Blog entry: Short summaries

Blog entry: Short summaries

This last month was an accumulation of lot of things (e.g. power lost, lost of internet connection, no water, food shortage) therefore it has been difficult to put my thoughts together and write an entry. So, I like to write something "light"; in this entry I like to write short summaries on various aspect in and around the fazenda and on the field.

Frankie and Beth, the tapirs

To start, I want to inform you about the tapirs, my favourite animals in this property. At the beginning I think that these beasts are quite ugly (just like everyone in general). When we arrived they were enclosed in the front of the fazenda with the peccaries. However, after a while Leandro moved them to the enclosure on the back of our house. He also mentioned that we could give them the left-over we got and thus we fed them with some left-over. To be honest, at first I was a bit afraid of them and when I gave them the left-over, I quickly open the gate, dumped it and quickly close it again. It started to changed when one day I mustered all of my courage to pet one of them (the male) actually. Surprisingly, they are quite meek or perhaps they are already grew accustomed to me. The sudden change in liking came because I decided to base my research on the big grazers (i.e. the tapirs), hence I decided to learn more about them.

Between December and January was the mango seasons. Back in our house we have 2-3 mango trees and everyday lot of mangos fell on the ground. Leandro then asked as to give these mangoes to the tapirs, and so I collected mangoes almost every day and gave them to the tapirs.

Coincidentally it is also the time when Mario came for a visit. Mario is a professional animal trainer and has worked with variety of animals. In that week-end that he was with us, maybe it was an accident or maybe not, the tapirs got loose. The male was exploring the house and eating the plants on the yards. With some difficulties Leandro was able to herd him back to the enclosure. However, the next day when me and Mario were going to feed them with some mangoes, we could not find them. Leandro was by chance around and he informed us that they were loose again and the female was actually nearby his house that morning. We saw that the back-door to the eucalyptus was open and decided to go and search for the male. Mario saw him in the distance and we approached him quietly, but he already noticed us and fled to the corner of the plantation. We went to that direction and surprisingly we didn't found him. Both of us were amazed on how quick he was able to run and disappeared from our sights

Then Mario saw him again, not far from us. He was lying on the ground, relaxing. we approached him quietly. Mario then gave him some mangoes and started to walk away while hitting the bucket. Miraculously, he followed us back to the enclosure.

It's when I fed them jack fruit

After that I started to hit the bucket every time I come to feed them. I also decided to name them. I call the male Franco / Frankie (because of mafia movies and uncle Frankie, I find the name quite fitting for this big fellow), as the name that Leandro gave to him was quite difficult. The female I decided to call her Beth (a short version of Elisabeth) because Effie told me that is her name.

I still remember the time when I came in the enclosure and Frankie already sniffing the scent of mangoes and came running towards me. I dumped the mangoes on the ground, he came sniffing and immediately jumped on the pile of mangoes. One of his legs stepped on a mango and was slipping, though he didn't mind and carried on with the mango feast. Beth was quite timid (now not so much) and more tranquil in her approach. She came cautiously to the pile though when she started to eat she also ravaged the mangoes as her better half.

Frankie likes to eat with his eyes closed

Mario trick with the bucket worked, Frankie and Beth are already familiar with the sound. Now, even if they are sleeping, when they heard the sound they know that food is coming and run immediately towards me. Mario also teach me to caress the animals. Every time that I feed them I spent some time petting them and removing some ticks. I grew attached to them and I think the feeling is vice versa (see the picture).  I will have a hard time leaving them ...

Courtesy of Efstathia Sideri

The fungi

Now comes a part that maybe not so relevant with the work that I conducted, but still it is something that I like to do. My interest in fungi started in high school when I grew bread molds for  a small research.  My report for that research was graded quite high. Although, sadly I do not continue to the next step (to collect and identify mushrooms). The interest lay dormant and I started to like it again after I did a small project during the second year of my bachelor. It was when I met Dr. József Geml and learned a lot about the phylogheny of the Lactarius clade. Because, I really liked the project I decided to do my bachelor internship under supervision of József.

During the internship I had the chance to accompany József during the fieldwork in Costa Rica (last year). It was there when I found and gathered my first mushrooms. From then on I always keep my eyes open for any mushrooms and surprisingly, I found many of them here in cerrado.

So, this part of entry is actually more or less directed to the people of NCB naturalis. Guys, these are the mushrooms that I have found around sugarcane and in forest fragment.

