Brazil — Amazonia, Chapada, Pantanal and Itatiaia: October 2008
The Day of the Tapir, by John Haselmayer:
Today, we spent a full day exploring the Chapada dos Guimaeres. First, we drove through the ‘cerrado’, a shrubby savannah similar to chaparral, on our way to the ‘Cidade de Pedras’ (City of Stone) where we were treated to strange, wind-carved sandstone formations and spectacular vistas over the cliffs. The cerrado is in bloom at this time of year, and the trail was lined with a gorgeous array of low flowering shrubs. On the way to the Cidade de Pedras, we spotted our first Red-legged Seriema (the ecological analog of Africa’s Secretary Bird) well ahead of the bus. While we observing the Seriema, Lloyd pointed out that there was someone walking on the road behind the Seriema. Paulo and I raised our binoculars and shouted out in unison: “Tapir!!” The tapir, a relative of the horse and South America’s largest mammal, ambled slowly towards us for the next few minutes and gave us all ample opportunity to observe it well. This was a rare find, indeed, and a life mammal for me.
Though the tapir was hard to beat, there was other excitement in store for us that day. While having a short break after lunch to let our participants look around the artisanal shops in the city of Chapada dos Guimaeres, a few of us noticed a Guira Cuckoo eating a tarantula, right there in the central park! While a small crowd of us gathered to watch the cuckoo pulling the tarantula apart and swallowing each little bit, we heard a commotion of scolding birds and a Kestrel landed on the ground in front of us…with a struggling House Sparrow in its talons! The Kestrel then flew off with the sparrow to a nearby rooftop to finish the job of subduing it. Later that afternoon, we were treated to spectacular views of a few ‘cerrado’ specialties: the Curl-crested Jay, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, and Russet-backed Antwren.
Reaching the Geographic North Pole: July 2008
By Barry Griffiths:
This summer, I was on board the huge Russian nuclear icebreaker "50 Years of Victory", on its maiden voyage from Murmansk, Russia to the Geographic North Pole. As we entered the solid sea ice of the Arctic Ocean, it quickly became evident that my long-awaited experience of being on board an icebreaker that crashed through stubborn sea ice and took repeated runs at high pressure ridges, until it agonizingly broke through, just wasn't happening. Expectations, based on the TV and movie episodes of large icebreakers laboriously extracting ice-bound ships from their tight bonds, or slowly leading a conga line of ships and crushing the ice ahead of them to break a path out of the ice to open waters, were not being met.
Something was obviously amiss, for our behemoth icebreaker was, in fact, slipping through two and three metre pack ice and thick pressure ridges like a hot knife through butter at 14 knots. No steel hull clangs, violent movements or sudden stops for this ship as it sported some of the most sophisticated ice-breaking systems that leading-edge technology could provide: a newly designed spoon-shaped bow, a stainless steel ice belt 5 metres wide that surrounded the ship's hull, and a bubble system that almost eliminated the friction created by hull and ice contact.
As we arrived at the North Pole, 48 hours ahead of schedule, it was clear that the battle of the ice was over for the "50 Years of Victory" technology had triumphed!
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