Saturday 28th - Tuesday 1st: São Paulo

The last days of our trip was spent in São Paulo. We stayed in the guest house of Instituto de Botânica at the Jardim Botânico. 

The guest house

After some hours in the lab on Saturday morning, we went out to explore the 12th largest city in the world. 

Adriana, Viviana and Jimmy were our guides

A small fragment of the concrete jungle

In the heart of the city lies a beautiful forest park, Trianon. No Phyllopsoras!

A good meal at a Chinese restaurant

On Sunday, our lazy days continued ;-) Anne Karin and Malin went to the Museum of modern art, MASP. Sonja took a walk in the botanical garden and Einar went out on a long awaited bird watch. He got four new species on his life list (Cocoi Heron, Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail, Squirrel Cuckoo and Rufous Hornero).

 Great and Snowy Egret

On Monday it was about time that we got back in the field. We took a look in a rainforest fragment within the botanical garden. It was actually quite good, we made about 20 interesting collections. 

We also had Ricardo with us, one of Adriana's PhD stundents

We found a butterfly that had just come out of it's cocoon and was preparing for the first flight

In the lab, preparing the specimens

Tuesday was our last day in the field in this adventure. We travelled an hour out of the center of São Paulo to Reserva Biológica do Alto da Serra de Paranapiacaba. This was a wet and dense rainforest, so not a good spot for Phyllopsoras, but oh so beautiful. Even though we collected few species, they were all interesing. 

Tiny orchid on a tree trunk

A last group photo

A farewell dinner with our wonderful hosts

NEXT: Norway 

Wednesday 25th – Friday 27th: Parque Nacional do Itatiaia

On Tuesday evening we arrived at São Paulo and three of us went for dinner.

The next morning we were picked up by Adriana and Viviana from the Instituto de Botânica SP and left for the Itatiaia National Park. It was established in 1937 and is Brazil’s oldest national park with an area of 300 km². Here we were going to spend the next couple of days in the subtropical part of the Mata Atlântica. This is one of the few areas with Atlantic rainforest remaining in South America.

Casa do Pesquisadores - our quarters

During the first afternoon, we went for a short walk to get an impression of the lichen flora; and we were rewarded with many interesting Phyllopsora species.

The following day, we drove further up to a height of 1100 m and split into two teams for collecting. We went on different trails and found almost 70 specimens! Among others Physcidia, Crocynia and Phyllopsora cinchonarum. Surprisingly, we also discovered the genus Eschatogonia which we did not know occurred in southern Brazil!

Phyllopsora sp.

maybe Phyllopsora cinchonarum?

and surprisingly Eschatogonia!

However, not only the lichens caught our attention...

a beautiful Iridaceae

a Morpho butterfly

a big little fellow crossing our path

a funny catterpillar

After a long day in the field we went to Downtown Itatiaia and ate a lovely, traditional dinner: PIZZA. :)

the tasty pizza :)

working in the evening

Before leaving the national park, we went on a last hike. Phyllopsoras grew on every tree and also more Eschatogonia could be found!

view from the path

Now we are leaving back to civilization in São Paulo!

Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd: Amazonian rainforest

Back in the field again, now in primary Amazonian rainforest in Tailândia, Pará. We collected for 2.5 days at Fazenda Agroecológica São Roque, the farm of Milton and Iracema Cordeiro, with the good help of Selma and Denis from UFRA (Federal Rural University of Amazonia). Milton and his cowboys drove us around in the forest, showing us what the original vegetation of the area looked like, now it's sadly just small remnants in the vast agricultural landscape.

On Milton's porch before going out first day

Heading for the forest

In Milton's pickup

Crossing a brook

Big butterflies were flying around, including Morphos (but they were impossible to photograph).

A BIG butterfly

Group photo

We found mostly Eschatogonia species, but also some Phyllopsora and probably the sorediate ‘Sporacestra’ that Sonja and Einar found in Caixuana in March.

Malin collecting the sorediate 'Sporacestra'

Milton’s farm is a true paradise, even with a swimming pool that is just wonderful in the heat. They grow açai palms, tap medicinal sap from rainforest trees, and really care for their forest.

Swimming!

Tapping sap from rainforest tree

Iracema prepared wonderful lunches for us both days in her outdoor kitchen.

Lunch

A big lepidoptera in the yard

After a hot day in the field, it was lovely to come back to the hotel for a shower and spend an hour or so preparing the specimens. But the wine was terrible: sweet! And we had brought 2 l.

Preparing the specimens

Last evening Milton arranged a cocktail party for municipality dignitaries, including the present and former mayors, informing them what we were doing and possibly preparing contacts for future research in Tailândia's rainforests. Even TV turned up, and Milton and Einar got interviewed, see http://portaltailandia.com.br/. Sonja's cold is unfortunately getting worse, and she preferred to stay in bed that evening.

Einar getting interviewed

Milton getting interviewed

Next: São Paulo!

Wednesday 18th, Thursday 19th: Belém

After 24 hours of travelling (Venezuela-Panamá-Manaus-Belém) we finally are in Belém, Brazil. The reason for our stay was to participate in the "Research in the Amazon" seminar, regarding climate change and biodiversity. The stay started with a couple of hours with sleep, then in the afternoon we met the participants and organizers from University of Oslo to eat dinner. 

The next morning was dedicated to the seminar. Einar and other researchers held presentations about their ongoing research regarding the Amazon and biodiversity. 

Einar's talk about lichens in tropical forests

After lunch the seminar was about new research opportunities and cooperation between Norway and Brazil, which seemed very promising. In this part of the seminar the crown prince of Norway was present. Overall it was a exciting seminar, both the scientific part and the future opportunities. 

In the afternoon the governor of Pará invited some of the seminar participants to dinner, to celebrate a signing of an agreement between Norway and the state of Parà. The agreement concerned future cooperation in research, business and education. 

The crown prince of Norway holding his speech

Olve Sørensen (senior advisor in the Ministry of Education and Research) and Fridtjof Mehlum (head of research at the Natural History Museum, Oslo) with the agreement 

Torkjell Leira (NHM's project coordinator in Brazil) in the governor's hall 

Einar, Anne Karin and Sonja gracefully in the stairs 

The last day in Belém (Thursday) we spent wandering around the markets in the port of Belém.

NEXT UP: Tailandia, Moju