Brazil 2005 

Bolders near the mouth of the river at Poço

Here are some of the bolders near the mouth of the river at Poço. The river was full of large rocks and bolders as we shot down the rapids. At times we had to get out of the water and walk or crawl over the bolders because it would be too dangerous to try to keep going in the water. I slipped and fell once and thought for a moment that I broke my forearm. The place was as wild as any place I've ever been. I think they could shoot a season of "Survivor" there. The "noseeums" were bad, they call them borrachuto (pronounced boo-ha-CHU-toe). They bite but you don't feel it for a while, then you welt up and it itches a lot for 3 or 4 days. However, I'd do it again to see what I saw and do what I did.

Carlos and Chamine

These two jokers thought it was real funny that the borrochutos feasted on me at Poco.

Views of Ilhabella

A shot from the dock just before we left for Poço.

Brigitte, Carlos, Carmen and me. You can see the boat that we took to Poço

You can just make out the boat where it was anchored while we were on the island. We had to swim about 150 meters to the mouth of the river.

From Ilhabella

This is a lovely little island of Sao Sebastiao with the tourist town of Ilhabella. We stayed there two days and visited with Carlos and Carmen's friends. One couple owns a restaurant on the island called Capitano del Pasta. The food there was excellent and so was the service. Come to think of it, the service at every restaurant we visited was far better than what I've come to expect here in America, or Michigan, at least. I had an adventure when we visited a place called Poço on the back side of the island. We swam ashore from a boat that was about 150 meters out. When we got ashore we worked our way up river, checking out plants and such along the trail. Once we arrived at a place where another river joined in, we got into the water and shot the rapids (in just our swimsuits) back down to the ocean. Since it had been raining a lot in the last few days, the water was high and running fast. We had to be careful of large rocks and bolders in the water. The trip down river was exhilerating and a bit scary to say the least. When we got to the quiet water at the end, Chamin said, "not bad for three guys in their mid-fifties." That's what I thought, too.

Sao Paulo

This is a view of Sao Paulo from the air. This is one BIG town, but, what do I know being a country boy from Michigan? Carlos says that about 80 years ago there were only about 200,000 folks in Sao Paulo, then, it just exploded over the landscape. There was no planning, no organization, no nothing. So, it's quite a complicated city to get around in. There are approximately 12 million souls in the city and roughly 18 million in the metropolitan area. It's the third largest city in the world, behind Mexico City and Tokyo. It was quite an experience to see the city firsthand with such a knowledgabe guide as Carlos.

Carlos & Carmen at their beach house

Carlos and Carmen showing off some of the gifts from Anita and me. We are at their beach house in Ubatuba, We stayed there for 2 days, it was my first time swimming in the ocean. The water was warm and I really enjoyed the swim. I begged Carlos to let me try surfing, he didn't think I could do it. I assured him that I had plenty of experience channel surfing, but, he was sure that it wasn't the same.

Pat in Michigan

Hi, this pic was taken by my daughter a few days after Thanksgiving. Obviously not a pic of me in Brazil. Those pics will come later.

Arrival in Brazil

Carlos, and his wife Carmen, met my plane when it arrived in Sao Paulo on the morning of Oct. 27. The reunion was nice and they seemed genuinely happy to see me, and I was very glad to meet Carmen for the first time.
We immediatetly left for their beach house on Forteleza Bay, near Ubatuba. Since it was my first time in Brazil, everything was new and exciting as we drove through the mountains and headed down to the ocean. We going through the Atlantic Rain Forest, so, everything was lush and green and looked like a jungle (like I'd know what a jungle looked like, anyway, after spending my whole life in Michigan).
Along the way we stopped at a restaurant in the countryside and had a nice meal. I don't recall what I ate, but, it had chicken in it. I was still a little nervous since it had been more than 36 years since I'd seen my friend Carlos and I didn't want to do anything embarrassing.