timreis's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member timreis on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/timreis en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:30:40 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Sleeping under the stars — Jaisalmer, India http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1164758400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1164758400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1164758400/tpod.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:30:40 -0500 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Jaisalmer, India

Our second day in Jaisalmer we went on a camel trek, setting off at 1-ish and getting back the next day at midday. The main draw of the camel trek was the opportunity to spend a night sleeping out in the desert under the stars, but more about that in a bit. First of all we met our fellow trekkers, who were lovely. There was an American couple, Brandy and Kevin, who were great fun, but in an easy, quiet way. And there was also an English couple, Laura and Greg, who were almost at the end of a year-long trip, where they had taken in most of the countries we intend to, but the other way round, starting in South America. It was really great to meet them and to hear their stories and get some advice about countries we are going to. And to see that they still seemed really happy and smiley even after nearly a year away from home. We were taken in a jeep to some interesting Jain temples first, and then on quite a long drive to meet our camels. When you first get on a camel it's quite an unnerving sensation because they are really quite high up and they lope around, especially when they first stand up after you've got on. But once you've got used to the feeling, and relax a bit, it's fine. Not exactly comfortable, but a great experience. The only other time I have been on a camel, in Egypt, the animals were left much more to do what they wanted, and hence they got up quite a pace, but this time they were all led and didn't get beyond walking pace. That was OK but it felt there was no danger, so it meant that it wasn't very exciting either. Still, we were on camel-back in the Thar desert, so mustn't complain! After about an hour and a half, we got to our camp spot, and met another couple there who were also spending the night with us. We sat on a sand-dune and watched a beautiful sunset, whilst our 'camel-men' (as they called themselves) made our dinner. What a life! Dinner was surprisingly nice considering it was made on a fire on the sand - rice, daal, cabbage and cauliflower curry and chapatis, and loads of it. Then after dinner was the best part of the evening, where we sat around a camp fire in the (surprisingly) cold darkness, with blankets wrapped round us, singing songs and playing silly games (like putting a water bottle on the ground, standing in front of it with one leg held off the ground crossed in front of the other, and bending at the knee far enough to touch the bottle top with one's nose). As I said, the games were silly, but we had such fun, and with not a drop of alcohol! Then it was time for bed and one of the most uncomfortable nights I have ever had. The desert really gets cold at night! And we only had a fairly thin mattress (more like a thick duvet than a mattress) between the sand and us. But it feels great that I have slept under the stars in the desert, and the stars were really amazing so the discomfort was worth it. (R)
]]> Anyone for desert? — Jaiselmer, India http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1164360000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1164360000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1164360000/tpod.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:29:25 -0500 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Jaiselmer, India

Now that I'm strong enough to type again, I can let you know all about my period of convalescence and current state of wellbeing...As you know, we took a night train from Jaipur where we had made an unplanned stop. R probably told you some story about me getting ill on the train from Agra and not being able to face the 13 hour journey; the real reason was simply that she'd misspelled our destination when organising the tickets and they were only valid for Jaipur (rather than Jodhpur, as planned). Easy mistake to make, of course. Most cities in Rajasthan begin with the letter "J" and have the suffix 'pur' on the end. In fact, we've met lots of other travellers also wandering around looking confused and saying things like "Oh, JODHpur. Yup - I see where I've gone wrong now. Thanks very much." Anyway, back to that night train from Jaipur (as I can see I'm not fooling anyone). We had a nice chat with Lee and Lucy on the platform while I shivered and burped. I've got so much gas at the moment that I could solve the energy problems of the subcontinent if you attached me to a conveniently located wind turbine. As we got on the train I really wasn't feeling too clever and the sight of the carriage floor which was almost awash with water coming from the direction of the toilets didn't improve matters. The smell was awesomely bad and we both agreed we should try for more expensive tickets next time. Some mean Indians made fun of us (not that we could understand what they were saying) and I did my best to escape the squalor by climbing up to the top bunk, where I shivered and burped my way through the night.The morning brought a bit more sanity. I was feeling