Adventures with Julia

Sunday, October 19, 2025

A colorful iguana outside our door bid us adieu and off we went to our next adventure`.

We lifted off Mirante do Gaviao Lodge beach in the seaplane at 7:50 with the same crew that brought us to the lodge. They gave us an equally delightful return to Manaus, flying low over the jungle

and very close to the river. Near Manaus we encountered the muddy Amazon again. Almost touching the water.

Although we have not been on the Amazon River at all this trip, we have been in the Brazilian state of Amazonia and people refer to the area as if being on the river.

The Pantanal, our next destination, is a natural region encompassing the world’s largest tropical wetland area, and the world’s largest flooded grassland. Located mostly in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, it extends into the state of Moto Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay. (Refer back to the map of Brazils states.) It sprawls over an area between 54,000 and 75,000 square miles with various sub regional ecosystems that each have distinct hydrological, geological and ecological characteristics. Roughly 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing a diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping to support a habitat for nearly one thousand species of animals and many aquatic birds. Fishing is an important industry in the local economy and is also a staple food. Although much larger, the Pantanal has a habitat similar to the Everglades in Florida.

We will be visiting Caiman, an oasis in the Pantanal founded in 1987 with the purpose of conserving its flora, fauna and culture in the Pantanal Matogrossense National Park. “Thick bush” is the meaning of ”Matogrosso”. Our accommodations are in the lodge called Caiman on a 131,000 acre ranch that sustains many white Brahma cattle as well as thousands of birds, animals, amphibians, fish and bugs all being conserved and made available for tourists to experience.

We spent over 6 hours in a King Air C90A getting from the Amazon region to the Pantanal. The weather was so stormy south of Manaus that we bounced all over the sky and were forced us to divert around several storms cells. After a refueling stop in a place called Alta Floresta and another 3 hours in the air we landed on the Caiman airstrip in front of the Caiman lodge. Fortunately, the weather was cooler, barely humid and most pleasant. We felt comfortable again.

Waiting to greet us were a young lady named Laura and her driver named Coche. They were ready to take us on a game drive, so after checking into our room, we were in a safari vehicle on a game drive. We saw several animals and birds in short order and were cooler and happier than we had been anywhere in the Amazon. Our first sighting were several of the world’s largest rodent, the Capybara, then a crab-eating fox, a pair of turquoise-fronted Amazonia birds, which are actually green parrots, several pampas deer, like our deer only smaller. Laura told us we would have a different guide for the next three days as we will be on a special program for jaguar conservation. These are the animals I succeeded in photographing.

The drive with her lasted until dark and dinner at 7:30pm. The meal was buffet and included several pizzas, an attraction for us after weeks of Brazilian food…good but not like home.

Monday, October 20, 2025

Up at 5am and on safari by 5:30, we met our Jaguar conservation guide, named Rafael, and our new driver, Chipa. Rafael immediately began telling us about the early morning birds: a Burrowing Owl, a buff-necked Ibis, many big and noisy birds called Chaco Chachalaca and the largest birds of all, a pair of rhea, ostrich-like birds.

Then we saw a large anteater slowly eating its way through a termite hill. Anteaters apparently have bad hearing and vision, but a good sense of smell.

We stopped at a flower-covered watering hole and saw parakeets, green ibis, bare-faced ibis, large jabiru storks, a tiger heron, a falcon and a hyacinth macaw. Back in the plains and open grass land we spotted a Great Potoo and its chick in the crook of a tree. Very well camouflaged.

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Here are some of the Pantanal creatures we say during our second day’s safari.

During the late afternoon game drive we saw a Marsh deer, the largest in the Pantanal, a grey rocket, similar to a small deer, and a yellow-billed cardinal. We did a lot of driving around to see animals and birds we could not photograph well.

Dinner was an interesting outdoor bar-b-que with the beef rolled on 2 inch thick, 5 foot long sticks and rotisseried. I was able to get some rare pieces and found it tasty. This lodge, unlike other places we have been, is completely full.

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Another early start and an animal we saw frequently was a white lipped peccary. This animal travels in large groups and is always on the move. Mark managed to get this one to stand still for a photo.

At 9am it was time for breakfast and the air was getting hot. After breakfast, we headed for a shady spot on the edge of the pool. At 4pm we reconnected with Rafael for our evening game drive.