The first one I found in the forest, nearby a tree and a small stream of water. I think this is an ectomycorrhiza.

The second one I found in the sugarcane. A lot of these mushrooms grows on the cut stem of the sugarcanes.

This mushrooms I found it along the road. It resembles an Amanita, I am not sure though. I didn't saw any trees nearby and on the record there are a lot of cattle passing through this area. 

Furthermore, I found more mushrooms after rain. I hope you like these images and perhaps could identify some of them.

The end??

My honoured audiences, my time in Brasil is almost ended. The fieldwork went well although we had some accidents in the end. Don't worry, I'm fine, the real damage was in the equipments. Thus because it is almost the end I would like to dedicate my last entry to the jaguars. I hope you stay tuned for that last entry, however I also want to warn you that it will contain images of jaguars playing and devouring a dead animal. 

Até proxima,

Yuga 

Blog entry: Fourth - sixth week, second part

Brazil, state of Goias, 17 December 2012 - 6 January 2013

First of all, I would like to congratulate one of my loyal reader, Pim van den Berg. I heard that you liked the story of Yuma scratching my foot. I hope that you had a great birthday with plenty of presents. I don't have anything to give but as small token here is some photos of little Yuma (well she is quite large now, and becoming a proper jaguar, aggressive one too)

As the fieldwork is gradually getting to the climax, things are getting more hectic lately. For instance, every day we are working on checking the cameras and doing the transect survey. Things which need plenty of time and therefore less and less free time available. After day of field work we still have some office works to do (putting the data in the excel spreadsheet for both camera traps and transect survey). However, there is a positive side of this story. Finally, I could put my GIS skill at work and honed my skill by mapping the already gathered occurrence data of the species captured with the camera traps. This is exciting as we are going to understand the "movement" of the species captured on the pictures and videos.

At first I thought I could write an extensive report about my experience in Pirenopolis. I am afraid I can only present a quick review of my travelling periods. It doesn't really matter as I promised more pictures and less text for this entry anyway. So without further a due, here is a recap of my experience in Pirenopolis.

24 December, Pirenopolis. The town of Pirenopolis is exactly as the guide books described. It is full with colonial houses and cobbled streets. The town is also really small and everything is easily accessible on foot. My journey started with the main church or Igreja matriz, also known as Nossa senhora do Rosario. It is white, with blue doors and windows. Furthermore, it has the typical two towers (see picture 1). It is constructed between 1728 and 1732. Next to the church is the main theatre of the town and painted with the distinctive white and green. Walking further you will find plenty of colonial houses and two other churches, Nosso senhor de Bonfim and Nossa senhora do carmo.

Figure 1. Nossa Senhora do Rosario 

The historic value and the relax/ laidback ambiance of this town attracted many local tourists from the capital city of Brazil, Brasilia and Goiania. Activities in this town can therefore be found in the small streets packed with souvenirs shops or nearby the bridge where one could cool off in the river.

Later that day. In the late afternoon there was a heavy shower and perhaps correlated with that, there was no electricity in the whole town. As it was a Christmas eve, I went to visit the church to attend the mass. It turned out to be one of the most impressive mass I have ever attended. The church (Igreja Matriz) was totally dark. At the door all visitors got a small candle and all the big candles in the church were lit. Next to me was a boy chanting and attending the procession with high spirit. Later on we caught in conversation and he was wondering if I was a Brazilian. At first he thought I was a Chilean :-). Then, I explained that I was from Holland. Then he started to guess which city I was from, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Volendam.. It turned out that couple years ago he went to Holland with his parents. It was a funny encounter and his high spirit amazed me.

The mass was just about to end when the electricity came back again. Now I can see the interior of the church. It is quite sober, the altar is though quite nice.

Figure 2. Bright coloured houses 

25 December, Pirenopolis. As I mentioned in my previous entry, Pirenopolis boasts beautiful natures beside architecture. Most of the natural attractions are waterfalls. The closes one is ca. 5 km away, called Cachoera Bonsuccesso. Before I went to the waterfalls I decided to hike to viewing point Morro de froto. However, there are no detailed maps of the area and therefore I was lost. It was really nice though, I walked through what I thought to be a deserted fazenda, found a way to hiked up to the hill and got a really nice view of the area. I can grasp why the early settlers called this region Pereneus (latin for Pyrenees). I see some faint resemblance with the mountain range between France and Spain. It is quite stunning, the lush and green rolling hills as far as eyes can see.

