Brazil: the wild side

Water wonder: Spray from the Iguassu Falls that span some 2.7 km on the Iguassu River, which marks Brazil's southern border with Argentina, produces constant rainbows by day — and truly astonishing, ghostly moonbows on moonlit nights. MARK BRAZIL PHOTOS

By MARK BRAZIL

Special to The Japan Times

The area is lushly forested, and sunrises there are heralded by the distant chorus of masked titi monkeys and the chuckling calls of chickenlike guans. In the evenings, though, visitors can witness perhaps the most bizarre wildlife spectacle in all of South America. From atop the steps outside the church, the local priest beckons for a wild creature to appear — by calling it by its species name, guara, in Portuguese and scraping a pan of meat scraps across the stone terrace!

Water lovers: Giant otters are at home in the Pantanal wetlands, where fish form most of their diet.

Astonishingly, on most nights a guara (maned wolf) appears, emerging out of the deep, dark forest depths and pacing imperiously across the lower courtyard. It then climbs the steps to the upper terrace and, pricking its sharply pointed ears, turns its long pointed muzzle in the direction of the hushed human congregation. Ever nervous of sudden movement, it shies easily, but the lure of food soon brings it back until eventually, hunger assuaged, it retreats into the forest's umbra — leaving awe and amazement behind.

Marmosets, sloths, muriqui and a host of birds in the Atlantic Forest, giant anteaters in Canastra and maned wolves in the mountains of Caraca are a tremendous opener for the ancient natural history of Brazil.

Capybara, the world's largest rodents, have widely splaying toes well suited to their preferred swampy habitat.

Although it is the Amazon in the north of the country that tends to dominate the public mind and the media, as a natural historian I prefer the relatively unsung natural glories of the Atlantic Forest.

The country's modern history of course reflects its colonial past, and as such it is both relatively short and heavily Europeanized. However, not far from the mountains of Caraca is Ouro Preto, one of Brazil's best-preserved colonial cities, now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Founded in 1698, Ouro Preto's name means "black gold," and in its gold-rush heyday in the 1750s, the city — where high culture flourished — was, with close on 30,000 residents, twice the size of New York and five times that of Rio! Today, with a population of around 70,000, it seems an attractive, sleepy hilltop town commanding lovely views of the surrounding countryside. But its many splendid Baroque churches — some designed by the legendary Aleijadinho (born Antonio Francisco Lisboa; circa 1735-1814) — with their carvings, and gold and silver decorations, justifiably make this a popular destination for travelers through the region.

An enormous jabiru stork — the largest stork in the Americas — on its huge treetop nest.

If the Atlantic Forest and its suite of rare and endangered species represents Brazil's most extraordinary forest habitat, then the Pantanal stands up for its wetlands.

Lying largely in Brazil's Matto Grosso do Sul State, though it also extends into parts of Bolivia and Paraguay, this seasonal wetland — the world's largest wetland of any description — is on an enormous scale, covering as it does some 140,000 to 195,000 sq. km. (up to 1 1/2 times the size of Greece).

The Pantanal as a wetland often puzzles first-time visitors, because much of the area consists of private ranches and grazing lands that are prone to massive and catastrophic fires during the dry season. However, it is during the annual wet season (mostly November to March) that this enormous shallow bowl of countryside floods and fills. Then, the gentle gradient of the region, and the dense vegetation of the Pantanal, slow the runoff flow of the annual 1 to 1 1/2 meters of rainfall so that flooding lasts months, only slowly draining and evaporating away.

It is during the driest season of the year, when water is at a premium, that wildlife is most visible as the animals tend to concentrate at waterholes and around isolated river sections — so making them more approachable.

Land of contrasts: Lying largely in Brazil's Matto Grosso do Sul State, but extending into parts of Bolivia and Paraguay, the seasonal wetland of the Pantanal — up to 1 1/2 times the size of Greece in the rainy season — combines beautiful scenery, gorgeous sunsets and stunning wildlife.

This is the season to revel in the abundance of the world's largest rodent, the capybara, to seek out the world's largest member of the parrot family — the gorgeous hyacinth macaw — and to avoid the cold stare of the Yacare caiman that line the banks of every pool.

