Transpantaneria Highway

The Transpantaneria Highway. Our life blood, a major artery connecting everything in the Pantanal to the outside world. It’s only appropriate that this ‘highway’ (really, its just a dirt road) is comprised largely of red dirt.

I’m currently living at km 110 on the Transpantaneria. Here’s how I got there.

After spending two nights in Pocone, trying to resurrect the Kombi, we all admitted defeat for the weekend and at 6 pm, left for our home two and a half hours down the Transpantaneria. Note: 6 pm here means that it’s completely  dark outside. The haul down was adventurous, there were 6 of us that needed to be transported down along with two mechanics to fix the eco lodge’s generator.

So imagine this: one F1000 pick up truck with three 200 mm x 6m long PVC tubes (they’re for the biodigestor) duct taped to the side, 5 of us sitting in the bed with all of our luggage, 2 weeks worth of food, and other supplies barreling down this bumpy dirt road in the dark of night. Needless to say, many a bug were eaten, many a red dirt was gathered on our faces and clothes, and many a bridge (over 80 in total) were crossed during our two + hour trek.

Around 9 pm, we arrived at the lodge windswept and exhausted and immediately started to get situated for living at km 110 for the next 5 weeks.

The Transpantaneria, bridges and all.

The start of it- km 1

Still here

and still alive.

Internet access is less than desirable (about once every two weeks now), so a blog post (rather a few) are still in the works and will be up shortly.

Quick countdown:

Jaguars spotted: 2
Days eating beans and rice: 25
Mosquito bites: 234987534

Red Dirt

I’m in Pocone (accent on the e), not yet at the Jaguar Ecological Reserve mainly because of our friend, the Kombi, is getting her engine fixed.

http://images.quebarato.com.br/T440x/kombi+93+branca+jundiai+sp+brasil__1787F3_1.jpg

More or less what our Kombi looks like, ours is however more rusted, dented, and covered in a thick layer red dirt

Yesterday was more or less a wild goose chase finding all the parts for either a) our biodigester, b) parts for the Kombi, c) ourselves (food).  Julie, Adrienne, and I were able to find most parts and were able to wing it with the rest. To prevent the thunderous rattle and shake of the doors, pieces of flip flop (Havanas, Brazilian made, of course) are superglued to the frame.

Late into the night, we finally put the last pieces of the engine back together and today with all fingers crossed, we (there’s six of us now) will be making our way down the  bridge-filled Transpantanaeria Highway.

—- On another note —

Leg mosquito status: worse. My bites are now red welts, making me think that these weren’t mosquito bites

Internet status: Not again until a week or so’s time, depending on how the Kombi decides to function today

Dust Status: Everything has a hint of red

Tucan Status: spotted

https://wanderlustling.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/tucan.jpg?w=300

Mosquitoes: 20 Cassie:0

Ah yes, that’s right. Mosquitoes are out and my legs look like they belong in kindergarden- they’re pockmarked, red, and swollen. Itching doesn’t help, nor does my forgetfulness to use bug repellant.

It’s been about a week since I arrived in Brazil and so far, I’ve had a completely wonderful time. São Paulo was a dream – I ate fruits, discussed the bounty of indigenous trees, and drank stong, Brazilian coffee the whole way through it.It never occured to me how immensely vast São Paulo is until I was flying over it on my way out. I touched and saw quite possibly one hundredth of a percent of SP and even the people who have lived there for their whole lives tell me that they still don’t know all the nooks and crannies of the city. Graffiti was beautiful and in abundance, adding color and flavor to store fronts and unused city walls and streets are lined with all sorts of trees and bushes. My favorite was seeing all the palms, something to reiterate that I’m not in Michigan anymore.

