My overland journey of 15,000 Kilometers (at least) (9,300 miles) through colonial towns, sea side, pastureland, mountains, Amazon Jungle, Transport Ferry, and the Pantanal….

Living in South America for three years and living right on the border of Brazil means that I was just a hope skip and a jump away from it. However it being such a large country, I wanted to take my time and do as much of it as I could.

The last stop on my Alaska to Ushuaia to Rio trip lasting 8 months took me into Brazil and the first stop I made was Iguazu Falls (did the Argentinian side the day before) and the city of Fox do Iguazu.

Entering here a the border station we were met by a beautiful little burrowing owl that was out watching everyone go by in its little hole in the ground.

The falls and the bird park were amazing as it was easier to see more on this side vs. the Argentinian side as well as getting closer to the falls. With only one walk way, it made it seem more crowded vs. the Argentinian side which had a few different walkways.

A nice movie car museum wrapped up our time in Foz do Iguazu and had some pretty interesting replicas of cars from some of our favorite movies and TV shows…

Paraty was our last stop before Rio de Janeiro. This small colonial town was beautifully laid out with an old cobble street town and beautiful mountains and beaches surrounding it. This would be our last time together for some of the people that I have traveled down from Alaska with over the last 8 months as we all went our separate ways in Rio.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most famous cities in the world. From its great nightlife, to Christ the Radeemer, to its lovely peaks overlooking some of the most popular beaches, this city has everything to offer. As I am not a big fan of big cities usually, so I just hung out with a very good friend and his wife that I worked with in Cairo and went to the Carnival Parade in the world famous Sambadrome. I did not have a lot of expectations for this, but we did have great floor seats in a box. I did not take my camera as I did not want it to get ruined so I relied on my shitty mobile photos to capture this wonderful memory. I found it to be very colorful and awe inspiring and will be sure to research some of the stories of the different floats and schools!!!! (Some pictures were taken by Ashley Kiss Spannring).

As I am starting a trip headed into northern Brazil and the Amazon over a couple of months, I decided to get some photos form the highway that shows you Rio de Janeiro from afar….

First stop on this exploratory track was the mountain town of Teresopolis. Nestled in the mountains. Known for its national park with waterfalls and trails, it is a good escape from Rio to get out of the heat. I did not find it that exciting as there was mostly a lot of shopping and not a lot of great photography.

Leaving Terespolis took us through the winding mountain roads with some beautiful scenery…

We then get to a lovely mountain town called Congonhas as we visited the Basilica do Bom Jesus Matosinhos, a beautiful church with an outdoor stairway displaying sculptures of the prophets, which made for some interesting photos with the moody clouds in the background.

Our next town was the beautiful Ouro Preto which was one of the biggest cities in Latin America in the 18th Century which was due to the gold rush in which gold was sent back to Portugal. This town has some of the best preserved colonial architecture that I have witnessed in the Americas with its baroque architecture and winding cobblestone streets.

From Ouro Preto we went through some beautiful mountainous landscape then hugging the coastline and seeing some beautiful beaches all the way to the quiet beach town of Itauanas which is known for its laid back atmosphere and beautiful sand dunes next that run right into the beach…

As we continue North we hit the lovely small town of Caravelas which was a major Portuguese shipping port as part of its empire. This lovely little colonial town still has the cobblestone streets with houses of all different shapes and sizes.

Going out on the lagoon through mangrove forests, we were able to visit a small village and a school (without children) of people who live on these islands and make their living from the waters around and vegetables they grow…

On a rainy day through some beautiful mountains, we arrived in Pascaol National Park. This beautiful mountainous park has many trails you can hike up and down, however the rain was quite up and down so I decided to stay back and photograph this beautiful snake that I have been trying to identify…

The mountainous way to the coastal city of Puerto Seguro where Cabral first arrived on the Brazilian mainland from Portugal is a beautiful city to walk (albeit hot and humid). The beach is beautiful and this lovely city has a rather slow pace of life…

Itacare is a small town on the coast of Brazil that boasts some excellent seafood. This quiet little town is knowing for its surfing waves and beaches along with the little cobblestone streets. It caters to a lot of backpackers along with people camping out in their vehicles. There was not much to do here except relax and enjoy the heat and humidity…

The City of Salvador is one of the most popular cities in Brazil and for good reason. This is a city where you can find a combination of African and Brazilian food and culture here. It was the first capital of colonial Brazil and one of the first planned cities not only in South America, but in the world as it was established during the Renaissance period. A nice walk around in the Historic Center, was a beautiful sight with all of the architecture and people.

Capoeiria is seen all over Brazil but very much a part of the street culture in Salvador. It is a martial arts/dance that combines acrobatics, music, spirituality, and involves hands on the ground and high kicks.

