Well that sorta fell through. Turns out there had been some conflict between rival groups, and the location would be fairly unsafe, and I would have ended up being alone a lot. This opened the way for other options, soon to follow was a possible Belize trip, which also didn't work out. South Africa was too costly, and I didn't know anyone there. This made Brazil the best option, as a trip would be easily arrangeable, though somewhat expensive. Soon though I was on the long flight to Sao Paulo.
Aerial view of a tiny part of Sao Paulo.
After about an hour in Sau Paulo, I jumped on a plane...trouble is the Frenchman who directed me to my gate directed me to the wrong gate and I almost ended up in Brasilia rather than Recife!! Luckily an attendant alerted me to this and got me on the proper flight right before it took off.
After two hours I arrived in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco. I stayed in a somewhat dangerous suburb, the yards all had high concrete walls around them, and they all had automatic gates. All the windows had bars. Despite not being allowed to go anywhere (extremely dangerous for and English-speaking white foreigner), there were still interesting things to see.
Termites are common in hot climates, this nest was on the tree right outside the window.
I also saw quite a few bird species. This one is a Masked Water-Tyrant. These birds are American flycatchers, related to kingbirds, pewees, phoebes, etc. They are often found around water bodies, as their name suggests, and eat small insects.
Also along the canal that I spotted the Masked Water-Tyrant was this Swallow-tailed Hummingbird. The South American tropics are the true home of the hummingbirds. There hundreds of different species, this was only one of several members of this New World family that I would see. These birds were fairly common, and like all hummingbirds it feeds on nectar.
On the same tree I also spotted this little guy- Olivaceous Woodcreeper. The woodcreepers are an interesting bird family. They all gather most of their food from the trunks and branches of trees, prying insects from the bark. Like the hummingbirds and flycatchers they are strictly American, but unlike they are only found in the Neotropics.
Several days later, back at home, a big rainstorm hit us. A thing to note about this region is, being so close to the equator, it rains very often, sometimes everyday. I was however there during the "dry season"; where it still rains, but less often. One such rainstorm drove this lizard to come through the window. This is a species in the Tropidurus genus, but I am unsure of its name. These lizards are everywhere, they eat insects around human habitation and live and breed on the buildings.
After staying in Recife for two weeks, I headed over to the towns of Sao Jose da Coroa Grande and Maragogi, in the state of Algoas. Most of my trip was spent here, and this was by far my favourite place.
I stayed at a school that the mission and our churches have been working in for many years, using the teacher resource room as my temporary bed room.
It was during the first of three nights there that i found this little guy. This is a House Gecko, a common lizard throught many warm regions of the worlds, but it in fact originates from Asia.
Early the next morning me a couple of the teachers started setting up a fun scavenger hunt activity for the students, in a huge lot next to several coconut plantations, which had miles of trails through both scrub and rainforest pockets.
Some of the views of the surrounding area were amazing!
We even managed to spot wildlife during the set up and subsequent scavenger hunt, including this Pygmy Marmoset (top center). These little monkeys were so hard to capture on camera, especially on a little point and shoot. I did manage this blurry image of one jumping.
After these events were done and the days of games and fun were over, I went to stay at one of the teacher's houses. Upon returning to the school there were other projects for me to do.
Such as converting a classroom ceiling from this...
...to this. They got me to do a lot of these jobs, as i had experience with it.
Saturday offered a chance to relax, and several people and myself went for a swim in the ocean. This was the first time I swam in an ocean, and it was great!
That's not to say the school area didn't have good views either. Immediately beside and behind the school were a river, which was surrounded by this mangrove swamp. Ever day it would fill up and drain from the tide, as this was right next to the ocean. There were many water birds here, as well as snakes and massive land crabs, which also burrowed in the back reaches of the school yard.
Part 1
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