Passion fruit (maracuja) quickly became one of my favorite fruits

I ate good foods and fruit, met some wonderful people, visited little corners of the city that I wouldn’t know about if it wasn’t for my host, wandered through organic farmer’s markets, and saw some exhibits.

http://www.worldhum.com/images/slideshows/sao_paolo_graffiti/cache/graffit02-540×345.jpg

I’m now in the city Cuiabá, Mato Grosso , experiencing the heat and mosquitoes- things that are ever prevalent in the Michigan summers that I always miss. I’m extremely lucky right now and am staying with another amazing host and her family and my lack of Portuguese is becoming a very humbling experience. I’m always nodding, smiling, pointing, and quite frankly impressed when someone approaches me in Portuguese. I thought my glowing white legs, who haven’t seen sunlight since October, were a dead giveaway for ‘I’m not from around here.’ On Monday, I visited a small, local zoo on the university campus and was blown away at the bounty of wildlife that this state, Mato Grosso, has. There were macaws, jaguars, anteaters, ostriches, pumas…. and the list goes on. For me, it’s like a fairy tale – these animals always seemed so distant, locked away in zoos. But to see and know that they’re in the wilderness right around me is absolutely mind-blowing. An iguana even dropped out of a tree right in front of me one day. I used to own a pet iguana, now I’m seeing one in the wild.

Yesterday was spent in Chapada, this area not too far away that’s home to cliffs, canyons, caverns, and waterfalls. My host and I walked through the forest (no, not the rainforest) and walked through some huge caves. Our guide told us that the indians had raves there. We also swam in waterfalls and ate our lunch next to roadrunners. And stood at the middle of South America.

http://images.travelpod.com/users/amitevron/1.1261138666.waterfall-at-chapada-dos-guimaraes.jpg

So, in short, all is good on the home front and I’m leaving today to go to the Pantanal for the next five weeks to do real work. Everytime I tell people that (or rather, my host translates that for me) they laugh and wish me good luck.

São Paulo

I formally ‘arrived’ (aka. dropped my bags off at my host’s place) around noon today. It’s about 5:30 pm and already past dusk. Weird. Lots of birds, murals, colors, and palm trees. And exotic fruits.

This is nice.

I have also forgone my usual tea drinking in favor of coffee- way too much turbulence on the plane and my head is still spinning. Needless to say, it wasn’t a perfect sleeping environment.

Anticipation

When I think back a year ago, I had the same anticipation and hesitation that I do now…

Last year on June 1st, I was walking into my job in Freiberg, Germany. This year on June 1st, I’m leaving for Brazil. It’s that same sort of teetering apprehension of ‘what did I get myself into?’ and ‘I could just be at home right now.’ Walking into it alone makes a whole world of difference.

But- I’m starting a new venture into unknown territory, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sonja’s Farm

Detroit

The gnome is back!

On the road again

Alright folks… it’s that time to start the ol’ travel blog again. I’m off on another adventure and that means another few months of sporadic updates and hopefully pictures to follow. This time, instead of heading to Germany, I’m traveling way down south… to Brazil!

If there is any theme to this summer’s blog, I’d call it ‘Searching for Sustainability.’ My summer is shaping up into a multi-act play with the idea of ‘sustainability’ serving as the protagonist.

HERE’S HOW:

ACT I: (which actually started 3 weeks ago in) The sustainable neighborhoods course focusing on Delray, Detroit. I’ll be writing another post following this one recapping my thoughts on the course and the context of ‘sustainability’ within Detroit, more specifically the southwest neighborhood of Delray.

INTERMISSION: Gardening, 62 mile bike ride, and procrastination baking.

ACT II: (2 months) Brazil

Scene I: São Paulo.
Backdrop: São Paulo is one of the world’s mega-cities with over 10 million residents within the municipality and about 20 million in the metropolitan region. São Paulo is also one of the five largest metropolitan areas on the planet and serves as Brazil’s economic hub. I will try to gain my bearings for the few days that I am here, meet with friends, and try not to get lost.

São Paulo, http://gondwanaland.com/i/Saopaulo_copan.jpg

   Scene II: Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Backdrop: Cuiabá is the capital of the Brazilian state, Mato Grosso. Currently, the Amazon rain forests in Mato Grosso have experienced a 27% jump in deforestation in the last year and as of May 24th, the Brazilian House decided to loosen environmental protections of the Forest Code. This deforestation is in favor of farmers using the land to plant more soybean crops and I’m curious to know what some of the locals have to say about what’s happening in their state.

