Friday, December 28, 2012

Brazilian State Flags: Bahia


A little backstory on these posts. We've lived in Brazil for about a year now. I can hardly name 5 of the 26 states (and 1 Federal District), much less pick out which flag goes with which. But as a designer, I love flag design and was interested. And I would also love to learn the names and locations of all the Brazilian states. Flags and information found here on Wikipedia. 

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

This Pink Flowering Tree is a _______ tree.

Not sure, but it sure is purty! On my list of things to buy when I A) make a little bit more money, B) finish reading all the books I've already bought but haven't read, is a book about Brazilian wildlife. I really enjoy knowing about things like this, and I'm not good enough with Portuguese to look all of it up on the internet yet. For now, I did find this website, it's pretty informative. HERE



Monday, December 24, 2012

The Last Amazon Post!

Okay, some gator posts! Okay, but not really gators. They're caimans. But close. Cousins. But you would already know that if you've read my previous posts. We went out in the boat for a night tour and stopped the boat and what do you know our guide reached down and grabbed a caiman!







 And then Toby reached down and grabbed one for himself!!!



 I thought this was the best view of how much the water rises. See those 55 gallon barrels down there? They come all the way up to that line on the tree!
 Piranha teeth. CHOMP!
 The gang:





And this is the end. It was a nice trip.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Brazilian State Flags: Amazonas


A little backstory on these posts. We've lived in Brazil for about a year now. I can hardly name 5 of the 26 states (and 1 Federal District), much less pick out which flag goes with which. But as a designer, I love flag design and was interested. And I would also love to learn the names and locations of all the Brazilian states. Flags and information found here on Wikipedia. 

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Maps of Pernambuco and Brazil!

I really need to print these out so I can study the states. I found these in the cartorio (little government office/registry place) near our house. It was a pretty cool old map, had the climates and all sorts of other info on it. 
 Pernambuco is a goofily long state. The Northeast of Brazil is sort of like the Northeast of the US. Crammed full of all the small states. The rest of the country is pretty regular, except for the more jungly parts, which are bigger states. I'd love to drive all the way west into Pernambuco at some point. We've gone about as far as Caruaru, which if you click on the map, a larger image should pop up, and you should be able to see. It's about a sixth of the state's size off the coast. The terrain changes greatly from our coastal forested (okay, it's not forested anymore, but it should be! It's full of sugarcane now) area to the mountainous arid West.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Amazon: Animals and Wildlife

Wrapping it up. We're on the home stretch. Only maybe 5 or 6 or 10 more posts about the Amazon. This one's just pictures. Animals. Because it was rainy the first few days I think there were more moths out? I guess. If I were a moth I'd probably not fly in the rain. You know, stay somewhere dry? But maybe they know something I don't.