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

Sunday 15th: the day off

Sunday was our time off, so we planned to do some tourist activities before we left Caracas. We took the metro down to the city center with Jesús to do some sightseeing. He wanted to show us Simón Bolivar's house, Casa natal. Simón Bolivar played an important role in the establishment of Venezuela as a independent state free of the Spanish rule.

                            A statue of Simón Bolívar on his horse, in the Bolivar square. The size of the city determines the size of the statue. This is as big as it gets

The Bolivar square in the city of Caracas has the only apperance of black squirrels

Inside Bolivar's house. The paintings on the wall was added to the museum long after his death

Taking a break in the museum

Einar in front of the tree were Bolivar himself once stood

Then we went to a beautiful park with a view over the city center. 

Then suddenly Jesús got a call from the  guard at the botanical garden. He said that some kids had tried to steal some things through a hole in the window with a wooden stick. We had to run home and check if something was missing, but luckily everything was still there so we went out an ate dinner.

We had a fantastic stay in Caracas with both lichens and the people we have met. The experience was all over amazing. A special thanks to Jesús, Mariana, Maria Fernanda, Miguel, Christopher, Estefania and of course the lovely people at the botanical garden.

Group photo from the day of the workshop

The last thing we had to do that day was to sample tissue from some of our lichens for later DNA sequencing. This is not always easy for new untrained master students, specially when you're not in a lab, but it all went well and we learned something new. 

NEXT UP: BRAZIL!