 |
| Coffee bushes stretching high up the hillsides |
Today we had some guests of Pura Coffee with us and they
were visiting a local Coffee Plantation, we were kindly invited to join them. As this gave us an excellent opportunity to see the other side
of the story of the deforestation of the area we were keen to go along.
Beyond Nova Friburgo, the
journey took about two hours, but when we arrived our host was delightful and
offered restrooms and conversation. The
views of the terraced coffee fields was amazing, with the plantation stretching
as far up the hills as it was possible to farm.
The beans were arabica and deemed to be the best quality for the general
market – a mid strength general purpose bean.
 |
| Coffee Beans |
We were taken in the 4x4 to the top of the plantation were
we got an overview of the whole project and also so that we could see the areas
of reforestation which had taken place as part of Brazil’s mitigation
legislation – all farmers now have to replant native trees in a percentage of
their land.
 |
| Masked Water Tyrant |
After viewing the fields full of coffee beans in varying stages of ripeness, we went off to the drying area where the
beans are laid out in the sun to dry for a few days, they have to be constantly
moved to ensure even drying and to prevent any moisture getting caught between
them which would cause funghi and moulds to grow.
The final process here is for a final drying inside a drum
which revolves whilst hot air is blown through it. The furnaces which provide the hot air are
fuelled by the dried husks from the outside of the coffee beans – nothing is
wasted here. The beans are turned in the
drums constantly – the barn is hot, noisy and dusty.
 |
| The first part of the drying process |
There were two elderly gentlemen who manned
the site 24 hours a day whilst the crop is being harvested
– we visited on
Sunday and they hadn’t slept for a week.
They were delightful in their generosity perhaps just thrilled to have other people taking an interest in their work and providing a distraction to a very arduous job.
After a bit of birding – Masked Water-Tyrant, Saffron Finch,
Southern Rough-winged Swallow and the usual Vultures being out main sightings -
it was time for lunch, Nicholas took us to a typically Brazilian BBQ restaurant
where the food just keeps on coming – the two young visitors took it all in
their stride, the rest of us (already having had two weeks of lovely REGUA
food) were not quite as capable of keeping up..
 |
| Choices, choices |
Soon it was time to return to the Reserve, we just had time for a quick cup of tea on the veranda and then it was time for some evening birding. Tonight we were going to try to the Giant Snipe. We had seen four birds fly past on a previous occasion, but we wanted one last chance to see a bird on the ground before the group departed.
Our guide, the excellent Adilei led us once again to a field with cattle at the far end. They became curious and started to walk in our direction. After a while they formed an arc around us and just stared us out. The playing of Giant Snipe tape almost proved too much for them, but they managed to hold off from a full charge and just nudged and jostled each other before becoming bored and wandering off - thank goodness. Unfortunately all this activity was likely to have scared off the snipe.
 |
| Mmmm, pistachio pudding, yum, yum |
We patiently waited as our guide played the tape. An eerie sound at the best of times but with darkness falling and the stars starting to glisten, the sounds of a brazilian evening were fantastic. First one bird responded, then a second, third and fourth. We had one bird fly over our heads, then a second, how on earth Adilei managed to work out where these birds were was amazing, but finally he had located one on the ground and moving stealthily forward he motioned for us to join him. As one we moved forward as quietly as we could, trying not to stumble on the tussocks of grass and in the deep ridges in the field. All this with only one faint torch, everyone was incredibly nimble.
I never fail to be astounded by the skill and expertise used by our two Brazilian guides and tonight was no exception. The bird was perfectly pinpointed in a shaft of light, as we watched - no binoculars required as it was so close - and took photographs quietly we were all in awe of the great privilege before us. Being that close to such a great bird was fantastic. Nothing was said, hardly a breathe was taken. I decided to start taking some video, and right on cue the bird moved off, giving me some lovely footage. Finally it moved off into the long grass some way off and we decided to leave it in peace. What a great experience.
Sadly that wasn't the end of our experiences for the day, as Ken took rather an interesting nose-dive into a ditch and ended up with two boots full of stagnant water - still, it could have been worse - it could have been me!
Giant Snipe Video
