Home Again, home again...

Well, as the title suggests, we of the 2007 teacher Pantanal team have made it home again. I have received e-mails from the others saying they arrived safely back in the States intermitently throughout this past week.
Work beckons tomorrow, the first Monday after break, but the Pantanal is not quite a distant memory. The most beautiful land I have encountered, under the most pristine conditions imaginable, with the most incredible team conjured up, I had an experience that most only dream of. If someone out there is reading this, and wishes to make a difference in ecological or biological conservation, contact earthwatch immediately. It takes but one person making one change to increase the awareness of others around them.
If you had told be back in December that I would be a person to initiate change, I would have politely smiled and considered you kind to say such a thing. However, I received a phone call from Meg Warren that would change my life forever.
The people I have come into contact with, the pace of life, the cultural differences, the amazing kindness of strangers, and all else that encompasses life in the Pantanal has made me a better person, a person of change. Maybe not great and dramatic change; but rather subtle, thoughtful change.
I take this opportunity to say thank you to my parents, my students, my husband, my children, Ellen Wang, Manoel Muranis, Karen, Michelle, Chin-loo, Vanda, Mary, all of Earthwatch, and everyone who supported this trip. I also thank School Union #104 Superintendent Mr. Wittine, Pembroke Elementary School building principal Mrs. Jamieson, Faye (for keeping me organized), Mrs. Pope, Mrs. C. Mahar, Mr. Attick, Mrs. L. Mahar, school board members, and countless parents who logged on and tuned in to their children's learning through this blog and who will continue their support in our local endeavors to protect and conserve in our own environment.
My experiences in the Pantanal in Mata Grasso do Sul in Brazil was not what I expected but everything I could have wanted. Thank you to all.
Heather Chambers

Sitings!

There's so much to tell because I haven't written for a couple of days! Thank you guys for your responses. I have missed home so much, and your comments are what keeps me going!

Yesterday, I was with Ellen, Vanda, and Karen taking down the traps. To do this, we have to undo the strings that we tied, roll down the plastic, secure the plastic fencing, place the lids on the pitfall traps, and secure the lids. After that, we have to place dried palm leaves on the entire trap line to protect the plastic from sun and animal damage. You should have seen me wielding the machete! It was awesome! I went into the wooded area, chose good-looking palm leaves, tilted the machete to a slight angle, raised it up, and WHACK! off came the branches! There is a short video of Karen and me being what I have dubbed as "machete mamas" while clearing a trail. I'll post it in the coming weekend.
In the afternoon, I was supposed to be with Ellen to collect turtles in the Salina, but she only needed four. I figured that, since I catch and release painted turtles in the summer, that I would trade with someone who has never caught a turtle. Besides, I hadn't seen an otter yet. So Vanda and I were all set to go with Manuel to paddle up the river to another oxbow. After lunch, we gathered in our meeting spot outside a little storage room by the truck, and Vanda disappeared. The next thing I knew, Manuel said, "It's just you and me," and we got into the boat with Edson, secured a canoe to the top of the motor boat, and away we went!
As we were traveling to our spot to get into the canoe, ahead of us on the right side of the river, Edson pointed. It was a little bump out of the water that bobbed back in. IT WAS A NEOTROPICAL OTTER! I quickly grabbed my camera, turned it on, and watched as the otter bobbed in and out of the water; then, it's curiosity got the best of it, and it started to swim TOWARD OUR BOAT! I was so excited! Edson cut the motor and we floated downstream with the otter. It came within 10 feet of the boat; when it popped up the final time, Manuel made a throaty "hhaa" noise, and it went away. That was okay, though, since I met the goal of being here. I will post pics of the otter this weekend; I took the faraway one, and Edson took the beautiful one of the otter up close and personal--his zoom is incredible.
Manuel and I got to the spot where we were going to canoe from, but travelled further up river to measure depth. The river was 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 meters deep (which Manuel said is higher than usual for this time of year).
We were able to get to our canoe, which was on what I would call a sand bar, but it was actually a submerged beach. There were benches where tourist sit to view otters in the dry season. We again paddled through the trees, to check one more oxbow, then took a shortcut home. Manuel stopped and tested me on my sense of direction, and I found our position without the help of GPS, but rather just using observation. I passed! Anyway, it was an eventful day and a great one!

