How I ended up in Brazil....
The adventure began—as most adventures do—by accident.
I was supposed to go to Italy, not Brazil. I had been accepted into a 6-person photography workshop in Orta San Giulio in early September. I was going to study with internationally acclaimed photographer Jill Mathis, and there would be a show at the end of the workshop. As you might imagine, I was pretty stoked about this.
But as the spring wore on, the news from Italy wasn’t good. It looked as if the timing wasn’t right for too many of the other workshop participants, and I saw my long-awaited chance at doing “serious photography” slipping away…
So I started searching for a “consolation prize” trip. Given my wonderful trip there in 2016, I was planning to return to South Africa—-but then I saw an offer for an amazing tour to photograph jaguars in the Brazilian Pantanal, which is the world’s largest tropical wetland.
Map of the Brazilian Pantanal (Highlighted area)
P199, Pantanal 55.76W 15.40S, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons
Estimated Area: Between 54,000 and 75,000 sq miles
Average yearly rainfall: 39–55 inches, occurring between October and April
Average temperature: 77 °F, but temperatures can fluctuate from 32 to 104 °F
A portion of the Pantanal was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. This UNESCO video provides a glimpse of the beauty of the area and the diversity of the wildlife there:
Video: UNESCO
Thumbnail: Oven Birds, ©️APaige Baker, 2019
The video doesn’t even mention the jaguars (!!!), so I thought you might be interested in viewing the video that sealed the deal and put me on the path to one of the most amazing experiences of my life:
And THAT is how I ended up in Brazil…exhaustion, disappointment, and a random Google search.
The Lord moves in mysterious ways….
A Note of Thanks
Any of the good photos I took in Brazil were thanks to Jamey Reynolds, of Southeastern Camera in Raleigh, who gave me a crash course in using my new cameras; Mark Thomas, of Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, who made it his goal to help me be comfortable with using those cameras during our tour; and Paulo Boute, our Brazilian guide, who pointed out so many amazing things I would never have seen without his expert eye. Because of their expert help and their unfailing kindness and good humor, the trip was everything I hoped it would be…and so much more. I will be forever grateful to each of them.
I am also grateful to my tour mates—Stephanie Brand, Mark Elder, Glen Kendall, Vella Kendall, Dolores Kiel, Roger Kiel, and TC Yuen—for their generosity in sharing their photography knowledge with me. Even though they were all much more experienced photographers than I am, they were kind and patient with the “new kid.” I’m happy to have learned so much AND made such wonderful new friends!
All of the bad photos I took were my own fault, of course.