LEARN ABOUT CREATURES

I´ll be in Brazil from time to time and would like to mention and discuss all the interesting things of the natural world that I see here.

The natureza in Brazil is as vast as the land itself. On this trip I`ll be traveling to two different states, Minas Gerais and Bahia. In the first state I´ll be staying in more Central Western Territory, while the state of Bahia is in the North East. There I`ll be staying on the coast.

When I got off the third plane of my trip to my final destination of Minas Gerais, I saw a big informational poster showing the areas where Dengue fever is currently plaguing the people. Rio and areas close to the Amazon have the highest indices of Dengue whereas in Minas the risk of catching it is only a medium level. More costal and North Eastern regions like Bahia are of the lowest risk. I`m not sure why this is so. Dengue is carried by mosquitos. I can understand that near the Amazon there is higher risk, but why is there high risk in Rio, which is a costal state? Perhaps due to the climate being very humid or the practices of the people to leave standing water around? I`m not sure. Anyhow, I´m glad that I won´t be at great risk while I´m here because I failed to get a vaccination.

I`m currently in Minas. The first thing I saw when I walked out the door was a bush, taller than I am, with big, red flowers on it that looked just like the flowers of pointsettas. We were late for the bus (and ended up missing it) so there was no time to linger or ponder it. Perhaps later there will be time?

I will keep my eye out for other natural things of interest. One interesting thing is the predominance of small, somewhat hot dog shaped dogs roaming the streets in the small town where I´m staying. It`s just interesting to note that people in that neighborhood seem to keep (or let roam) mutts instead of full-breds. What a difference from the Marina in San Francisco where people carefully select their dog for breed and appearance and manicure them, treating them to massages and even therapy if they`re a little neurotic (like their owners).

One unnatural thing that is prevalent in Brazil that I´d like to comment on now is the Brazilian woman`s use of extremely high heels. I just don`t relate to this at all. Some of them can barely walk in their spikes. Their awkward gates remind me of descriptions of the gates of Chinese ladies who suffered the ravages of botched foot binding procedures. I´ll stick to my tennis shoes and cheap, flat and very comfortable leather sandals.

That`s all for now. I`ll be on the lookout for natural flying things and non-artificial foliage to report on.

Ate mais,
Mosca