I found a small trail and decided to walked through it. The only tool that I had was my compass  app on my smart phone (Thank you the one that develop this app). I took bearing and pin pointed the town on South/ South west and started to walked to that direction.

Figure 3. Pasture with hill landscape 

Hiking in solitude with minimum amount of tool, relying solely on my navigation skill and bit of luck,  had heightened my senses. I had really fun discovering trails and saw some tracks (dog, but thinking back it may actually be a maned wolf, Chrysocyon brachyurus). In the end I found the road again where I could follow and went back to the town.

Later that day. Back in town I was totally exhausted. In spite that, I do not want to leave this town without at least visited one waterfall. So I muster all my strength and started to walk to the Cachoera bonsuccesso. FYI, Between the town and the waterfall there was a lot of expensive hotels. Arrived at the waterfall and paid the entrance fee (the waterfall is situated in a fazenda), there was still a short hike to the top of the waterfall.

The verdict: compare to other waterfalls I saw here in Brazil, this one is a baby. I am a bit disappointed, I thought it was much bigger/ higher. Nevertheless, It is quite good spot to cool off and soak my weary feet. One thing that due make me happy is that they sell Pamonha (or tamales), steamed corn flour wrapped up in corn leaves, see picture. There were two fillings, cheese or chocolate. For this time I bought only the cheese. I also found this snack somewhere else in South America (searched in the internet returned that this is an mesoamerican dish, so in Central-America you will have a higher chance to encounter this dish). I recommended this snack as this is really tasty and healthy.

26 December, Goiania. The only direct bus to Goiania departs everyday at 9.30. I have arrived back in Goiania around noon and with plenty of time to kill I was again exploring the town. On daylight my memories of this town is gradually coming back. The placed I stayed four years ago was actually at the Av. anhanguera. 

From there I was determined to find the Internet cafe, where I spent plenty of time four years ago. Guess what.. I found it. I was really amazed. I was looking for an internet cafe as I want to call home with skype, but in the end it was quite hassle and I gave up. Instead I watched the movie Madagascar 3 (in Portuguese). The rest of the time I spent wandering in the shopping mall/ bus terminal.

Figure 4. Pamonha (tamales) 

27 December, Mineiros. Arrived in Mineiros around 5.00. In the bus terminal there were not many people around except for couple of guys whose talked loudly. I decided to sit next to dozing old man and after a couple minutes I also started to dozed. In the next couple of hours I alternately dozed and awake, as there is one creepy looking guy walking about. After a couple of hours, I went to the town centre, had some breakfast and called the taxi (sr. Herculano). I want to mention him in this entry as he is really a nice guy (however, he only speaks Portuguese). Before, we went to ENP, we stopped at the supermarket to stock up some food. He was patiently waiting till I was done with shopping and helped to load the groceries and so on. So, after everything is done we went to ENP. Back to the lovely "island".

Despite that "island" seems to have a negative connotation, when I was back again in this house I actually relieved. It felt really like coming back home. However, now after a longer period it started to feel like a beautiful desert Island as in "Lord of the Flies" (well after re-read Lord of the flies I retrieved this comment) again.

This was a summary of my travelling experience in  Pirenopolis, I hope you enjoy it.

I only have one more message for you:

"Leandro Silveira and Anah Jacomo have about 20 years experience on wildlife research in ENP and surroundings. Two years ago, they started a daunting new project, raising three jaguar orphans named Xavante, Kira and Maya. The mother of those jaguars was shot by cattle rancher as a retaliation for the killed cattle.

As humans are gradually encroaching the territory of this creatures, this kind of conflict will emerged from time to time. The local government is quite ignorant about the problem. Therefore, If local government is pressured to acknowledge the problem, proper measures could be taken.

Check this link:

BBC Natural World shows the efforts of Jaguar Conservation Fund to send back to the wild three ophan jaguar cubs.

Jaguars Born free http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqdKqnNLs80.