Scene III: Jaguar Ecological Reserve, Pantanal (Brazilian wetlands)
Backdrop: I, along with a group of UM engineering students, will be working at the Eco Reserve to build a biodigester. In short, this biodigester will be producing methane gas from cattle manure to (hopefully) power a gas range stove. In addition, we will be working on finishing a school at the Eco Reserve and completing a bio-sand water filter project. You can see the group’s blog (and website) here.

Scene IV: Águas de Sao Pedro, São Paulo, Brazil
Backdrop: Me, WWOOFing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) and farming. I enjoy picking edible goodies (if anyone couldn’t tell from my berry picking adventures) and most of all, I really enjoy staying with families and sharing cultural experiences.

ACT III: Back in Michigan. I’ll have about three weeks that I’ll be back at home before my cousin’s wedding in Minnesota and the beginning of school, and I am mulling over the idea of giving myself a ‘sustainability’ related challenge. I haven’t decided what it will be exactly (suggestions welcome), but I do know that my parents have already given me the challenge of sorting/cleaning out my grandma’s house and 50+ years of collected treasures, memories, stuff, etc…

ACT IV: Minneapolis, Minnesota. There are plans, however unset, that my family will be visiting relatives in Minneapolis before my cousin’s weddings. Minneapolis was also named 2010’s Best Biking City by Bicycling Magazine and has an average of 4% commuter cyclists, putting it as the number 2 city that has the most cyclists in the U.S. I am looking to ride the streets and paths, checking out what makes this city works as a biking capital.

FIN. As of September 6th, my travels will be over and I will be back to the grind for one more semester.

Merry berries

At last! My previous post is re-edited to include a story with the pictures, so read below … but…  as for now, here’s another post with pictures to tantalize taste buds. Words, again, will follow. But as for now, bed.

Incredible edibles

June 10th – 12th: WWOOFing weekend, and a wonderful weekend at that. WWOOFing usually entails and ‘willing worker’ to volunteer on a farm but I managed to find myself at something a bit different for this particular weekend, and nevertheless amazing.

The ‘farm’ that I stayed at was actually an old renovated farmhouse, which had been left to deteriorate during the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), with a very large herb garden and the ‘farmer’ that I stayed with was a splendid woman who supplies organic herb salads (i.e. salads not using lettuce, but various leaves and flowers of  ‘unconventional’ plants) and sprouts to local restaurants.

During my stay, my task was to help tend to the garden and pick violet flowers. Although this may seem like a very monotonous task to some, I enjoyed my time. Throughout the day, Sonja, my host, and I worked in the garden together chatted about various things, unabashedly exposing our curiosity for one another’s life. I, being the first American that Sonja met, talked about my life as an American and Sonja gave me perspective into life during the DDR.

One night, Saturday night, with both of us exhausted and looking for an escape from the heat, we took a quick swim in an old, nearby quarry and made a spur of the moment trip to ‘Amerika.’ This is the name of a nearby village. Believe it. I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw the city sign with an American flag behind it. And the local biergarten (outdoor bar) was covered with American type things.

Looking back, I really enjoyed my weekend on the farm with Sonja. It was really nice to connect with someone immediately and ask so many questions openly and inquisitively.

To see Sonja’s website, go to: http://www.landsprosse.de/

It’s gettin’ to feel a lot like… summer

The weather is getting to be pretty warm here. I love it. It’s becoming habit for me to rush home after work and bike to my favorite, secluded ‘watering hole.’ Being there in the evening is particularly wonderful- the sun nears the tree tops, casting these gigantic shadows into the water. The water itself is still, only disturbed by flies the swarm around the surface.  And me of course.

Being by/in water reminds me of summers on the lakes in Michigan and days spent in swimsuits, something I haven’t been able to experience for the last two years. I feel lucky to have found this place and have a quick, quiet respite while finding relief from the heat. Although I could do away with the horse flies- they’re nasty and bite.

Oh, and I’m not the only one that enjoys the solace of this place… as my evening swims are usually accompanied by nudists.