(Pics: suspension bridge at the reserve, White-bearded Manakin lek, reserve headquarters, farm, White-faced Whistling-ducks)
Overcast once again Monday morning. We had our usual breakfast of delicious Brazilian cheese balls, Pão de queijo, fruit, HB eggs and toast at 5:45. Most of us set off in the van south to the Reserva Ecologica do Guapiaçu to see some water birds and lowland forest species. We were planning to pack and leave for the airport by 2:30 so we didn’t have time to leisurely explore this wonderful area and had to make fast hikes down various trails. We saw several new ant birds and came across a lek (a territorial display performed by males to attract females) of White-bearded Manakins who clear a small space in the forest of leaves and twigs and then make a clicking noise somehow with their wings. They sound like an old-fashioned typewriter. We drove to a large marshy pond and saw beautiful herons, gallinules, ducks and a group of five capybaras (world’s largest rodent) lounging in the shallow water.
We returned to the Lodge and had our final lunch, packed up, said our farewells to our hosts, Andy and Christina Foster, Cirilo, our guide, and Aldo, our driver. Serra Dos Tucanos Lodge is a lovely place to stay for a few days or a week with a great staff, simple, but delicious food, and a wonderful opportunity to easily see flamboyantly colored birds right from the verandah. We were all sorry to leave.
We arrived at the airport in two hours and set off for our various airlines. Five of us were taking American to Miami and had about three hours to wait. Bill was flying business class, as were we, and he had been advised to visit the Admiral’s Club when he checked in and mentioned it to us. We looked around the gate area and didn’t see much in the way of a restaurant or even good souvenir shops but saw at the end of a walkway a big wooden door discretely labeled as the Club, thus we entered the serene and opulent world of luxury travel! We found comfortable chairs and tables, sandwiches, soup, cheese balls and an open bar! We knew we were going to be well fed in business class, but couldn’t resist this great spread and spent the next hour or so snacking and relaxing while below the rabble sat in their uncomfortable chairs at the bleak gate. At eight we entered the gate and were approached by a polite security guard who took Bob aside and proceeded to disassemble and examine every item in Bob’s entire pack, removed every item from his pockets, required him to take off his shoes for inspection, then did a thorough pat-down while others boarded…so much for priority boarding! (These random inspections are required by the US government for flights to the US, take about 15 minutes, and are an outrage! Why don’t we ever hear any protests from our famous right-wing civil libertarians about this? RRZ) He finally got on board and joined me in our very plush seats. We had a set of buttons that would gradually raise and flatten the chair to make a very comfortable bed, a comforter and pillow, and best of all, Bose sound-canceling head phones which made the cabin lovely and quiet!
We were served a four-course meal, lots of wine and then settled down to sleep. Didn’t try any movies as the jet lands at 4:10 AM and breakfast is at 3! We were pretty groggy at three but were served a light breakfast and staggered off to Immigration and Customs which whisked us through. We had to go through Security again but got into a Priority line and for once RRZ wasn’t hauled off to be examined. We had several hours until our next flight and thought we’d try the Club again, and they let us in!! This Club is very large, with shower rooms, bars, music rooms and the fastest internet I’ve ever seen which allowed me to send off six bird photos that would have taken a couple of hours at the Lodge but here took a less than a minute!
We boarded the flight to LAX and settled into our cocoons and had a really delicious panini filled with mushrooms and grilled onions, fruit and hot croissants!
We landed at LAX, took the bus over to the Sheraton, picked up our car and took off for Santa Barbara in cool rainy weather…which seems to follow us across the globe! Picked up Miss Maddie from the Cat House Hotel who seems overjoyed to be home and unpacked until the next trip!
XXX, Katy
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