru stork, ant eaters and Jaguars.
We saw birds such as Toucans and the almost extinct Blue Hyacinthe parrot. There were no European or North American tourists in this area, and it was very frustrating not being able to understand Portuguese. Hardly anyone spoke English or French, but it was an amazing experience.
We next flew to the Argentinian border, to Foz D'Iguaçu Falls, changing at Sao Paolo. Here the weather was a little cooler, but still very warm. We stayed in the Belmond Hotel, the only hotel inside the National Park, which overlooks the falls. We saw toucans everywhere.
On the evening of our arrival it was a full moon, so we went trudging off at 10:30 pm through the forest with our torches and guide, to the heart of the falls, to see the "Moon Rainbow" which looked like a silver beam arching under the falls. It’s only visible on the night of a full moon.
The following day we arranged for a guide to take us to the Argentinian side of the falls. This was a little complicated as we had to leave the Brazilian National park to change money at the border in order to enter the Argentinian National Park, about 25 km drive away.
It was well worth the effort. You get to see a completely different aspect of the falls, which are absolutely breathtaking. You must see the falls from both sides to understand the immensity of it all. Our guide spoke very good English and explained many things about the history of both sides and about Paraguay. We also enjoyed a helicopter ride.
We then headed north to Rio de Janiero. The name means January River. One cannot go to Brazil without visiting Rio and what an amazing place it is, with a stunning vista of the bay, Sugar loaf mountain and the Corcovado. Rio has beautiful botanical gardens with huge palm trees not forgetting the Ipanema and Copacabana beach strips. We spent a whole week there discovering something new each day. My son flew in to join us and to take us around the Rio he knows so well.
The Brazilians are lovely people, but I could not get used to the insecurity. In Rio, you dress down. No jewelry or expensive clothes. You have to be very careful of your wallet or handbag, constantly looking over your shoulder and being alert to all around you. It makes sense to stay in a group and not to flash money around or show your i-phone. Never hail a taxi. Go to an area where they hang out, as there are fake taxis. Each apartment building is secured with bars, barbed wire and even razor blades attached. Armed guards are on duty 24 hrs a day - seven days a week and security cameras are everywhere. We experienced a shoot out one morning right behind our building between dealers and the police. We heard what sounded like machine gun fire which lasted a good half hour, and we were told to stay inside the building all morning, away from the window!!
All in all, it was an amazing adventure. We only saw a very small part of Brazil during our three weeks, but we got to see things off the beaten track that ordinary tourists don’t get to see. None of this would have been possible without my son’s precious advice and help.