Indeed, at night the Pantanal takes on a different aspect. Then it's not just the eyes of the caiman that reflect light and shine like innumerable rubies scattered across the water, but roaming the darkness in search of food are crab-eating foxes, crab-eating raccoons, Brazilian tapirs and red Brocket deer, and the fortunate observer may also encounter solitary-dwelling southern tamandua (lesser anteater), an ocelot, a puma — or even the most powerful predator of the region, the jaguar. Like a leopard on steroids that works out with weights, the jaguar is capable of killing a capybara or caiman, while just its deep rasping roar is sufficient to send shivers down my spine.

Meanwhile, by day or night diminutive silver-gray Pantanal marmosets, with their long slender black tails, and the much larger black-and-gold howler monkeys are fascinating creatures to look out for. However, two other species in this naturalist's wonderland never cease to attract me.

In the dry season, however, it is alarmingly susceptible to fires (left) that destroy vast swaths of woodland habitat.

First is the enormous giant otter that can reach almost two meters in overall length and weigh as much as 45 kg. These fish-hunting, diurnal (active in daytime) water-loving members of the weasel family roam in family "gangs" in search of prey, but their faces seem so beaten and squashed that it is difficult not to think of them as having been bare-fisted pugilists in a former existence. They huff and grunt as they forage together, and having caught prey the crunching of their teeth through the scales of riverine fish are distinctly audible.

My second Pantanal favorite is the enormous hyacinth macaw. At a meter in length and with a wingspan of 1.4 meters, this is an enormous bird and by far the largest of the flying parrots — only the flightless kakapo of New Zealand outweighs it. Its deep-blue plumage with bright-yellow rings around the eyes and bare skin around the base of the bill are attractive, but the size of its massive bill is alarming. Powerful enough to easily amputate a misplaced finger, these birds typically use that ferocious tool to feed on palm nuts so hard that I found them difficult to even scratch into with a pocket knife.

More than their size or their plumage, though, it is the life history of hyacinth macaws that attracts me. Intensely social, pairs remain together throughout the year and throughout their lives, occupying traditional territories and nesting cavities. Their raucous calls are extremely varied and few sights are as stirring as seeing a family of these enormous birds take to the wing and circle their range chattering to each other as they go. Under threat from collectors for the pet and plume trades, they have also suffered from habitat loss and the burning of their habitat, but some ranchers are now supporting these birds and supply nest boxes for them — while some even plant the palms they require as a food source.

Time capsule: Now a fabulous remnant of colonial grandeur, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ouro Preto was one of the New World's largest cities in its 1750s gold-rush heyday.

Although the Amazon is the primary draw for many travelers to South America, for me the Atlantic Forest and the Pantanal — two greatly contrasting environments — represent the very best of Brazil's wild side in terms of wildlife.

For the most powerful and wildest possible experience in Brazil, and arguably in all of South America, nothing beats standing next to the thundering falls in Parana State in the south of the country — the incomparable Cataratas do Iguacu (Iguassu Falls).

The awesome power of the water is deafening and, for those who cannot resist taking the final walkway, it is frequently soaking. Nonetheless, it is a stunningly rewarding soaking because, as local Brazilian guides delight in recounting, as nearly 80 percent of the falls are in Argentina, that gives Brazil nearly all of the view!

And that view is nothing short of spectacular, placing it not only within the top 10 falls in the world — but at the very top of that list. Its name is derived from a local language, and means literally "big water" — though that is something of an understatement. Spanning some 2.7 km, Iguassu Falls comprises as many as 275 separate cascades that coalesce in times of heavy rain and flood. The largest, and by far the most impressive and deafening, is the U-shaped, 82-meter-high "Devil's Throat." Here, rushing water falls, plumes of mist rise, and swarms of great dusky swifts swoop and scream through the spray (amazingly they nest behind the cataract).

The volume of water is impossible to imagine, and statistics are almost meaningless (at its minimum during times of drought the flow has been as low as 300 cu. meters per second, but it typically averages more than four times that and peaks at 1,500 cu. meters per second. To believe in the power of these falls one must stand right beside them, and best of all is on a full, moonlit night, when the clouds of spray produce the most beautiful, ethereal and ephemeral display I have ever witnessed — moonbows.

Mark Brazil is a travel and natural history writer who leads nature tour groups around Japan and worldwide. His "Wild Watch" column in The Japan Times has been running since 1982. You can find out more at: www.wildwatchjapan.com.

Source:  http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/fl20101212x2.html