The heat of the day was fading and the drive was pleasant. Not long after leaving the lodge, we heard there was a jaguar sighting and off we went in search of it.

Finally, our driver and Rafael tracked the collared animal and we soon realized there were three jaguars; a mother, named Aroeira and 2 one and a half year old male cubs, Jatoba and Jacaranda.

But more than that, there was a Giant Anteater with a baby on her back that was challenging the jaguars. It was fascinating to watch the animals chasing one another and then backing off. No one was going to win this exchange. Unfortunately, the challenge took place in the woods and we struggled to see what was happening.

Tuesday, October 21,2025

A quick cup of coffee and we were back on the road for our second safari day with Rafael and Chipa. Having met our goal of seeing jaguar, we were interested in seeing what else the Pantanal had to offer.

Our first sighting was a bird called Crested Oropendola and its unusual nest. The bird flew away before I could get to my camera, but I did get the nest.

The bird is quite large for such a nest, but squeezes into a hole near the top and settles into the bottom, causing the entrance hole to close. Then we saw another Crested Caracara, and a herd of white-lipped peccary on the run.

There were many other birds and animals we were unable to capture with our iPhone cameras. Am sorry we did not have better camera equipment. In the middle of the day we chilled in our cool room. The day was exceptionally hot and humid. Too much even for the poolside.

On the evening game drive, Rafael told us another Jaguar had been spotted, so we headed through the countryside to find it. It was nearly dark when we came upon a collared female named Surian and her 2 year old male cub, named Dakari. I was only able to get snaps of Dakari.

Dinner was an outdoor bar-b-que with beef rotisseried on 2 inch round, 5 feet long sticks. When asked for thin rare slices, the server was able to shave off a few pieces. The meat tasted good.

We sat next to a couple from Geneva, who spoke enough English we were able to converse. Although they have children and grandchildren, they refuse to let kids keep them from traveling, an attitude we could appreciate.

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Our third 5:30am safari start. We started off seeing a group of Copybera, munching on the grassy lawn, a bare-faced Curassow, a Pied lapwing, a cute antelope like animal called a Grey Bracket. Mark nicely captured a pair of Blue-crowned Parakeets nesting in a tree hole.

Then Rafael told us a BBC crew was working on a Jaguar project, so we headed to the site and took up a station out of the BBC crew’s way.

We sat watching a new pair of Jaguar, Arancy, a collared female, and her 7 month old son, Mocoha, for a long time. Tried to get good photos, but, not having a good, long, lense, we are hampered.

Late afternoon drive started with rain. Thankfully it was brief. The ponchos were very heavy. We drove for 40 minutes to the sight of a dead cow to see what was happening to it. These photos tell the tale.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

And so we end our very interesting adventure in the Pantanal. We have seen 8 different jaguars and many other creatures we have not seen elsewhere.

And so we fly onward from the Caiman Lodge airstrip to Alta FLoresta, then we have a 1.5 Hour drive and a 30 minute boat ride to our next destination.

Unfortunately, I have had several glitches with this post and some events are out of order. The content is all here, if dislocated. Please forgive the errors.

Monday, October 13, 2025

Sunrise and breakfast at 6am.

The captain motors slowly down river and into the Jari channel, an arm of the Amazon River, to a private home where the owner, a woman named Rosangela, gives us a tour of her forest preserve, which she called the Trail of the Sloth. She pointed out three sloths high in the trees but they were unphotographable. So we have included a photo of a Peruvian sloth you may remember from a post last year.

We also saw a couple of Potoo, nocturnal owl-like birds, though not related, that were asleep high in the trees. We were able to photo its backside. It feeds on insects and makes a very loud sound.

Of considerable interest were Sapucaia, Monkey pod trees, that are huge. The trees give great shade and produce huge fruits that are woody, pot-like and suitable for a monkey to use. Each fruit contains many edible nuts. The tree is a tropical hardwood used for making furniture, curing stomach aches and treating blood pressure problems.

Other things we saw include

Back on the boat I learned about the Brazilian flag. The words on the flag say “order and progress” in Brazilian. Green is for forests, yellow is for mineral wealth, blue is for the sky. The 26 stars below the text are for the 26 states and are displayed as they were on 11/15/1889 in Rio the day of the founding of the republic. The single star above the words is for the state of Pará, the last state added and the largest territory north of the equator. Interesting flag.

