BLOG ONE

After retrieving our lost luggage we loaded up a van and left Campo Grande on a tiny little jungle road that was perfectly paved. It was still raining at this point but it was clearing so we figured after our hour and a half ride we would probably be able to take off. On the van ride we saw tons of birds, toucans and blue and yellow macaws.
We arrived in Aquidauana and went out to lunch, which was buffet-style and included lots of interesting native foods. After lunch we went to the airport which is more like a garage with little planes in it. We met students from Hudson High School in Massachusetts there and played Frisbee with them while waiting for the rain to stop. The Hudson students were traveling to the Fazenda Rio Negro to work on an Earthwatch research project there. They flew out first to the and then about and hour later we took off for the Pousada Ararauna.
We split up into two planes. I went with Jeff and the girls while Nate and Chris Mace came later with Ellen the researcher who had visited us in Maine.
The flight was amazing. We took off from a dirt runway and flew for about forty minutes about 500 to 800 feet. There are thousands of cows out there. We also saw all the rivers, ponds and marshes that we have been hearing about for so long. We actually had to fly over several small mountains and the Brazilian Highlands were close on the right of the plane.
We landed on a paved runway which is not what I would have expected and met Alexine our host for the duration of our stay. She is very nice and very laid back. She showed us around the fazenda which is awesome. We have a really huge room with four beds. I unpacked everything after this. Chris and Nate showed up when I was just about done. We went to look around the fazenda some more. We drove around in the trucks just like you would see on a safári. They are so cool.
About a quarter mile away we reached the caiman nursery just in time to see them release a couple hundred caiman into three artificial ponds. We even held a few (see our photo section).
Afterward we went down to the river driving through the bush to get there. We saw tons of birds and one cabybara and an anteater. This was fun but we wanted more. We decided to go exploring after dinner. The food here is awesome. After dinner we went swimming and actually ended up at a party on the fazenda which was a ton of fun even though there were only like 15 people and most of them spoke only Portugese. It was a send off for Henatta who will be leaving the Pousada. Two of the men who work with Alexine played the guitar and the accordion while others danced.
Hope you guys are doing good and we will write again soon!

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