Alligators, and Tarantulas, and Capybara! Oh My!

Wildlife in Brazil is so different and it made this last weekend so exciting for us. Jake and I are slowly tring to get out into nature more here and last weekend we were really successful. We had two different opportunities to get out and see nature, and despite some resistance (we were all a bit grumpy on Friday) we went out and seized the weekend. On Friday we had the wonderful opportunity to go see baby sea turtle hatch and despite living in Hawaii for 4 years that is an event I had not yet experinced This beach just happened to be 15 minute. It was pretty magical to see those cute little guys cawling and then swiming out to the ocean.

After witnessing that we stayed and played on the beach. The kids love all the crabs here and of corse we had some wet kids dispite the lack of swimsuits. Haha!

Then on Saturday we headed out for a hike. Yes, unfortunately it took me almost 3 months to go on a hike here...life has just been a bit crazy. We made it to the hiking area in the morning, but found out that a guide was required to go with us (which is not a problem) and we needed long pants (we were all in shorts!). So unfortunately we couldn't join the morning hike, but had to come back for the afternoon hike. But thankfully we really enjoyed the hike so it was well worth the effort. Before the hike even began we were able to see a turtle crossing the main path, a beautiful white crane near the pond, marmosets, and even a tarantula. Freaky thing is that the tarantula was on my shoe and I didn't even notice it. Kai told me that I had a spider on my leg (it was on the back of my heel), and so I went to brush it off and Jake kicked my foot to get it off before I could even see it. So I didn't scream....pretty sure if I had seen it on me I would have screamed. It must have been pretty young as it wasn't as big as an adult tarantula (but still pretty big for a spider that was on me!).

On the hike we walked through tropical jungle. We hiked out to a pond and saw capybara mud bathing.

Right near the pond we found a beautiful tree.

Our guide pointed out this berry which is very poisonous. He said that it is called death kiss and that you would be dead after about 20 minutes if you ate it. Which of course made me think of Hunger Games.

We then visited a large hugging tree. It gets its name because it grows around another tree. In this case it is growing around a palm tree. It was so tall.

We also saw interresting termite nests that looked like large dirt balls wrapped around trees.

Unfortunately we saw a dead sloth along the trail (which is so sad for me because I really want to see one while we are here, but not dead). But it did give us the oportunity to see a vulture.

I found this purple fungus along the path which was so beautiful I couldn't help taking a picture.

At the end we came on the back side of the pond, which we were told often has alligators over 2 meters long in it (SCARY!). We only saw a juvenile aligator, but he was good at hiding. See if you can find him in this picture.

This weekend also happend to be mother's day and it was absolutely lovely for me. Each of the 4 boys had a mother's day activity at their school where I could spend an hour or so with them. I played at the park with Louis, Painted a picture with Kai, played a bing game with Grant (where he wrote me a poem, gave me a shoulder massage and more), and made a memory box with Pace. I loved this time with them. Then on Sunday the boys were so sweet and trying to serve me. Breakfast in bed didn't work out so they wanted to make me dinner in bed. At church they sang to me in Portugeuse and then we all enjoyed a mother's day BBQ with friends. It was so relaxing and wonderful. These kiddos can be so sweet. In fact they have been on this restaurant kick where they have been preparing breakfast and lunch one day. Which has been so wonderful to see them volunteering to help out.

Also some other fun events Jane got all dressed up to go out, one evening we went out for pizza with friends, Kai dressed up as a dog for school because they have been studying dogs (his favorite is the german shepherd because of Chase on Paw Patrol), and we found a tree near us dropping these beautiful flowers on our way home from school. So life has been good. We are getting more used to the lifestyle here and our new schedule, and we are loving all the new experiences we are having.

Oh and I get to talk to this cutie as I am finishing up this post.