We spent more time on the beach and in the warm water trying to stay cool. Had a nice salad lunch and more beach time until 4:30 when we went ashore to visit the Coroca community. In this village there are 23 families with 70 people.

A middle aged man met us and told us we were about to visit a turtle conservancy, a stingless bee farm making honey and a small, palm frond industry making colored grasses that are then woven into crafts for sale. They also made tie dye shirts as a gift for us.

We walked to a small holding tank where 500 turtles are kept separate for several months while they grow. Each turtle produces 90 eggs a year, resulting in 3000 baby turtles per year. 80% are let go into the river and 20% are moved into a large pond where 5000 turtles are kept to reproduce. There are all sizes, with turtles up to 28 years of age. We watched the turtle keeper feed the turtles a bucket full of pellets.

From there another man led us to an area where stingless bees are kept in several boxes. He opened one box and extracted a syringe full of liquid honey for me to sample. It was delicious. Then he sealed up the box and told us the honey is harvested each year from September to November at the rate of half a liter per box per month. The bees extract sap from trees as there is very little flowering fruit growing in the forest.

The community makes crafts from a special palm tree called a Tucuma. The palm fronds are dyed different colors—primarily red, blue and yellow—to be woven into different objects for sale. Another man made tie dyed shirts in the vats of boiling dye for us. Mine will be red and Mark’s will be yellow. Meanwhile, we bought some soap and a small jar of honey. Hope we get it home without breaking it.

During our walks through the forest we learned about many different trees. The more important ones include:

Açaí, a tree which produces many tiny purple fruits that, when the pulp is boiled off the seeds, tastes like dirt, according to Mark. It tastes somewhat better with lots of tapioca popcorn and sugar. However, it is much better as ice cream, which we had after dinner.

Another tree is the Jungle Cacau.

Later in the day we visited another Community called Atodi. They are an industrious community as they run a hammock hostel, maintain a school for their children, cultivate medicinal plants and sell medicinal products, and operate a library project called, Vagalume, which means “firefly”. The community has 48 families and 143 people.

We met the management team of the community, toured the hammock hostel, visited the school and listened as the students reading to us from the book, “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein.

One member of the team, Neucimar, stayed with me as we toured the community. At one point she put red dye from a plant called Urucun on my face and I wore it the rest of the day. She posed for me against a wall of indigenous art. At the end of the tour we all ended up near the beach at a table full of special cassava snacks and crafts. We tasted the snacks and gave the crafts a pass. The team prepared a flower shower ceremony that took us by surprise. We marched to the edge of the river and water with the smell of flowers was poured over our heads. It did smell like flowers, though there were no flowers in the water. Apparently flowers are allowed to soak in the water for hours and the removed. Fortunately, we were very hot and the water was cooling. It was time to say good bye and Neucimar and I gave each other a big hug.

Back at the boat, we had lunch and an hour to relax before visiting another community. This time it was to learn how cassava is processed.

In the community called São Marcos, which has 13 families with 50 people and is set up to manufacture cassava flour, as well as tapioca and tucupi sauce for community use. There are 2 species of cassava, one of which is poisonous, which is the one these people use to produce flour. The non-poisonous cassava is eaten without being processed.

The first step in making cassava flour is to peal the roots, wash and then grind them.

Next add water and squeeze out the liquid by hand into a pot that will eventually become, tapioca and tucupi sauce. Meanwhile, peel a batch of cassava root that has been soaking for 3 days and is about 1/3rd the size of the first batch.

Hand mix the two batches together and squeeze the mash into a tipiti, a long woven tube made of jacatana palm leaves.

Once all the cassava is in the tube, hang it from a post, slip a long pole through the loop in the bottom of the tipiti, secure the pole to a notch in bottom of the post and apply weight to the pole. Water will pour out of the tipiti for some time as more weight is applied.

When no more water comes out, remove the cassava from the tipiti, put it through a shaker to loosen the fruit, then cook it stirring constantly until it is completely dry. Finally, aerate the flour to remove the dust. At that point you have edible cassava flour and the poison is gone. The process took two hours and we were ready to get back to the boat, and the beach.

This was the last and special evening for us and the boat crew. It started at 7:30 when we walked off the boat in the dark and onto the beach, which had been transformed into an oasis.

