Brazil 2023

Part One

Searching For The Harpy Eagle and Other Adventures In The Amazon Basin

Prologue…

Birdwatching continues to grab and hold my attention (much to my surprise!).  I am always looking for new birds and new places to watch birds.  Earlier this year I came across a mention of a species called the Harpy Eagle.  As I did a little research on this unique raptor and learned that it is one of the largest found anywhere in the world, I  decided to look into a trip focused on finding and watching this magnificent bird.  I went down quite a few rabbit trails before I found Jeff Parker, and his company Explore in Focus.  I picked up the phone and called Jeff to discuss the possibility that I might join his August 2023 trips to Brazil.  I liked what I heard, and I promptly signed up for the Harpy Eagle Tour and the Pantanal Jaguar Tour.  I think I made the right choice.  Jeff is very knowledgeable when it comes to photography and international travel.  His laid back teaching style, and a mostly relaxed pace were just what I needed.  This first blog post covers our excursion up to the Amazon Basin to search for the Harpy Eagle; my second post covers my time exploring our home base of Cuiabá; my third post focuses on the lodges we stayed at during our trip; and my fourth and final post covers our explorations for Jaguar while staying at the Jaguar Flotel.  I enjoyed an amazing trip with some amazing people, and saw, and attempted to photograph, some incredible birds and assorted wildlife found in Brazil.  I hope you enjoy my photos and tales from Brazil!

Getting There  (Monday, August 14 and Tuesday August 15, 2023)

It takes a bit of effort to travel to Brazil.  Late Monday morning August 14, 2023, I drove to Houston, arriving mid afternoon.  I had made arrangements to park at the Parking Spot Two and leave my car there during my time in Brazil.  By the time I caught a shuttle, and went through TSA screening (thank goodness for Pre-Check and Global Entry), I had time to relax before boarding United flight 62 to Sau Paulo, Brazil.  My flight left at 7:50 p.m. and arrived at 7:35 a.m. the next morning at Guanulhos Airport in Sao Paulo.  I had plenty of time to get through Brazilian customs and immigration, then change terminals to catch Azul Flight 2914 to Cuiabá, which departed Sao Paulo at 11:50 a.m.  I arrived in Cuiabá a little after one p.m. and was met by Jeff Parker and a Southwild Representative, who took me the short distance to the Slaviero Slim Hotel where we checked in with no problems.  That evening Jeff hosted a welcome dinner at Aeroporto Grill Churrascaria, which was a bountiful introduction to Brazilian cuisine.  At the welcome dinner I met my new traveling companions for the Harpy Eagle portion of my trip.  I found each person to be interesting, energetic, and amiable.  One of the great pleasures of this trip was getting to know Suzy, Dale, Michael, and Debbie!  We left that gathering with instructions to pack up and be ready to fly to Alta Floresta the next morning to begin our search for Harpy Eagles.  I was more than ready!

To The Amazon Basin We Go!  (Wednesday, August 16, 2023)

Wednesday morning we had breakfast and headed across the street to the Cuiabá airport where we boarded our flight to Alta Floresta, which would take us several hours to the northwest and the Amazon Basin region of Brazil.   We arrived at Alta Floresta a little after noon and were met by our local guide Jesus, and our driver.  After a buffet lunch at Cambalancho, we hit the road for a several hour drive to our accomodations for the night.

After our buffet lunch, we headed west out of Alta Floresta on MT-208 (a suprizingly good road, by the way), bound for the small city of Nova Bandeirantes, where we would be spending the next two nights.  A couple of weeks before the start of our trip, we were notified that the Harpy Eagle nest we had planned to visit and watch had failed.  As a result, instead of staying at a lodge near the nest, we had to stay at a small hotel in Nova Bandeirantes, then drive 2.5 hours each way to get to and from the new nest location.  About an hour and a half out of Alta Floresta our guide Jesus spotted some Macaws, so we stopped and watched them for a while.  There were a couple of pairs of Scarlet Macaws, and pair of Blue-and-yellow Macaws near their nest in a palm tree.  It was good to stretch our legs and see our first birds of the trip!  While I had seen a Scarlet Macaw in Costa Rica, the Blue-and-yellow Macaws were new birds for me and I was delighted to add them to my life list, especially since they were the first new birds I saw in Brazil on my trip.   