After a long drive to inland Brazil with some beautiful scenery, we hit the small but beautiful town of Lençóis. The National Park Chapada Diamantina is within a few hours of the town and has many activities including beautiful waterfalls, caves to walk through as well as look out points from the mountains to see miles around in all directions of the cactus laden valley…

The town of Lençóis itself is a beautiful little town with not much to do except walk the cobblestone streets and see the people going about their everyday lives…

The scenery leaving Lençóis got more beautiful as we moved more inland with the mountains and red sand towering above us on all sides…

The scenery going to our next stop Palmas was extremely interesting and green as this seems to be the breadbasket for soy of Brazil. Palmas in itself was not that interesting but they did have some great food and extremely cold frosty mug beer that made everyday enjoyable….

The tiny village of Taquaruçu is known for its laid back atmosphere and great waterfalls in the vicinity and is just an hours drive from Palmas up in the mountains. Here is a time to relax, do a bit of hiking and enjoy the food that you find in little restaurants after the sun goes down on the main street…

Moving pretty much the geographic center of the country (Palmas and Taquaruçu) we headed north through some beautiful mountain scenery and grasslands where you will find acres upon acres of soy as well as cattle, while passing through some charming small towns that look like they only exist as the highway passes through them…

Belem is known as the gateway to the Amazon River. It is about 100 kilometers from the Atlantic ocean and the humidity and heat really show. It is a charming old town with Ver-o-Peso market which has everything from handicrafts to food to a fish market to fruits and veggies and clothing. Walking down the streets is wonderful as there are so many street vendors and stalls. This city was the first European city that was created on the Amazon River but did not become a part of Brazil until the latter half of the 1700s.

As it was time to leave Belem, we all took a ferry that was in excess of 28 hours west down the Amazon River. The ferry was pretty good size with people sleeping in hammocks and goats bleating every chance they got. It was an interesting time seeing all the huts and people in boats along the river and all its different tributaries and watched how they lived…

After getting off the ferry, we stayed the night in the small town of Macapa and started the long journey through the jungle and the oh so fun red dirty road to the Brazilian border town of Oipoque which is on the border of French Guiana, where we will spend our next few weeks going through French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana before we enter Brazil again in Boa Vista….

Entering Brazil a day early from Guyana, we went straight to Boa Vista which is the capital of the state of Roraima in Brazil. The city is a planned city with a radial plan similar to that of France. There is not much to do in the city but it was nice to get out and look around…

Leaving Boa Vista and headed due south with some camping along the way, we ended up going to a beautiful little lake called crystal lake (was more of a pond). It was indeed crystal clear and it looked like a spring that had been damned up.

Getting into the next major city Manaus was our next stop. This city is the biggest city in the Amazon Region of Brazil and a major hub for exports into Jungle. One side of the city is old built up buildings and the other side starts nothing but jungle….

It was not one of the cleanest cities I have been to nor was it the safest, but the food was great as they have many Venezuelan refugees here and they all have delicious street food carts, bringing me memories from eating street burgers every Friday night in Venezuela for three years. It had some nice street art but with all the traffic was hard to maneuver around. The Amazon Opera House is one of the biggest attractions. I did not get a chance to go in for the tour, but I admired it from the outside…

A little over night excursion out of Manaus was going into the Jungle and staying at a small eco lodge. In order to get to this eco lodge you have to take a taxi from Manaus, then a water ferry to another taxi and finally after an hour drive another water ferry.

The Meeting of Waters (Encontro das Águas) is the confluence between the dark (blackwater) Rio Negro and the pale sandy-colored (whitewater) Amazon River, referred to as the Solimões River in Brazil upriver of this confluence. For 6 km (3.7 mi) the waters of the two rivers run side by side without mixing.

In the jungle, I had a blast photographing different birds, sloths, the sunsets, parrots, and seeing how the locals used to make rubber when Brazil one one of the biggest rubber exporters in the world. The little eco lodge was great with a view overlooking the water and the traditional food was even better….

The more interesting part of the trip was the 5 night and 6 day transport ferry ride down part of the Amazon and then down one of its main tributaries the Madeira River. The boat had two trucks (one was ours) and a bunch of cars that had got sold. There was a small deck area where we put our hammocks to sleep as well as a small eating area. We had a few other people on there with kids that were from Venezuela and other than that it was a very small quarters for five nights in which we did not get off the boat once!!!

The scenery was amazing along the way as there was Amazon Rain Forest and Rivers as far as your eyes can see. The cloud formations whether it be sun or rain was always good to photograph. It was also a chance to look for animals such as Cranes, Herons, Eagles, Falcons, King Fishers, Caiman, Crocodiles, Squirrel Monkeys and the famed Amazon River Dolphins which were always up and down the river but it was hard to spot them until they were gone.

With us going through the rain forest, there were tons of butterflies around with a lot of them landing on the boat, these were some of the best photos I have ever taken of butterflies.

The houses and people were probably the best part of being on the river that long. It was interesting to see how they lived off the land growing bananas, cassava, and other fruits. A lot of them had pigs, cows, goats and chickens and lived in small little homes, usually owning a boat to get around down the river.