Luminaries lit our path to a sofa excavated out of sand and covered with fabric and pillows. When we sat on it we were tickled to experience a sofa on the beach. Milena served us cocktails and we enjoyed the scene with palm fronds placed in the sand as trees, luminaries everywhere and our table prepared behind the sofa.

Soon we had dinner with a very delicious fish called Tambaqui that had been barbecued perfectly and was served with a variety of side dishes. Such an event is called a Piracaia, or “fish bar-b-que on the beach”. After dinner, Carlos started music playing and the dancing began.

Finally, the evening ended and we were off to bed.

Tomorrow will we have breakfast, enjoy the final leg of the boat ride, disembark and head for the Santarem airport.

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Departed Salvador in mid afternoon and arrived in San Luis about 5:30. Hit the road in a 4-wheel drive truck for what we learned would be a 4 hour ride to Casa Oia, a hacienda near a town called Santo Amaro. Our driver spoke no English and our guide, Pedro, also known as Salim Rosa, made up for it as he talked non-stop. We did learn a bunch of information about his personal life as well as some details of interest to us.

Half way into the very dark drive on a fairly rough road, we pulled into a crowded truck stop and had a beer and a piece of pizza for $1.87. Cheapest food ever. Back on the road, Pedro kept talking, but refused to tell us about where we were going. So, at 8:45pm we arrived at a grass-covered, open-walled building and were met by the manager, who told us dinner was ready. So, without seeing the room, we had a tasty seafood risotto dish on an open veranda. To get to our air conditioned room in a separate building we trudged through sand. The outside air was very pleasant with a slight breeze. Mark suggested it felt sensuous. How nice. The room, however, felt cold. We were soon in bed with the lights off.

The history we learned from Pedro was that the French landed on a beach in San Luis Island in 1612 and started to build a settlement and a fort to honor King Louis XIII. In 1615 the Portuguese challenged the French, and, with fewer men but superior firepower, they beat the French in the battle called Guaxenduba that lasted only an afternoon. The area we are staying is east of San Luis and is called Lencois Maranhenses National Park, which is what our program says we have come to see. The park is 600 square miles in size and borders three towns including Santo Amaro, where we are staying. Maranhao state is part of the NE region of Brazil. It is mostly agricultural with soybeans and rice being the major products, 100% of which goes to China. There are 26 states and 1 federal district in Brazil.

In the top of the North East state of Maranhao, you will see the island of Sao Luis where the French lost the region to the Portuguese. Our adventure takes place just a bit east of Sao Luis near the town of Santo Amaro at a grass covered Hacienda called Casa Oia. We arrived at 8:45pm, met the manager and were escorted directly to dinner. I was not hungry, but could not resist the delicious seafood risotto. Then we walked through a sand pathway to our room and went directly to bed.

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

We were up early and out by 7am to see where we were. It looked like scrub brush to us and not interesting. After walking around a bit and enjoying a nice breakfast, we were told to wear our bathing suits as well as a cover up.

At 9am, we climbed into safari seats in the back of a pickup truck. Pedro joined us along with a driver and local guide. Off we went through the scrub land and grass plains, which eventually morphed into polar-white sand dunes, heading for a shallow, rain water lake. It took 40 minutes driving over the dunes to reach the pretty, warm water lake. By then the surprise was wearing off and we understood why our travel agent had sent us here. The scenery was otherworldly, never mind the intense wind that pelted our bodies with sand.

We waded in a good distance to get wet up to our waste, while the guys set up a shade cloth, chairs, towels and a table with snacks. They disappeared in the truck while we enjoyed the beach almost alone. An hour of sun and wind-swept sand pelting us was enough. The crew returned and we went back to the Casa Oia to cool down and get out of the wind. Lunch of local garden fresh greens and hake was served outdoors in the shade about 1pm.

In the late afternoon we rode ATV’s through the dunes and got some really nice images. Hard to decide what to keep.

Dinner was served at a table for 2 in the vegetable garden. The appetizer was a mini pumpkin stuffed with mushrooms, cheese and soft pumpkin and the entree was king prawns covered with tapioca popcorn, sautéed vegetables and black rice with mango. Delicious. Then—our usual routine—back to the room, get ready for bed and soon, fast asleep.

Thursday, October 9, 2025—our 32nd anniversary

Mark remembered our anniversary, while I thanked him for remembering. Oh well. Maybe I will remember one day.