quite tired but a little better and the carriage floor had dried out. The morning journey was spent in the presence of army boys, heading west to their desert exercises. Every time we opened the windows to get a breeze, great plumes of dust poured in (I may not have mentioned before that there's quite a lot of dust in India), but eventually we pulled in to Jaiselmer station on time even though we'd left an hour late.We're staying at the very pleasant Shahi Palace, just below the fort of this lovely desert city. There are a lot of injunctions against staying in the fort itself, as the foundations are apparently crumbling away, so we're trying not to add to the problem. A camel/jeep safari is booked for tomorrow (the thing most people come to the desert for) and we're just taking things easy for now. I'm feeling much better overall. The worst thing for me has been the strange loss of appetite. I've become one of those pallid Westerners who orders "plain rice" and "chopped banana". I just haven't been able to eat anything more interesting; my stomach turns each time I think of bowls of oily curry. A bit of progress just now though. I managed a dish of dhal with some rice, so hopefully I'm nearly back to normal. R has been wonderful throughout, really taking over the running of things when I was too exhausted even to stand up straight, and I think she is going to tell me to stop typing now so that I can go back to the hotel and 'eat more fruit'. (T)
]]> Ponderings of the returned — London, United Kingdom http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1194092280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1194092280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1194092280/tpod.html Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:00:35 -0400 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
London, United Kingdom

We've been home just over 2 weeks now, and we've just about got used to the fact that we're no longer on the trip (although in actual fact we've probably been on the move as much since we've been home as we were whilst we were travelling!) so it's high time that we did a little summary of how we're feeling about the trip, and being home, in order to wrap up this blog.The day we arrived at Heathrow was a strange one actually because everything felt so <i>familiar&nbsp;that it was difficult to believe that we'd even been away.&nbsp; It almost felt as if we'd dreamt the whole thing and that nothing had actually happened.&nbsp; And because everything was so familiar it really wasn't as exciting to be back as we had thought it might be.&nbsp; Lovely and comforting and homely, yes, but exciting, no.&nbsp; But anyway, how do we feel about the trip itself, now that we have a bit of distance from it?&nbsp; I think it was a fantastic experience that's given us memories and stories and pictures that will last us a lifetime, but I'm really a homebody and that kind of nomadic existence, for such an extended period of time is really not me, so I'm very happy to be home and I wouldn't want to do it again, but I am glad we did it.&nbsp; And now I'll let Tim tell you how he's feeling.&nbsp; (R)'Surprisingly good about being home', is the answer.&nbsp; We both worried that I'd sink into a morass of misery on landing in England and would be inconsolable about the loss of freedom and the inevitable return to "normality".&nbsp; But the fact is I'm doing fine.&nbsp; It's been lovely to see family again and it's an unusually mild autumn so far with <i>New England-like colours all around to inspire us with love and affection for all that counts as British.&nbsp;&nbsp; Most important, there's little "normal" about life at the moment.&nbsp; We're in the process of moving to the country&nbsp;where, (as PUSA put it), we hope to eat a lot of peaches.&nbsp; The change of pace we expect our lives to take - goodbye manic London, hello gentle Shropshire - should mean we stay fresher for longer.&nbsp; (Which, by the way,&nbsp;is not meant to sound like a plug for a new brand of sanitary towel).&nbsp; Maybe ask me again in 6 months, but at the moment it feels like we're still right in the midst of&nbsp;'Tim and Rach's Big Adventure'.&nbsp;As for the trip itself there is - as R says - a real sense of unreality about the last year.&nbsp; Sometimes I ask myself if we really went anywhere.&nbsp; Almost as if we just camped out at Heathrow - Victor Novorski-like - for 12 months.&nbsp; The photos, over 2,000 of them, prove that it <i>was indeed us in all those exotic countries but somehow it seems difficult to believe.&nbsp; I think it's partly because we're still adjusting to 'life at home' (whatever that means at the moment).&nbsp; As the months pass, the remembrances of cumin-spiced chickpea curries and of water as clear as the sky will wash over us both and I think we'll begin to <i>processthe experience as a whole.&nbsp; When that happens, I hope we'll begin to see how very privileged we were to have been able to see so much of the world in one go and - perhaps more important - how privileged we are to live where we do in the age that we do.&nbsp; We have it so easy.Okay, that's enough wishy-washy flowery-speak from me: look out for those country summaries and statistical analysis - coming soon to&nbsp;a flat-screen monitor near you. (T)