After watching the Macaws for a while, we continued west, toward the Juruena River.  About an hour later, Jesus spotted a group of Burrowing Owls near the road.  We stopped and had a wonderful time observing and photographing these beautiful little owls. 

We made it to Nova Bandeirantes and the Hotel Bandeirantes just before dark.  We got checked in then headed to a local restuarant for some delicious pizza.  The Hotel Bandeirantes was not fancy, but the folks there were very nice, and I was grateful to have a place to lay my head that night.

Our First Day At The Harpy Eagle Nest  (Thursday, August 17, 2023)

We were up bright and early the next morning, leaving our hotel in Nova Bandeirantes a little after 4:00 a.m.  As I mentioned previously, it was a 2 + hour drive to reach the private ranch where we would set up on the Harpy Eagle Nest.  The nest that Jeff had originally arranged for us to visit (the one that failed, unfortunately) had a very young chick that the parents were visiting quite often.  The nest we ended up going to had a six month old chick, which only required feeding every 2 to 3 days.  So we wanted to get to the nest early with the hopes we would see one of the parents dropping a sloth or a monkey into the nest for the chick to feed on. The drive was almost completely in the dark, and we made it to the ranch just as the sun was coming up.  

After arriving at the ranch, we had a quick bite of breakfast, which was provided by the owners.  The coffee was outstanding, as well as the other items they laid out for us. 

After our quick bite of breakfast, we hopped back into the van and drove through a nearby field until we reached the edge of the jungle.  Southwild had recently cut a path through the jungle to the Harpy nest we would be watching, and built a scaffold which served as our observation deck. We walked the newly cut path until  we reached the huge tree where the nest was located, where we got our first look at the Harpy Eagle, high in the canopy of the tree.  

We carefully climbed to the top of the observation tower, which was almost 100′ tall and at eye level with the Harpy Eagle nest.  We had taken plenty of water and around noon Jesus climbed down and brought us some sandwiches for lunch.  We all took care to protect ourselves from the sun as we settled in for a long day of watching the Harpy Eagle chick and the nest.  

The Harpy Eagle chick was a delight to watch.  It called much of the day, which encouraged our hopes that we would see one of the parents deliver a monkey or a sloth to nest to feed the chick.  The Harpy Eagle chick changed locations often, which gave us a few different looks.  As we watched the Eagle we scanned the canopy and the skies for other birds.  We saw a large number of Macaws, and I ended up seeing and photographing three new birds in addtion to the Harpy Eagle:  a White-necked Puffbird, a pair of Scaled Pigeons, and a beautiful Spangled Cotinga. 

We spent a long, but enjoyable, day atop the observation tower.  We were disappointed that we did not see any of the adult parents, but felt privileged to get so many looks at the Harpy Eagle chick.  We stayed atop the tower until early evening and made the long drive back to our hotel in the dark.  We freshened up a bit before having dinner at a restuarant near our hotel, which had amazingly large pizzas!  As I hit the sack that night, I had a grin on my face and gratitude in my heart. 

We Finish Up At The Harpy Eagle Nest and Head West to Fazenda São Nicolau (Friday, August 18, 2023)

We left our hotel a little after 4 a.m. on Friday, August 18, 2923 and once again drove in the dark to the fazenda where the Harpy Eagle nest was located.  After a quick breakfast we headed back to the observation tower where we stayed until a little after noon.  Once again we failed to see any of the adult Harpy Eagles, or witness a feeding.  We got to watch the chick again and it showed us some looks that were different from the day before.  During our brief stop at the ranch house for breakfast, I saw two new birds— an Orange-winged Parrot, and a stunning Guira Cuckoo.  During our time on the observation tower, I saw six new birds— a Plumbeous Kite, a White-fronted Nunbird, a Squirrel Cuckoo, a Paradise Tanager, a Black-tailed Tityra, and a beautiful Black-girdled Barbet.  And, on the way back to the ranch house I saw a Fork-tailed Flycatcher, which was a new bird for me.  After a tasty lunch graciously provided by the ranch owners, we said our goodbyes and headed for our next destination, Southwild’s Fazenda São Nicolau.

Our departure from the fazenda where we watched the Harpy Eagle was carefully timed so that after about an hours drive north we could catch the ferry across the Juruena River.  Having grown up on the Texas coast I have ridden many ferries, but the one across the Juruena was an adventure all in itself.  There is no formal ferry landing, and the “ferry” was a barge with a small tugboat attached to one side for propulsion.  The ferry ride was about 40 minutes and was quite the adventure!

