The flight to Sao Paulo was loooonnngggg..... 10 hours give or take. For me this is a problem because I have a history of blood clots (DVT and pulmonary embolisms). So normally I would get an aisle seat and get up frequently and walk around to stretch my legs. I wear compression socks and take aspirin but since I don't have any clotting disorder that any physician could find, I am not on long term thinners. When I bought my plane ticket on United, I was thinking that I made out like a bandit because I got my ticket flying from RDU to Fortaleza and then back from Porto Seguro to RDU all for less than $600. However this also meant I was in the cheapest economy seating and I was put in the hump seat. The guy in the aisle seat somehow was sleeping the whole flight even though I barely slept a wink and I was hesitant to wake him to let me walk around. In hindsight, of course I should have insisted or asked to switch seats but I didn't. I landed in Sao Paulo exhausted but seemingly ok. After a long layover, I got on my Sao Paulo to Fortaleza flight and made it to Fortaleza in one piece, but as I got into the taxi for the hotel, my calf started to hurt... That night we had a nice dinner with all the tour participants that made it to the hotel and I figured I would sleep on it and see what was happening the next day.
My view from the 17th floor in Fortaleza.
The view out the front door of the hotel.
Fork-tailed Palm Swifts were hawking insects right from the hotel balcony. First lifer of the trip! My calf was smarting and I was visibly limping but I wasn't freaking out yet... Our first birding stop of the trip was a town park in Fortaleza where Jandaya Parakeets hang out.
Wing-banded Hornero - to be honest the band on the wing is not noticeable. The easiest way to tell this bird apart from the Pale-legged Hornero is the leg color. Wing-banded has dark legs. This backlit photo sucks so you have to take my word for it and I got better pics later.
Jendaya Parakeets! There were tons of birds being called out but I knew this was the only place we would see these gorgeous parakeets so I focused on them.
After the parakeets were in the bag, we headed north along the coast. The initial trip plan was to head south, but we all arrived a day early so Sherry and the tour leader Brad from Agami tours arranged for a quick jaunt north so we could try for some endemics that were not on the original plan.
On the way, we stopped at Porto do Pecem, a seaside spot with some mangroves.
More Fork-tailed Palm Swifts!
Masked Water-tyrant - on these trips you learn to take cues from the tour leader. Although this bird was a lifer for me, he just casually mentioned it and then ignored it. I found out later this was a very common bird throughout the trip.
Bicolored Conebill - I had seen these once before in Colombia but those photos were even worse! We were not going to be in mangrove habitats anywhere else on the trip so I knew this was a good one to get.
Plain-bellied Emerald - another species that specializes near the shore.
There was a point break at this spot that I bet gets good with the right conditions. This was a small day and the wind was wrong.
Mangrove Rail! This was the main target for this spot.
Southern Lapwings flying by.
Yellowish Pipit!
White-winged Swallow!
Collared Plover
Cattle Tyrant
Caatinga Cacholote! This bird is endemic to the Caatinga habitat of northeast Brazil but they do make it close to the coast. This one was a stone's throw away from the beach. Caatinga is a dry forest of low trees stunted by the elements and poor soil.
At this point we turned inland and headed southwest from the coast. Our next stop in the hot afternoon sun consisted of some farm habitat in Forquilha. The guide was hoping to pick up Moustached Woodcreeper here but he acknowledged the hot sun late in the day was probably not ideal. However, we did get some good birds.
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Scarlet-throated Tanager
Pale-legged Hornero
We threw in the towel on the Woodcreeper which meant we would need to backtrack the next day to try again.
We had one more stop planned before heading to the hotel. Serra da Meruoca in Camilos. This was the spot for the endemic Hooded Gnateater.
We all got good looks at the male but only the female allowed herself to be photographed. A great bird and the only spot on the trip for it.
Ochraceous Piculet! Another northeast Brazil endemic.
Glittering-throated Emerald
Gray-eyed Greenlet - almost a Brazilian endemic but it does have a disjunct population in Bolivia.
Pileated Finch - I had these on my first trip to Brazil but it was cool to see him with his crest up!
Black-bellied Antwren - another I had in the Pantanal.
Light was fading so it was time to pack it in and we headed to the city of Sobral. At this point I was visibly limping from my calf pain so I let some of the tour participants know that I probably had a blood clot in my calf which can be dangerous. After some discussion, I let tour leader know and we all decided it would be best if I saw a doctor. Brad the tour leader was amazing and volunteered to take me to a local emergency clinic which charges a small fee but has much less wait times than the free clinic. I was super surprised that after paying the equivalent of $75, the doctor saw me in probably less than 30 minutes. Both Brad and I were hoping this doctor would see me and clear me so I could continue the trip. I was expecting an ultrasound and was dreading a diagnosis of a DVT which would probably require admission and treatment with clot busters. However, this was a small town in Brazil and they didn't have an ultrasound machine. The doctor basically felt my leg and told Brad who was translating that he did not think it was a serious DVT and he gave us an order for an ultrasound to be performed elsewhere if things got worse. Although I was a bit incredulous, both Brad and I were glad that the doctor was not alarmed and thought we could continue. The alternative was to completely blow up the trip for myself and possibly impact others as well. So I decided to wait and see, making sure to put my leg up whenever I could to make sure the blood was flowing.
This was the general route we followed on Day 1. This trip would have a lot of driving! The endemics are spread out and Brazil is a huge country. By the end of the trip, we would have driven over 3k miles! That is the equivalent of driving across America from the east to west coast!