Behind the scenes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUqt78Sn48

It is a documentary about the three orphans jaguars mentioned above, more publicity regarding this problem will help Leandro and Anah with the conservation of this threatened species. Please share this link and help to raise awareness and acknowledge the problem. Thanks "

Até proxima,

Yuga

Blog entry - Travelling time (fourth - sixth week)

Blog entry: Fourth - sixth week

Brazil, state of Goias, 17 December 2012 - 6 January 2013

Dear friends, family and all followers,

First of all, forgive my tardiness in updating my blog as things have been hectic lately.  Secondly, I hope that you all had a great holidays and enjoy it with your loved ones. In spite that my loved ones are on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, I want to say that I always carry you in my thoughts and in my heart. Thirdly, for you all, I also want to thank you for your lovely comments and wishes. Although I'm lacking time in replying them individually, I do read them all and they gave me much strengths and motivations. I hope in this new year I can still entertain and inform you with this blog. 

Inspired by the great book "Dracula" by Bram Stoker (I will inform you later about this), I would like to change my style of narration to the style that Mr. Stoker used in his book. Although the content will not be as exciting and horrifying as the book in regard, I hope that you will appreciate this changed of style. So, here it goes... 

17-20 December, ENP. The girls were gone for a couple of weeks as they were going to celebrate the holidays in Bonito, Foz do Iguaçu and Ubatuba (nearby Sao Paulo). Thus, I was left alone in this "island". I made the choice to stay behind for various reasons. Reasons which will need to be explained quite extensively and therefore I choose to omit them here in this entry. However, I'm quite content with my choice although I would be lying if I'm saying that I didn't felt quite lost. Lost in the sense that I didn't know what to do, so I have dedicated myself in literature research. Until Leandro asked when I was planning to check the cameras. Glad with the confidence bestowed, I started to check the cameras alone. It went smoothly without any accidents (knock on wood!).

Only one thing was still grinding in my mind, the registration at the Policia Federal. As a holder of temporary visa it is required to register in a office of PF within 30 days after the arrivals. After a search on the internet I found the way how to do it. But, how can I go to the town of Mineiros? Well long story short, I could hitch a ride with Bahiana as she and her families were going to the town. 

21 December, Mineros. We started to drive around 8.00 and arrived in Mineiros around 9. As soon as I arrived at the rodoviaria (bus terminal) I bought a ticket of the 12.00 bus to Jataí, where the office of PF is situated. With the time that I had in between, I have fixed all the necessary documents and I can departed to Jataí with little worries. Arrived in Jatai, I went directly to the office of PF and spoke the receptionist that I want to speak with someone regarding Registro Nacional do Estrangeiro. It turned out that the officer is not yet back from lunch break and I needed to wait for her. After one hour she came and I handed in all the documents I had. She immediately pointed out that the letter of invitation was in English and it needed to be in Portuguese. As my registration term was closing, I need to convinced her that I don't have any other letter and that it will take too long to fix another one. So I tried to convinced her with my best Portonol, till she told to me that she needed to checked it with the office in Goiania. What followed was hours of waiting in agony, however, in the end all ended up well. 

Later that day. After all the procedure was finished and left all the stress behind, I waited for the bus to the rodoviaria. Next to me was a lady and I asked her about the bus. It turned out that she was going to the same direction and what follow was a quite nice conversation about where I came from, what I was doing in Jatai etc. Later came an old gentlemen to mingled in our conversation.  About more or less an hour later, the bus has finally arrived.  The lady went out a bit earlier than the rodoviaria, thus we have to said goodbye. Although, we hadn't a proper introduction, I will not ever forget your kindness and I would like to thank you again where ever you are. 

Back in the terminal I determined to buy a ticket to Goiania. Why? because I want  to go out of the "island" for a bit and also to spent Christmas in Pirenopolis. Beside nature, I really enjoy much the colonial architecture and fortunately this town possessed both aspects. However, i could only catch the 14.00 bus on the following day. Therefore I was forced to spent one night in Jatai. I decided to stay nearby the rodoviaria to make things easier for the following day and also because there were many pousadas (cheap hotels) around the terminal. 

