Travel is very rewarding. Every day is an adventure (that’s for sure)
as you meet new people, have new experiences and visit foreign
and exotic new places. From my experience, there is never, ever a dull moment. That is precisely why I love to travel.

This short video entitled “Muy Picante” captures some of my most outlandish and humorous not to mention some of my x-rated moments on a recent trip to Brazil.

After watching this video, you might conclude that I have a fascination with dogs. Admittedly I have a special relationship with man’s best friend as well as other creatures. This traveler just likes to have fun!!!

I hope you are amused and entertained as you step into my world – the world of a traveler. Me abraca a me beija! ENJOY!

I am not an avid birdwatcher, but I really enjoy watching birds in the tropics, as there are so many different species. In particular, one of my favorite birds are the Kingfishers. These medium sized birds typically live along a stream, a slow moving river or a pond.

In tropical America, the number of Kingfishers species living along the same riverbank can sometimes be three or four. Even though their habitats overlap somewhat, each species of Kingfishers are very distinct, have different habits and occupy their own specific niche.

On my most recent trip to South America (Bolivia and Brazil), I went to two locales where Kingfishers are readily observed – Rio Beni and Madidi National Park of Bolivia’s Amazon Basin, and the Pantanal, a very large expanse of marshlands located in western Brazil.

Funny thing - along Rio Beni, I saw only one Kingfisher – I believe it was a Amazon Kingfisher - however while I was staying in the Pantanal, the Kingfishers - in particular the Ringed Kingfisher - was by far the most commonly seen bird along the river. I guess you could say they were so common that they were a dime a dozen. They are very vocal birds, and when disturbed they will often take flight across the river.

I would have liked the tour guide to just park the motorboat somewhere not far from the river bank and just sit there quietly for an hour or so, where I could watch the Kingfishers go fishing. They are so fun to watch.

Truly one of the most memorable highlights of my trip happened while staying in the Pantanal. My tour guide took me out on a late night boat ride along the Rio Miranda. Shining his high beam searchlight across the riverbank, apparently he spotted some creature in the trees. As he quietly parked the boat near the riverbank, he pointed with his flash flight - on low beam of course - into the tree canopy. Lo and behold, I saw a Amazon Kingfisher sleeping on a tree branch about 8 feet from the ground level.

The creature was truly startled from his slumber by the two human intruders, and he made a quick beeline into the nearby bushes. The memory is absolutely priceless!

I traveled to Brazil thinking that I would be able to understand enough Portuguese to get by - after all the language on the surface is very similar to Spanish, in terms of the vocabulary and the grammar.

This was a rather naïve assumption on my part – I should have paid more attention to some of the many Brazilian songs in my I-tunes library and I would have realized that the pronunciation of Portuguese is quite different than Spanish!

I received my baptism in Portuguese shortly after arriving at Passo Do Lontra Lodge in Brazil’s vast Pantanal region. Call it Portuguese 101! I was in manager’s office at the lodge when I tried to make some conversation with him. I had learned a couple of basic phrases from a tour guide prior to walking into his office. So I asked him in Portuguese - Como Su Nome? (What is your name?) which is very similar to Spanish - Como se llama or Como es su nombre?

He replied - Mi nome is Hosheh (that’s what it sounded like) and I asked him in English (someone translated for me), What kind of name is Hosheh? That is a very unusual name, how do you spell it? To which he replied, R O G E R. OH, you’re name is Roger, I said.

Lesson One: The R in Portuguese is pronounced more like a guttural H. Can you believe that the correct pronunciation of RIO (short for Rio de Janeiro) is Hio!

Lesson Two: D in Portuguese is pronounced more like a G. For example – Buen Dia (Good day) is pronounced Bon Gia!

Portuguese has many other nuances – but bottom line the sound of the language is completely different than Spanish although many of the words are similar. EG. Daughter – in Spanish it is hija, in Portuguese it is filha, Son is hijo in Spanish while in Portuguese it is filho.

To the naked ear, Portuguese sounds very romantic - sort of a frenchified version of Spanish!

Funny thing - I met a young couple from Colombia who were fully bilingual in Spanish and English, and even they had a difficult time understanding Portuguese. However if you have 100% facility with Spanish, you’ll probably comprehend at least 60% of Portuguese after awhile – after all the Brazilians I met understood at least 60% of my Spanish!

