Rio Cristalino

 Fishing, beer and birds sums up this stimulating yet incredibly relaxing trip. I had the pleasure of venturing down a river I'm sure most non-Brazilian tourists visiting Brazil have never and will never hear of. Although the trip was only 5 days, it was so rich in experiences and beauty that I've attempted to compact all that Rio Cristalino has to offer in collages and a few videos.

Sunsets on boats, beer and food served to us while swimming in the river, resident Jabiru's, capibaras and happy happy children.

A one hour boat ride down river (and 2 and half hour ride back) from Luiz Alves, a small fishing village on Rio Araguia, and we arrive at a our temporary dwellings with a wide beach surrounded by wilderness. Hammocks hung, the humble 8-room bungalow is as welcoming as the people that run it. I perch my tired self on a hammock and watch the moon rise as we've just navigated a small motor-boat in the dark! How Pid (pronounced peedgee), our ever experienced captain, would confidently drive us safely on this river during the dry season (when sand banks are plentiful) and often in the dark I will never understand. The skills obtained by local people sans education has always astonished me no matter where I am in the world.

Alexandre, Julz and I enjoying the luxuries of having local fishing guides to give us fishing tips as well as cook up a mean mean Tucunaré. Daily is shown here, one of our lovely friends and talented cooks.

 Species rich was Cristalino, having seen more than 40 species in less than 2 days and well over 50 species in total and I wasn't even birding -I was fishing! Tucunaré was the fish of choice being meaty and delicious yet a decent challenge for those into the sport. Unfortunately the average size of the Tucunaré has deminished over the years due to a bizarre decision made by the Brazilian government to encourage fisherman to catch the larger individuals of the species and return the medium-sized and smaller individuals to the water. The decision was likely based on the assumption that medium-sized and smaller individuals were simply younger than larger ones and were destined to grow larger. You don't have to be a particularly astute biologist to realize that the government was a tad off the mark. The Brazilian government, however, has taken a step in the right direction in the last 6 months to a year by devising a law restricting fisherman from taking any fish back to their homes. In the past Rio Cristalino as well as Rio Araguaia (where Cristalino stems from) were shamefully overfished because fisherman based far from these rivers would fish the Cristalino and Araguaia and take truck-fulls home to sell or feed their families. Now, visitors must eat the fish on the river or refrain from fishing entirely. Late, the law remains contraversial as Tucunaré have been introduced into lakes along these two rivers where defenseless fish species are being overthrown and threatened.

A small sample of the wildlife that I saw. The little point and shoot can do little justice to the diversity situated in this mini-amazon. Among these pictures you will find the blond-crested woodpecker (nemar), the rare and endemic crimson-fronted cardinal (cardeal-de-Goiás), the chestnut-capped blackbird (garibaldi), silver-beaked tanager (pipira-vermelha), orange-fronted yellow finch (canário-do-amazonas), yellow-rumped cacique (xexéu), cocoi heron (garça-moura), and the rare orinoco goose (pato-corredor). Note that this last bird is called the "running duck" in portuguese because, as depicted in the middle picture on the right as well as the video below, the gosslings run into the water at the sight of any danger (e.g. our boat) because they can't yet fly. Valdir, our boat driver on the way out, thought it was the funniest thing ever born to nature and purposefully drove closer to shore whenever he saw the "pato-corredor". His laughter was quite infectious and brought us all to stitches. Capibaras, opposum and many many caimon were spotted and included in this collage.

Rio Cristalino, although not known for its "eco-tourism" might be comparable to Pantanal. Although I've never had the pleasure of visiting the Pantanal myself, having read about it for a number of years, I feel it is safe to say that Rio Cristalino is a birders haven comparable to the Pantanal with a plus: no disruptions often caused by human pests. Because it's so isolated and not advertised, few people, other than Brazilian fisherman, embark upon a quest to visit Cristalino. That's the beauty of it.


Capibaras spotted on the shore of Rio Araguaia:



Regardless of the heat and how refreshing the water looks, you don't want to take a swim in Rio Araguaia. Lots and lots and lots of caimon is one of many dangers:

Daniel and Daniella, the resident Jabirus and their ´favourite´ food -the pirana.

A daily tradition in the Pousada Cristalino, where we stayed (see this link if you are interested in visiting this spectacular area: http://www.pousadapescador.com.br/tgoo/category/4/POUSADA_CRISTALINO), is to feed Daniel and Daniella, the habituated Jabirus. Local fisherman Diego and anyone interested can easily catch piranas from the shores of the pousada (a kind of hostel or B & B) and toss 'em to the one-and-half-meter tall birds. Feeding wildlife is not my cup of tea, but I must admit it was nice to get these close-up shots!

Food

And we ate and drank and fished and drank and ate and drank...etc.

Beers and food in the river. Our food was what we fished.

I had the pleasure of meeting many fantastic people on this trip and spent time with people I know and love. I feel so privaledged to be welcomed as family, a true Brazilian characteristic.

Lovely lovely people. Thank you Julie Bogle for the pictures.

We had a lovely resident puppy to wake up to each morning who was ready to play no matter what.

The puppy liked to play dangerously close to the Jabirus.

Turns out Daniel and Daniella were feeding their newly acquired piranas to their three kids.

Needless to say, it was difficult to leave this paradise. I hope to return very soon.