After our experiences of the day before, we were ready for the day’s activities—A long drive to a different lake and a hour to swim and relax by the shore under a shade cover provided by our drive crew. We hoped for privacy on this lake, but, just like the day before, groups of other people appeared and took up space around the lake. I was feeling possessive, but realized that the lake was more than big enough for everyone there. We took lots of photos along the way and are struggling to keep only the best ones.

Back at camp for lunch at 2 under a cluster of cashew nut trees decorated with colored streamers, we were served a good beef stew along with rice, cassava, okra greens, fried egg and tapioca-coated plantain, my favorite part.

At 5pm we drove a short distance to a river and climbed into a 30-foot open boat for a ride to a sundowner on a sand dune. It was a 10 minute walk from where we got out of the boat to the sand dune where we watched the sun go down.

Unfortunately no alcohol is allowed in the park so Mark had put some booze in his water container and we had a real sundowner. We also got some nice photos. Back on the boat, the water was so shallow that we kept getting stuck in the sand. The boatman had to get into the water and push us several times. I felt sorry for him, but he seemed not to mind.

The day was not over. The manager told us dinner was to be a luau and to get ready for a 20 minute drive. Left camp at 7:40 and drove through the sand dunes in the dark. I felt very uncomfortable being in the dunes after dark, but the driver knew exactly where he was going and finally we saw lights in the sand. There was no luau, but a small table set for regular dinners. There was one other couple and ourselves. The meal consisted of crackers with baba ghanoush as a starter and mashed pumpkin with dried beef for the entree. We learned that this “luau” is served most evenings to different couples. While we ate, the waining moon rose over a tall sand dune. A nice, unexpected touch. there was just enough wind to keep us from relaxing and after an hour we were ready to leave. Fortunately, the other couple was ready to go also.

Friday, October 10, 2025

Travel day. Up 6, out at 9.

This photo should have been sent during our Rio segment, but I think it is important enough to send it now. It is a photo of baked heart of palm as it is presented in restaurants in southern Brazil. You cut it, pull a piece out of the stalk with your fork and eat. Quite delicious and very different than what we get from a jar in California.

Thursday’s October 2, 2025

We departed Paraty at 8am with new driver named Sassa, who had lived in the states for several years and spoke good English. As we drove along the coast headed for Rio we learned about him and other details he shared about Brazil. There are 27 states in Brazil. 17 million people live in the state of Rio and 5.5 million live in the city. 15% of the Rio population is very poor and live in more than 700 favelas, each of which consists of jerry-built shacks packed together on the outskirts of Brazilian cities. They have some electricity and water, but most often, no sewer. Pretty miserable conditions, compounded by drug gangs that steal, fight and hurt people. Sassa warned us to stay away from the favelas. Sounded good to us. He told us the minimum wage in Brazil is $300 per month and 27% of the population of the country live below the poverty line. Not even close enough to live on. Rio alone received 1 million slaves, while the entire US received only 800 thousand. Interesting statistic.

Soon we arrived at the home and gardens of Burle Marx, a famous landscape architect. On arrival we met our Rio guide, Mica, who joined us on our tour of the gardens. The garden guide was a man named Mateo. We learned much from him as we walked through the garden, park and buildings.

Turns out Burle Marx was a versatile fellow of many talents including painting, tile design and piano playing, as well as landscape design. He purchased 98 acres of land near Rio in 1949 and converted it into a lovely park and garden over many years. He was able to move onto the property in 1963 and lived there until his death in 1994 at the age of 84, without finishing his labor of love. He did give the property to the government, which has maintains the grounds and opened them to the public. His landscape talent and ideas spread around the country and he is famous throughout Brazil and internationally.

Brazil has 11% of the world’s 350,000 plant species, the most of any country.

The plants and names are listed here as best I can remember them.

In addition to the gardens we toured the buildings Marx used including his home and work spaces. We saw his ceramic collection, his piano and his own paintings.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel, the Fasano Rio de Janeiro. The room is not large, but it has a wonderful view overlooking Ipanema Beach and is interestingly laid out to take advantage of the tight space. In the triangular hallway is a stuffed chair in the shape of a woman. Mark took advantage of the opportunity.

After the garden tour, we had lunch a favorite place of Mica’s. The super dish we had was called Moquech, or Shrimp Stew. Excellent.