Just before 21.00 I was sitting outside a small bar across the terminal, waiting for the end of the world enjoying cold beer and barbecued meat with mandioca (manioch/ cassava). So, the world didn't end and now I'm typing this entry on my desk back in the "island"

22 December, state of Goias.  The duration of the trip to Goiania was 7 hours. Arrived in Goiania, I was quite overwhelmed with the bright decorations around the shopping mall/ terminal. I didn't noticed this four years ago. After I went out of the bus I tried to buy a ticket to Pirenopolis. I have learned that there was only one company and the bus left daily to Pirenopolis at 17.00 pm. So, I was forced to stay a night in Goiania. Confident as I was with my recollection of the city I decided to take the bus to the city centre. Well, It wasn't a smart move after all. As turned out my memories regarding the public transportation in Goiania is quite rusty as I forgot that they are working with sitpass. This sitpass can only be required outside the bus from specialized vendors. Because I was already in the bus I just grabbed my last small changes and gave it to the driver. The bus went through the main street of Goiania and I was trying to find out some point of reference. I was determined to go to the same hotels as four years ago although in the end I missed my stop and ended up in the west side of the city, a place where I am not so familiar with. 

I looked on my watch and saw that the time was around at 21.00, dark and there weren't many streetlights. I started to get a little worried. luckily, I was packing light and therefore quite mobile. Downside though I was still wearing my havaianas flip - flop and cannot walk at a fast pace. However, I found out that this west side of Goiania is quite posh with its restaurants and bars. In the end after a long walked I found a sign of a hotel (hotel Avalon) and so I decided to spent the night in that hotel. It was not the cheapest option (90 reais / night) but I considered it as an "Christmas present". 

The clock was already at 22.00 when I put my luggage in my room. Due to the circumstances I already mentioned, I haven't dined yet. Starved as I was, I asked for the nearest churrascaria where I could got some rodizio. Rodizio is a type of Brazilian barbecue, whereby the waiters came to your table with variety of barbecued meats and if you like they will cut a slice for you (unlimited). It also came with buffet. After month of vegetarian meals, my mind was set for some meat. Without any refreshments and wore only a cargo short and t-shirt I went to the churrascaria nearby the hotel. I was amazed as it was a posh restaurant and all the clienteles were wearing their best suits and dresses. I felt quite embarrassed with my outfit, but it was too late to go back and change. The restaurant was exquisite, with a good diverse buffet (even with sushi) and the quality of meat was excellence (note to my little brother: this was cooked through and not so rare as we had in Amsterdam, however the meats were still succulent). Maybe because I'm not use to eat meat, after an hour of half I was already full and so I went back to the hotel. 

23 December, state of Goias. After I checked out I went to the nearest bus stop. All the busses to the centre were full, so I decided to walked (again with my Havaianas). My jaw dropped when I saw how close I was from the centre plaza, Praca Civica. I have walked around this plaza four years ago so I was quite familiar with it. Well, the milk was already spilled so let's move on. There was a good accumulation of people around the plaza as there was some kind of manifestation. Because I'm carrying luggage I didn't pay much attention and just went to the terminal. As I walked through the avenida Goias, among the people I started to feel like a backpacker. I don't know why but it was actually the first time that I felt like a backpacker. Furthermore, it was the start of feeling of liberation and freedom. I was overjoyed with all of this feeling and for a while I actually have forgotten all the worries that I have. 

Arrived in terminal and with still plenty time to kill I went to the market. Goiania is actually quite famous for its textile and especially every weekend there is a market where you could buy cloths cheaply. I was only window shopping (or rather market stalls shopping) and in the end I didn't bought anything. but there was something so familiar, the smells which brought me back to my childhood/ my time in Indonesia. I guess every market in the tropic shared that same smell. Although the odour is quite horrible, for me it was something so familiar and triggered some of wonderful memories. 

Later that day. By bus it is about 2 hours to go to Pirenopolis from Goiania. I arrived in the town around 19.00. The cloud was started to gathered and I could sensed that rain will dropped quite soon. Indeed, after twenty minutes the rain did come and accompanied with some thunders. I was walking and looking for place to stay when suddenly a black-out. There was no electricity and It was quite dark. I was already in front of a facility where they rent rooms. A second before I knocked on the door the lady owner already opened the door. I asked if she still had some rooms and she said yes, but as everything was still dark we needed to wait for a little bit.Well, in the end the electricity didn't came back up till the following morning. However, with the help of flashlight I could located my room and have a rest...

Dear family, friends and followers; I'm afraid I have to postpone my report on Pirenopolis till my next entry. I promise it will be with plenty of images and less text. 

PS.

Although this is really late: Mae, Feliz anniversario. Boa Sorte, saud y muitas feliz pra voce.
I cannot describe how much I miss you, but we will see each other soon as the time really flew by. 

Grande abraço y beijos 

 

Yuga