Capycoppy went to Rio de Janeiro! He spent a lot of time guarding the hotel room.

We had a pretty good storm one night. The wind was howling and the curtains were blowing- even with the windows closed! There is an outside wall panel covering the hole where an old air conditioner used to be. As the wind blows, you can see the panel move, there is a gap at the side that bulges open with the gusts of wind.

Capycoppy begged to go out, but refused to walk. We finally compromised: he could come if there was room in the camera bag, and if he agreed to be my lumbar pillow in the little rental car.

I had heard that there were capybaras at the park just west of Rio de Janeiro. The naturalists there took us on a night walk at nearby Chico Mendes Park, where we did see a capybara! Taking pictures of dark moving animals at night is rarely successful, so you’ll have to take my word for it!

Meanwhile, back at Room #8006, we were packing up to drive north, to the farm where Sam worked this summer.

We stayed at a Posada, or small family-run guest house just down the road from Tabatinga Farm.

They had 6 guinea fowl, and told us they have an otter in the little pond next door.

The little refrigerator under this heap wasn’t plugged in, and besides, I needed the outlet for my camera battery, ipad, Sam’s computer, and the rest of our electronic stuff. See that key? It was the only one she had for that room, and we accidentally took it when we left! We gave it to our farmer friend to return.

Hotels in Brazil always serve a nice breakfast, and except at the big hotels, they always serve the coffee in these thermos containers, and the coffee is good and hot!

The queijo (cheese) on the right is made in Minas Gerais, the state immediately north of Rio de Janeiro. the larger is fresh cheese, similar to mozzarella but not stringy or rubbery, mild flavored like a monterey jack. The smaller piece the the left is aged. The rolled up orange cheese is a lot like ours. The jar has kind of a sweet gooey cheese spread.

Our next bedroom wasn’t a hotel at all! We stayed in a very nice home with a fantastic family in the town of Vicosa. I got to see lots of capybaras there, and monkeys, too! Capycoppy just wanted to stay here forever!

Capycoppy was very pleased to be my lumbar pillow when we returned home with this capivara money from Silva Jardim!

Time to celebrate!

The next day we circled the Lagoa (lake) looking for urban capivaras. We didn’t find any, but found this great restaurant! We started talking to a guy who ended up offering us some of his dinner! People in Brazil are friendly and generous!

The only surly person we met in Brazil was the waitress who brought Sam a passion fruit Caipirinha (cachaca) instead of a passion fruit suco (juice). I offered to drink it for him, sucking those seeds down like tapioca in bubble tea.

She got his dessert order right!

The only capivaras we found at the lagoa were at this bar. Can you see them?

They had cutout capybaras all over the place, and capybara drawings on the menu. Our friendly waiter said the capybaras are very shy, the cachorros (dogs) chase them away.

Back to the hotel. Don’t you think room #1006 looks a lot like #6006 and #8006? Well, not quite, because the view is better!

When it isn’t stormy, it’s a pretty nice view!

I took about a million photos, but they can’t all fit into one blog. Stay tuned!