]]> Quiet exit — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1192389480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1192389480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1192389480/tpod.html Sat, 03 Nov 2007 08:17:56 -0400 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Well here we are, less than 24 hours before we´re due to fly out of Rio and therefore less than 24 hours before the end of the trip and, having been so excited about going home (well, me anyway) you´d think by this point we´d be beside ourselves but, we´re not.&nbsp; We just feel a bit flat.&nbsp; There´s a rather pleasing symmetry with the way we were feeling on our last day in England before we started the trip, but really we´d rather be feeling a bit better than we are now.&nbsp; It´s not that we´ve stopped being excited about going home - we can´t wait - it´s more that we now want to be <i>doing it, we want to be at the airport, checking in, getting on the plane, and instead we just find ourselves hanging around, finding ways to kill the hours, wishing it was tomorrow already.&nbsp; That all sounds quite negative, but in the pursuit of time-killing activities we have actually done some nice things!&nbsp; Yesterday evening we went to a fantastic Italian restaurant in swanky Ipanema, where we ate a wonderful&nbsp;´tasting menu´ consisting of such delights as fig ravioli in a three cheese sauce, and duck breast with green peppercorns and wild berries.&nbsp; It was all beautifully groan-worthy and we, as you might expect, were in our element.&nbsp; Today we went to Santa Theresa, another area of the city, where we did little more than have lunch and then coffee, but it was a nice distraction nonetheless, and we´ve got what we hope will be a good send-off planned for this evening, in the form of a glass of Champers at the very upmarket Copacabana Palace hotel, followed by a rodizio (that´s unlimited, succulent barbecued meat brought round the restaurant on skewers and sliced off at the table to you) meal, something that´s traditionally Brazilian and is also brilliant to food-lovers like us.&nbsp; And before that, we´re just killing time writing this.&nbsp; (R)I couldn´t have put it better myself.&nbsp; Somehow, I never thought the trip would just fizzle out like this.&nbsp; I´m not sure what I <i>did expect; tandem hang-gliding off the top of the Corcovado, perhaps?&nbsp; But one thing is for certain.&nbsp; You haven´t heard the last of us.&nbsp; First, we´ll have to do a proper summary of the trip once we´re home, together with in depth psycho-analysis of how we´ve developed as human beings over the last 12 months.&nbsp; Then there´s the individual country summaries to complete (I know - you hoped I´d forgotten about those).&nbsp; We´ll need to produce detailed statistics for the trip too (e.g. how many bus journeys we took where we sat on the left hand side etc.) and some sort of global index as well, allowing us to navigate to the precise desired word in any of the (by then) 200-odd entries with just a single mouse-click.&nbsp; Good. That´s everything, I think.&nbsp; Probably take us about a year or so... (T)
]]> A dusting of sugar on Moonraker Mountain — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1192298820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1192298820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1192298820/tpod.html Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:57:10 -0400 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I first saw Roger Moore in Moonraker when I was about 8 or 9. &nbsp;I remember dad uhmmed and aahed a bit about whether to let me watch it, though whether that was because it featured a man with metal teeth who bit through steel cables (and people´s necks) or because he thought I´d go off round the world in search of James Bond filmsets is not known.&nbsp; Either way, I thought the scene where Bond fights ´Jaws´ on top of the Sugar LoafCable Car was very, very cool, and I´ve been looking forward to taking a trip on the high-flying ice cube ever since we had our air-tickets booked.It´s one of the main tourist draws in Rio, a city with plenty of other ways to relieve you of your backpacker budget (hopefully the pics do it justice).&nbsp; So (deep breath...) we´ve been up the Corcovado, to see the amazing views of the city under the watch of Christ the Redeemer. We´ve walked the sands of Copacabana and Ipanema beaches (which were packed with ´Cariocas´ enjoying a national holiday yesterday). We´ve had tea at Confiteria Columbo in Centro and seen the ultra modern Novo Cathedral that R says looks like Liverpool´s.&nbsp; We´ve heard Prokofiev, Ravel and Beethoven at the Theatro Municipal.&nbsp; And we´ve eaten more ´bolinhos de bacalau´ (thats salt-cod balls to you), than anyone really ought to.Still to come: jazz tonight somewhere in Ipanema, a trip on the tram-car to Santa Theresa and a visit to some more old colonial churches.&nbsp; I expect after all that, we´ll be about ready to come home.&nbsp; Which is handy. (T)
]]> Hoi An Redux — Parati (Paraty), Brazil http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191981600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191981600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191981600/tpod.html Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:45:43 -0400 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Parati (Paraty), Brazil

