October / November 2015 - South Brazil, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro

Our latest tour was run in October / November of 2015, and it was a resounding success. Even the weather, that sometimes decided to play tricks on us, ended up being helpful in showing everyone the real conditions under which orchids can grow in the wild. A good example we could find in south Brazil, where the majestic views from the canyons were replaced by cold and drizzly fog. The orchids were in bloom, but the weather kind of answered any questions about the humidity and temperature requirements of the plants.

I am not going to write a lot on this page, but instead will show a few pictures of what we saw. Of course, there are things I cannot show, like the hospitality of all the people we dealt with and of course the food. There were a few times that we really were just looking forward to the end of the day so that we could enjoy some good eating... and of course the caipirinha drinks!

All in all yes, we had a lot of fun. Starting in south Brazil, we went to see the sand dunes and then the mountains. Afterwards, several days in Minas Gerais looking for rupicolous orchids and a visit to the large diamond mine complex and then back to Rio; before getting there, we stopped in Espírito Santo to visit a couple of orchid nurseries. The last two days, in Rio, we did some tourist stuff and that was good for a change. Of course, we had to take a look at orchids in the Tijuca forest so it was not just tourist stuff. Here are some shots of the places we visited, in chronological order... Starting In South Brazil and finishing in Rio de Janeiro.
Tour_2015_10_11_1 Tour_2015_10_11_2
   
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Tour_2015_10_11_7 Tour_2015_10_11_8
   
Tour_2015_10_11_9 Tour_2015_10_11_10
   
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Tour_2015_10_11_15 Tour_2015_10_11_16
   
Tour_2015_10_11_17 Tour_2015_10_11_18
   
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Tour_2015_10_11_21 Tour_2015_10_11_22
   
Tour_2015_10_11_23 Tour_2015_10_11_24
   
Tour_2015_10_11_25 Tour_2015_10_11_26
   
Tour_2015_10_11_27 Tour_2015_10_11_28
   
Tour_2015_10_11_29 Tour_2015_10_11_30
   
Tour_2015_10_11_31 Tour_2015_10_11_32
   
We traveled a lot and saw all of what we were expecting to see. One might think that twelve days is plenty, but for all that we wanted to see, it was a rush sometimes so we just kept going with no rest days. As I said, the weather played tricks sometimes, but it was the rainy season so it was expected. Actually Brazil was experiencing a big drought in São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro states. South Brazil, on the other hand, was totally flooded and this has been going on for months.


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