After lunch we drove to Sugarloaf mountain and rode 2 cable cars to the top for views of the city and The Redeemer. Mica paid $70 each for us to have VIP benefits. It was near dusk when we arrived and the platform was full of young people partying. We quickly checked out all the view locations using our VIP tickets to cut through the lines, and left. It was too crowded for our taste.

Friday , October 3, 2025

We met Mica at 8am for a very long day of sightseeing. First we drove through the city to the foot of hill where the Christ the Redeemer is located. On the way Mica talked about the Portuguese coming to Brazil. The Portuguese king when the country was colonized was John VI. He was followed by Peter I who declared independence from Portugal. His son Peter II was the longest reigning king and was good for Brazil as he promoted science and the arts. It was a cultural time. However, on 11/15/1889, Peter II was overthrown and exiled to Paris by a Coup d’ etat. Frequent coup d. etats occurred over the next several years. Then Balsonaro was elected President. Today, Lula is president. Regardless of popularity, he and Balsonaro appear to be the only two electable politicians at the moment, even though Balsonaro has been banned from running.

At the bottom of the Redeemer hill is the platform for the cable car. We paid $40 each and managed to get good seats in the car with Mica’s direction. No VIP tickets were available. The cable car passed through the world’s largest replanted urban forest. 100 thousand trees were planted by 11 slaves over 13 years under the direction of Peter II between 1861 and 1874.

Mica is a musician who sings and plays drums, writes and records music. So it was no surprise that he believes black culture permeates the country and that “Samba music is the father of pleasure and the son of pain“ He made samba sounds all day long. Fortunately, samba is very pleasant to listen to.

At the top Redeemer platform we threaded our way through the crowds to get vantage points. At 6’4” tall Mica was very good at that. And he knew all the best places to take photos.

We learned that the body of the statue was completed in 1931 by a collaboration of people; the head and hands were made in France by a French artist and shipped to Rio; the workers signed their names on the back of the Redeemer’s heart that they you can see in the photos.

The statue is 98 feet tall, the pedestal is 24 feet and the span from hand to hand is 92 feet. The statue weighs 2500 lbs. It is hollow except for a staircase. A lightening strike nicked the tip of the long finger on the left hand. It is barely noticeable. It was last cleaned in 2010. 2.5 million people visit the statue each year, 6.8 thousand each day. The Catholic Church, which owns the property, is doing very well.

On the way down, we captured a photo of a nearby favela and a pretty yellow plant called a shrimp flower.

From the Redeemer, Sassa drove us by several lookout points looking over interesting neighborhoods, favelas, small neighborhood clothing stores and art galleries. We stopped in one gallery where we could not help ourselves and purchased a painting by a local artist. I also bought some clothes, for which I have almost no room. Eventually we stopped for lunch at Territorio Aprazivel, meaning Pleasant territory, and had a wonderful fresh heart of palm. Again, I forgot to photograph it. We had never seen an actual heart of palm in its casing and cooked to eat right out of the shell. Very unique. Hope I get another chance to photograph one.

At 3:30pm we arrived at the Carnival Experience Warehouse for a tour of the facility. Boy were we in for surprises and treats. Met by a professional lady dancer, we were told all about the history of carnival going back to 1932 and shown parts of the current construction for the next carnival. After giving us the information, she had us dress in last year’s costumes, participate in a dance with other professionals, learn to play some samba drum music and have hats made for each of us. Mica enjoyed watching us make fools of ourselves and took way too many photos. It was all good fun as well as informative. We watched snap shots of last year’s parade.

There are 5 different major groups, with 12 clubs in each group. Each club creates a theme, designs and builds 5 floats as part of their theme, hires 3000 costumed participants in addition to primary performers and people on each float. The parade lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes with participants traveling along a straight stretch of roadway with bleachers on both sides. The top winners on the first day, repeat the parade a second day with winners being announced at the end of the second day. The cost for each production is about $4.5 million.

I picked up a couple more flowers on the way back to the hotel. We grabbed a bite in the hotel bar on the top floor and went to bed. It had been a very pleasant, yet long, day.

Saturday, October 4, 2025

Our one day without guides or an itinerary. Slept in and hung out in the room watching the Ipanema Beach scene. Went for a walk in the afternoon and had an early and delicious dinner at Zaza Bistro, a few blocks down the street. It was another good recommendation by Mica. Walked back o the room and packed to depart early in the am for Salvador.

We never found Hope and Crosby. Guess they moved on.