From Curitiba we took one last night-bus&nbsp;to Sao Paulo, on our way towards the Costa Verde.&nbsp; We pulled into the huge, modern Sao Paulo bus terminal just before 6am the next day, where we each spent an exorbitant 1 <i>Real on going to the loo.&nbsp; That´s over 25 pence <i>each.&nbsp; For that kind of cash, I want red carpet (notwithstanding the dubiousness of carpet in toilets) and someone to splash cologne on me as I leave, but they were just ordinary loos.&nbsp; Our breakfast snack was equally overpriced; the <i>"panini" we bought was so derisively small it could have fit in my mouth in one go.&nbsp; (Sadly for me, Rachel got a couple of bites in first.)&nbsp; Then it was on to another bus for a 6 hour journey to Parati (or Paraty).Paraty (or Parati) is a beautiful little colonial town on the coast about 200km south-west of Rio de Janeiro. No one seems to know whether to spell it Paraty or Parati (which is odd given that Portuguese is a language based on the Roman alphabet so it's not as if those whose job it is to name towns had to find a Roman spelling for a non-Roman (e.g. indigenous) word.&nbsp; Actually, that probably <i>is the explanation but it's late in the trip and I've stopped reading the guidebook so carefully these days...Anyway, Paraty is a delightful little place redolent in some ways of Hoi An in Vietnam.&nbsp; Ok, no one hassles you to buy a coat or a pair of shoes, it's not ridiculously humid and hot, and it's a lot harder to get a good bowl of <i>Pho or a fresh spring roll, but otherwise they're nearly identical.&nbsp; Which is to say there are perfectly preserved old buildings wherever you look and it's a really great place to rest up for a few days while eating some of the best food Brazil (or Vietnam as the case may be) has to offer.We had a great <i>Moqueca (a traditional Bahaian dish of thick fish-stew cooked with palm oil which is common in Salvador - somewhere that we didn't have time to go); some good pasta cooked up by a chef straight from Napoli; and even some pretty good gourmet burgers at <i>Philomena.&nbsp; We strolled the narrow cobbled streets eating passion-fruit ice cream as we gazed at the idyllic architecture and then yesterday took a boat trip out into the islands off the coast.&nbsp; The food cooked on board was even pretty good.&nbsp; It was not the best time for snorkelling as the sea was on the cool side, but I managed a few dips and saw some fish that looked like they'd make a good Moqueca (sorry - that just slipped out...).&nbsp; After the boat trip I decided it was high time I did something that I'd been saying I was going to do ever since I quit work a year ago. And that was to spend a pleasant afternoon getting squiffy on beers, caipirinhas, and wine (not a recommended trio).&nbsp; Dear Rachel stopped me from doing anything too silly and even joined me for a drink after indulging in a far more healthy coffee and cake.&nbsp; It was rather childish behaviour, I suppose - just getting merry in the middle of the day for the sake of it.&nbsp; But, it's an undeniable privilege of being unemployed and not something I'm too ashamed of all in all (he remarked, quickly going on-line to book a week at the Priory).&nbsp; (T)
]]> The Cure — Curitiba, Brazil http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191521700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191521700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191521700/tpod.html Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:30:36 -0400 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Curitiba, Brazil

What is the cure for serious travel-weariness, when you´ve only got 11 (yay!) days of your trip left?&nbsp; A few days spent mainly in the super-flashy and modern shopping mall, just metres from your hotel.&nbsp; OK, OK, so we haven´t spent <i>all of our 3 days here in there, but we probably have spent more time there than we should have.&nbsp; But hey, we´re tired, we´re nearly home, and they´ve got a cinema there showing loads of English language films, and a coffee shop that serves proper coffee and a lovely chocolate and walnut tart.&nbsp; Anyway, yesterday we got out for a bit, in the form of a 3 hour train journey (each way) to Morretes, where we just had time for lunch and a quick wander round before we got the train back.&nbsp; It was a pretty enough little town, but the whole point of the trip was for the journey which meanders <i>very slowly (they have to make you feel you´ve got your money´s worth on the 20 pound return fare by making the journey last as long as they can) through lush Mata Atlantica forest,&nbsp;rounding mountains and traversing valleys on its way.&nbsp; It was a little long for a daytrip, but it was stunningly beautiful scenery so&nbsp;it was worth it.&nbsp; (R)&nbsp;
]]> Falling down — Puerto Iguazu, Argentina http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191105960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191105960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1191105960/tpod.html Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:19:39 -0400 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

