Viewing page 68 of 108

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

did not amount to much for rest of afternoon. (I had only a white kleenex-style folded pad & 2 bikinis for security).

Our river ride was interesting - lots of kingfishers in every size, flocks of dark ibis w reddish heads, 000s of roosting great ibis - a couple of toucans, flocks of parrots. We got caught in the rain! Distant thunder caught up w. us. The sky grew dark & pinkish & soon we were swept w the 1st good breeze of sev. days. The forest picked up the sound & then came the warm rain. Our boatman speeded up so we got wetter. Tom covered camera & glasses w a raincoat & we rode out the storm. Dark trees fringing an evening pink & yellow horizon. The pantanal. As we poled over the grasses to our landing I saw a firefly or two by the fence. No rain at the fazenda until after we arrived & then only a little. We found our hammocks fold up & my hand laundry collected in room.

It has just begun to rain again, as it is time to sleep - w. thunder & lightening. Tom is rousing out of his hammock. The air is cool & very fresh & sweet. 9:40 pm

[[end page]]
[[start page]]

[[underlined]] April 1, 1985 [[/underlined]] : 33 years married with Tom. And we are back in the unique Brazilian pantenal. Two or three rain storms in the night drove me inside from my hammock and cooled the air. As we walked over for breakfast, we met yesterday's boatman who said "Bom dia - e musto bom dia." He liked it - much cooler with some semblance of a breeze. It was cool enough so that we took a long walk after breakfast down the road toward the main Carumbá - Campa Grande stretch. Took off shoes & socks to plod through the hole where car stuck 2 days ago. Car still sitting there w. a barrier across road. Saw a number of birds on walk - a rufous hawk, limpkin, and, ultimately, a silver-beaked tanager -- glossy black grading to red [[strikethrough]] under [[/strikethrough]] on throat. Back for lunch & some hand laundry -- I am still flowing like a girl.

Arroz, feijou (always) meat (very tender) smothered in onions, tomatoes & onions w olives for salad. A sweet of coconut & squash. Afterward we sat and read the Fazenda guest book, active since guests began to come in 1979. Found the "Ridgley" visit of 1981 & copied entries by [[Hudino??]] & Ridgley. A Tucson birder was also present. Wrote our own entry just in time to get ready to go on pm drive & walk along road. Great birding again by car & foot - but suddenly the lights have gone out, so I must finish tomorrow.