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Arrived in São Paulo yesterday afternoon after driving and flying from our last camp in the Pantanal. Rob and I had a quiet drink and dinner at the Marriott near the airport last night and then we said our goodbyes after a pretty intense 3 weeks of travel. This is the third trip of its kind in the last three years and it remains to be seen if we have the capacity for another similar adventure. Lots of time to figure that out in the months ahead.

Rob had an early flight this morning on his odyssey back to Australia while my flight home is not until this evening, so a day to regroup. Off to bed last night with the knowledge that for the first time in 3 weeks I didn’t have to set my alarm but arose with the sun anyway, hard habit to break. 

It feels wonderful to have the whole day on my own and free of commitments except for my evening flight. This is in no sense a reflection on Rob or our guides but we have all been living in each other’s pockets 17 hours a day for 3 weeks and it’s wonderful to have the solitude, time and space to relax and reflect. 

I have not been entirely idle however. I have continued to dig through my photos and have posted a variety of shots of birds, jaguars and animals. Included in the group are a number of photos of Kingfishers, one of my favourite birds. They represent a first for me, I managed to photograph examples of all of the species native to the region. The first four took a bit of work but were manageable; the fifth species I was told would be a gift of luck since it is very small and rarely observed. While watching for a jaguar along a narrow channel where we were told she had been seen, our guide shouted to me and on a branch in a very dark patch in the trees about 3 metres away and at eye height sat a tiny, beautiful, gem-like bird, the American Pygmy-kingfisher. He was very patient with me as I struggled to adjust my camera settings and find focus and posed proudly when all was ready. I was and am thrilled!

More to come!