Fifteen hours on a bus to get somewhere sure pushes the ante up on whatever it is you´ve gone to see.&nbsp; Iguazu Falls was one of <i>the big ticket natural wonders of this trip, up there with the likes of the Salar de Uyuni, the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, Lake Titicaca, the glaciers and mountains of New Zealand and the volcanoes of Java (to name but a few).&nbsp; But, when we finally stood on the boardwalk just tens of feet away from the monstrous Devil´s Throat falls - the single biggest falls of Iguazu´s 200 plus cascades - we could see, and feel, for ourselves what all the fuss was about.&nbsp; There is no easy way to describe what it´s like to watch literally tonnes of water falling down&nbsp;every second right before your eyes.&nbsp; It was truly mesmerizing.&nbsp; You´d try to fix your eyes on a certain point in the falls but a second later you´d be looking twenty or thirty meters lower down as you followed the crashing, crushing, thundering waters on their downward course.Awe-inspiring though it was, our tiredness meant we didn´t feel we´d quite <i>got Iguazu.&nbsp; So we went back again the next day.&nbsp; And the day after that, too.&nbsp; We made sure we did each of the main walking trails on the Argentine side of the falls: the so-called "inferior" and "superior" circuits (respectively below and above the falls), as well as visiting San Martin Island for a closer viewpoint and then taking the Aventura Nautica boat ride for a soaking under the falls themselves (as Rach later pointed out, it would have been equally as efficient - and a lot cheaper - just to climb fully clothed into the shower back at our hostel!).&nbsp; Then, yesterday, we crossed back over to the Brazil side - with a few more passport pages used up in the process - for a&nbsp;half day visit to the Brazilian Parque Nacional.&nbsp; That, too, was tremendous.&nbsp; You don't get so close to the falls but instead receive a panorama of the whole range of cascades, including some you can't see from the Argentine side.&nbsp; The final view of the Gargantua del Diablo was both more and less impressive than the Argentine close-up.&nbsp; You see the great canyon&nbsp;that the huge falls have carved out and feel the whooshing spray but you don't get quite the same <i>hypnotic sense of immensity.It is with great regret that I have to inform regular readers that, if my calculations are correct, Iguazu will be the <i>last UNESCO World Heritage site of this trip.&nbsp; And that makes me very, very sad.&nbsp;(T)Editor's Note: &nbsp;There is some information on the web about Paraty (south-west of Rio) also having been declared a World Heritage site - in 1966, supposedly.&nbsp; I can't find it listed on the official UNESCO site but if anyone can provide&nbsp;further and better particulars&nbsp;- citing details of the relevant treaty or declaratory instrument, naturally, I shall happily eat my words (as well as staging an impromptu, Rio Carnival-style "<i>Not The Last UNESCO World Heritage Site of This Trip After All" party in the streets of Curitiba). (T)
]]> Shopping! — Campo Grande, Brazil http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1190930460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1190930460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1190930460/tpod.html Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:45:26 -0400 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Campo Grande, Brazil

Sometimes a girl just needs to go shopping, so that's what we did for most of our one full day in Campo Grande.&nbsp; They have a brilliant mall here, which is very modern and shiny and flashy and we headed there before lunch and left just before dinner.&nbsp; In the end I actually bought very little (me and the Brazilians differ over how jeans should be worn - I like mine bell-bottomed whereas they like them drainpipe style, so my search for the perfect pair yielded nothing) but I still had a lovely day shopping till I dropped, and walked so far around the mall that my flip-flops which I have been wearing comfortably for the whole year rubbed blisters between my toes!&nbsp; Today we did not very much either (it sounds lazy but there just isn't much <i>to do here - it`s really not a tourist town), just a lot of time-killing in the form of internet, ice-cream eating etc, before we could get our 6pm bus to the number one tourist attraction in South America: Iguazu Falls.&nbsp; How exciting!&nbsp; (R)
]]> The Pantanal — Fazenda Passo do Lontra, Brazil http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1190754000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1190754000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timreis/just_married/1190754000/tpod.html Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:40:21 -0400 Desperately Seeking Suntan - The newlyweds explore a not so lonely planet.
Fazenda Passo do Lontra, Brazil

Jabiru stork; great egrets; caiman; toucans; cara-cara; howler monkeys; white-necked heron; tiger heron; great-black hawk; black-collared hawk; marsh deer; monk parakeet; cormorant; American aningha; yellow-billed cardinal; capped heron; ringed kingfisher; Amazon kingfisher; turkey vulture; kisskidee; jaguar; giant otter; black-crowned night heron; yellow anaconda; long-billed tern; capybara; chaco chachalaca; black vulture; blue-crowned trogon; rufous-tailed jacamar; black-hooded parakeet; sceamers; black skimmers; troupial; red bats; wattled jacana.<i>...Deep breath...Bay winged&nbsp;cowbird; rufous hornero; giant cowbird; bare-faced ibis; quati (of the racoon family); roadside hawk; plumbeous ibis; muscovy duck; hyacinth macaw; chopi blackbird; southern lapwing; white woodpecker; field flicker; snail kite; triad heron; guira cuckoo; picui ground-dove; buff-necked ibis; limpkin; greater rhea; racoon; bush jay; savanna hawk; common piping-guan; tangu lizard; armadillo; fox; wood stork; grey-necked wood rail; brown-blocked deer.<i>...Deep breath...Red-billed scythe-bill; rufous-throated saphire (hummingbird); piranha.Enough said, I think.Thanks to our great guide - Paulo, from Passo do Lontra lodge, and thanks - particularly - to Sarah SS for helping us to pay for this wonderful wedding-present walk on the wildside. It was incredible! (T)
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