After safely crossing the Juruena River, we made the short drive to Fazenda São Nicolau, also known as the Southwild Amazon Lodge.  We were assigned our rooms and took a few minutes to move our luggage in and check our our new accomodations for the next two nights. 

After getting moved into our rooms we headed out to explore.  But first, our guide Jesus introduced us to a young man named Elias, who was a guide in training.  Elias was with us the rest of out time at Fazenda São Nicolau, and turned out to be personable and knowledgeable.  On one of our walks he told me that he and his father built the trail and the tower at the Harpy Eagle nest where we had spent the last two days.  As we set out to explore, we first walked around the main lodge area, and saw a number of birds, three of which were new to me: a Tropical Screech-Owl, a Silver-beaked Tanager, and a Lineated Woodpecker.   We then drove over to and walked one of the shorter jungle trails, but saw little bird activity in the late afternoon heat.  So we headed to an area that our Jesus and Elias recommended as a good place to see nesting Macaws and Parrots.  Sure enough, in the last couple of hours before sunset we were entertained by a number of Macaws, including a group of Red-bellied Macaws, which were new birds for me. The Red-bellied Macaws were nesting in a palm tree, and the group included several curious and active juveniles.    

We returned to our rooms at the lodge and freshened up before sitting down to supper.  The dining room at Fazenda São Nicolau was spacious and the food was consistently good!  Once again I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow after a very full day of adventure in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. 

A Very Full Day at Fazenda São Nicolau (Saturday, August 19, 2023)

We were up early on the morning of Saturday, August 19, 2023.  After a quick breakfast we drove down to the Juruena River and were headed out on our boat just as the sun was coming up.  We spent several hours cruising the river, occasionally stopping to photograph birds.  Much of our time was spent in smaller side channels off of the main river.  We enjoyed watching a large number of birds and, by the end of the boat ride that morning, I had watched a total of 13 new species.  Here are the new birds I met and photographed that morning:  Red-throated Piping-Guan, Bare-faced Curassow, White-winged Swallow, White-throated Toucan, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Hoatzin, Green Kingfisher, White-banded Swallow, Glossy Antshrike, Spotted Tody-Flycatcher, Cocoi Heron, and Swallow-winged Puffbird.

After our boat excursion on the river, we spent the rest of the day exploring the trails and landscapes of Fazenda São Nicolau.  One of the first trails included a high observation tower.  We climbed the tower and spent several hours observing the canopy of the jungle.  From the tower we also had a good view of the Juruena River.  As the day wore on, the birds became scarcer, but with the help of our guides we saw a number of the usual suspects, as well as five birds that were new to me:  Forest Elaenia, Sayaca Tanager, Plain-breasted Ground Dove, Red-breasted Meadowlark, and Gray-cowled Wood-Rail.  The last area that we walked and explored was a small shallow lake, and for me, this area was the highlight of the afternoon.  There were several Tapirs in the lake when we arrived, and we watched them until they left the lake and trotted into the forest.  We also saw a large group of Capuchin Monkeys making their way through the trees.  What fun they were to watch!  That night we packed up for the next day’s drive to the airport in Alta Floresta and our flight back to Cuiabá. 

Leaving The Amazon Basin and Our Return To Cuiabá (Sunday, August 20,  2023)

We were up early on Sunday Morning, August 20, 2023.  Logistics required that our van be loaded with our luggage so our driver could catch the early ferry and meet us on the other side of the river.  We had a quick breakfast and took an open air vehicle down to the river where we boarded one of the small photography boats for one last opportunity to see Amazon Basin birds.   We enjoyed a leisurely boat ride over to the ferry, and I saw four new birds in the process:  Swallow Tanager, Black-headed Heron, Green Ibis, and Red-and-Green Macaw.  We made the drive to Alta Floresta and caught our flight to Cuiabá without incident.  We arrived mid-afternoon and once again checked into the Slaviero Slim across from the airport, officially ending the Amazon Basin/Harpy Eagle portion of my trip to Brazil.   

This concluded Part One of my 2023 Brazilian Trip.  To continue and to go directly to Part Two, which is focused on the birds and culture of Cuiabá, click here.