Bon Gia from Hio!

About two months have elapsed since I returned from my 49 day Odyssey to South America. Instead of going crazy and visiting many countries, I limited my trip to only two – BOLIVIA, April 28-May 17(19 nights)and BRAZIL, May 17 – June 15(29 nights). I really prefer an in-depth visit to most countries in order to gain some familiarity with the people, culture and physical geography.

For this trip, I believed I planned it just about right, as I was able to take in the highlights of each country without going overboard.

In Bolivia, I visited four different areas - La Paz, Bolivia’s Capital city and Lake Titicaca - which are part of the vast high elevation plain know as the Altiplano - as well as The Amazon Basin including Rurrenabaque and Madidi National Park, and Samaipata, a small mountain resort in Southern Bolivia.

In Brazil, I limited myself to six different places – The Pantanal, the world largest continuous marshland, Foz Do Iguacu – site of the majestic Iguassu Falls; Rio De Janeiro, Brazil’s world famous city and a must see on any first time visitor’s trip to Brazil; the magical Ouro Preto, a small colonial city located in central Brazil; Salvador, the colorful capital of the State of Bahia in Northeastern Brazil, and last (but certainly not least), l visited Barra Grande, a small and quiet beach resort in the state of Bahia.

If you were to ask me, what were my most memorable moments on this trip – that would be a very difficult question to answer, as there were so many; however, if I had to choose the three most memorable moments, they would be as follows:

•   On my last night in Pantanal, I went on a night tour of Rio Miranda. The guide took me to a place on the riverbank. Looking up into the tree, he shined his highbeam flashlight into the canopy. Lo and behold, sleeping on one of the branches was a Ringed Kingfisher. Needless to say, the bright light woke up this beautiful creature and he flew off!
•   I had read all about Iguassu Falls, yet I was totally unprepared for the majesty and power of Igassu. Truly an astonishing manifestation of nature, one really has to experience the falls first hand in order to appreciate this natural wonder.
•   Upon arriving at the small resort town of Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca, I learned that my stay coincided with the Fiesta de la Cruz, a very colorful festival celebrated throughout Bolivia, but especially popular in Copacabana. Many of the locals were clad in very gaudy outfits – there were parades throughout the town, dancing, drinking and much festivity. All I can say is Wow!

Today is the start of a unique adventure to South America, where in a 49 day period I will be exploring Bolivia and Brazil. These two countries share a common border, and two of the world’s most prominent ecozones – the Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal, an expansive wetland region - cover a large portion of Brazilian landscape as well as straddling the eastern portion of Bolivia.

These two countries are very, very different.

• Bolivia is a Spanish speaking country while in Brazil the language is predominantly Portuguese.
• Bolivia was once a stronghold of the Incan empire and the majority of the populations are descendants of these Incas, while Brazil’s population is an exotic mix of Europeans, blacks - descendants of African slaves - and indigenous Indians.
• Physically, Bolivia is an Andean country dominated by the high rugged mountains of the region and is landlocked, while Brazil has miles of coastline on her Atlantic seaboard and the huge Amazon Rainforest dominates the interior.
• Also Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and probably the least expensive for the traveler, while Brazil is relatively prosperous as well as one of most expensive countries to visit in South America.

I will be covering a lot of ground on this trip. The journey starts in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, which at 11,500 feet above sea level makes it the highest capital of the world. For one week, I will stay in the highlands – taking in La Paz, Lake Titicaca and the Island of the Sun, the birthplace of the Inca.

From the Highlands of Bolivia, I will proceed to the Lowlands – starting at the colorful town of Rurrenabaque, the gateway to the Bolivia’s Amazon Basin and Madidi National Park. The most exciting part of this excursion will be a 4 day/3 night stay at a nature lodge located deep in the rainforest and owned by indigenous peoples of the area.

Finally, before crossing into Brazil, I will finish my stay in Bolivia at the hip mountain resort of Samaipata located in the Bolivian Oriente (Southeastern Bolivia). The village/resort town is a couple hours drive from Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s most populous city.

Then onto Brazil for the 2nd half of my long journey! You are welcome to join me if you are an adventure seeker and love the hot, muggy weather of the tropics. See my wild itinerary!