As we got off the boat and back onto land, we landed in Porto Vehlo. There is not much to do in this city as it is a port city but it is known for its great meat and fish and restaurants around the city. Unfortunately the city is very spread out so trying to get from place to place is a bit challenging and we were warned by locals of dangers in carrying cameras around.

Leaving Porto Vehlo we had a series of long drive days through a combination of hills and farmland as far as the eye can see. We passed a lot of small towns and a few big cities along the way. We went over 2100 kilometers as we had some trouble getting into Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park due to the size of the truck so we had to back track a bit through Cuiaba and go another direction.

On our way down we stopped at a beautiful eco lodge in the city of Caceres which is one of the gateways to the Northern Pantanal and is a lovely little place. We got to take a boat ride for a couple of hours down the Paraguay river which is rich of birds and wildlife. The highlight for me was seeing a prehensiled- tailed porcupine which was nestled away in a tree, sleeping in the day and coming down at night.

Another highlight was in the morning there were some beautiful black tailed marmosets that were running around the tree near the lodge. While they were very difficult to photograph with their constant jumping and playing, some of them did calm down a little while in order for me to get a good photo or a few…

After leaving Caceres (I could have stayed there for weeks), we went via Cuiaba to the small town of Chapada dos Guimaraes which boasts a beautiful national park with waterfalls and swimming areas with some nice cool water. There was nothing much to do in the town, however being in the NP for a while made it all the better.

A few hours away was the bustling hot city of Cuiaba which is the capital of the state of the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso. The city has many tall buildings which reminds me somewhat of Dubai as many of them were flanked in front of a beautiful blue sky with fluffy clouds. Nearby to where we stayed was the World Cup Stadium that was used for the games as well as the Olympic Gymnastic Stadium.

Next on the road was the beautiful little area of Rio Verde in Mato Grosso. There was not much to do in the town but the pousada and the surrounding area of the 7 waterfalls was beautiful with a lot of birds and a relaxing time next to the river…

The Pantanal has been high on my list to go to for a long time. I pretty much think of it as the Masai Mara or Serengeti of South America. It is the largest wetland and flooded grassland in the world and is in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso in Brazil. It also extends some portions into Paraguay and Bolivia. The landscape as you can imagine is wet but also has a touch of what the Masai Mara looks like in Kenya…

To say I had a blast photographing animals in the Pantanal is an understatement. There were literally animals everywhere, whether you took a boat down a lagoon, walked around, did game drives in the day or night, this place pretty much had it all. The bird life was amazing, including the Macaws and Parakeets whom you could hear all of the time…

The bird life was amazing also as there was so many species from King Fishers to Black Collared Hawks to Herons and Egrets just to name a few. The Greater Rhea’s were also seen here in large numbers walking around….

The Capybara’s are the biggest rodent in the world and seem to hang around water as much as they can especially with the heat..

The Marsh Deer were seen in different areas along the waterways but were often very frightful and would run if a vehicle passed. They usually sit in the swampy areas and eat all the plants that are growing in and around the area

The Caiman here were out in full force around the swampy areas, often looking for an easy meal, feeding on fish and anything that comes close to the water.

The night drives saw us seeing many different animals including armadillos, rabbits, birds, and foxes of the area..

But of course what tops it all off was the spotting of jaguars not one but two different nights. These elusive cats are very scared of any loud noises and while you can see them in the day, the night is the best time to find them as they usually run off in a hurry…

Overall the Pananal exceeded my expectations and I can totally see myself returning here to do longer safaris and do parts of the northern area as well as go back to the southern. Seeing the jaguar, gave me excitement just like the first time I saw a leopard, lion, cheetah, and tiger.

Next stop was the small eco tourist town of Bonito. While I did not bother to go into the town at all, I was interested in going to the Recanto Ecologico Rio da Prata. I have heard about this for years as it is a natural spring in the middle of farmland. Pretty much you have to get into a wet suit, drive through a field with cattle everywhere, hike through a jungle, then you get to a spring in which you can snorkel down the river in some of the clearest river water on earth and see different fish that are pretty much not scared of you and will come right up to you. This was an amazing experience as the water was pretty much crystal clear and floating with the fish was amazing….

We then went to the biggest sinkhole in South America, aptly named hole of the macaws, it is a breeding ground for the many scarlet macaws that make their noisy home there…

The last part of the trip saw us driving about 1800 kilometers to get back to Rio to finish the trip. . As we drove through corn fields, cow fields, mountains, and the traffic of Sao Paulo back into Rio, it gave me a chance to see the beautiful countryside yet again. Was going to see Christ the Redeemer for my one day in Rio de Janeiro but it was mothers day and everything was crazy busy. This three month trek through Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana capped off a great 11 month over land trek from Alaska down through Canada, through the US and Mexico and Central America and into South America (with a stop off in Antarctica and Easter Island)……