Paddling the Pantanal

It was so great to talk to you guys yesterday! Familiar voices are always welcome. Now, most of you asked for pics of me with the tarantula to be posted. I'll try to do that in a few minutes.

Today we went by canoe to the two of the oxbows. In between the oxbows, we had to maneuver the canoes through flooded "jungle". It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It's so hard to imagine that in a couple of months, animals will be walking on the ground where the water is now. I'm not sure how deep it is, but my paddle could not reach the bottom, so it's at least 5 ft. deep.
Edson took us by motor boat up the Rio Negro (black river, in case you were wondering), and we unloaded two canoes; we got into the canoes and away we went, straight into the flooded forest. After we exited the forest area, we entered the first oxbow. The wind was blowing against us (it seems strong today), and paddling was quite a challenge. Although we saw signs of otters (more scat), we have not seen the actual animal yet. We did, however, get out of the canoes and were greeted by some angry peccaries grunting their warning at us. We looked around in that area for a bit, but no otters.
After turning around and paddling back to the other end of the oxbow, we exited the same way we had entered, through the aboreal forest. There are plants in this area that look similar to yucca or wide-leafed ferns, but they have ominous needles that protrude from the stem (the needles are about 1 to 1- 1/2 inches long--OUCH! We met Edson back at the motor boat, but then decided to canoe back to the farm. It took us an hour and a half and we were just in time for lunch!
After hand-washing some sweaty, stinky clothes and hanging them out to dry, I decided to come write on the blog. We begin our focal observation soon (around 2:30), which means we get back to the motor boat, get to the bridge, and sit to watch for otters--wish us luck and keep your fingers crossed!
I hope to get close-up pics of toucans and hyacinth Macaws, as well as otters. Time will tell!

Welcome to the Jungle (uumm...more like an aboreal forest)!

Chin-loo, Vanda, and I went out today collecting animals that were trapped since yesterday. Along the way was a fox, but it was not red like ours, but instead quite black and had floppy ears. It walked like the ones in Maine, but when it ran, it resembled a puppy bounding after a ball.

When we got to the traps, we found a variety of amphibians (including a tree frog), a couple of millipedes (which we released), a few lizards, a gecko, and 3 HUGE tarantulas. Now, you must understand that I am petrified of spiders to begin with, but I decided that I wanted the whole "Pantanal experience", and, with Chin-loo cheering me on, I tried to collect the first one. The problem was, I was trying to grab it as though it were a smaller species, quick and in one motion. Not a good idea. And that's an understatement. He (or she) became extremely agitated and arched its back, displaying its fangs to scare the "enemy"--it worked. Ellen (the researcher) carefully lifted it out and set it free a few feet into the woods. I was so disappointed in myself.

However, I got to redeem myself. At the next trap that just Chin-loo and I went to, another tarantula awaited. He (or she) was a big one! Once again, Chin-loo was kind enough to let me take it out of the trap (or at least attempt to); I slowly reached down with the tweezers, and, learning from last time, slowly approached the tarantula, then, in one quick motion, grabbed him by his body. he squirmed, but did not get loose. I held on to him while the others took pictures, and, I look like I'm okay with it in the pictures, but I felt so exhilerated and scared at the same time.

At the next set of traps, Chin-loo and I separated. I did two and she did two while Vanda and Ellen did the other pairs of traps. Of course, my trap had a tarantula in it--you guys know my luck, right? So, as I did the last one, but this time with no one around (honestly, Chin-loo was only about 30 feet away--but that's far when you're talking tarantula!), I picked up the spider, which was smaller than the previous one. He (or she) had different coloring than the first two, and just picking it up annoyed it. I know this, because when I went to release it a few feet away he grabbed on to the tweezers, and tried climbing toward my hand. At that point, I actually kept calm (yes, I surprise myself too), and shook him on to the ground nearby. He reared up, arched his back and showed off his fangs. Boy, this tactic really works when a tarantula wants to scare you. I decided it was best to hop to the other side of the trap fence--Chin-loo, who had since joined me, decided that was a good idea and hopped the fence too. Whew!

In a couple of days, we will be collecting turtles at the Salinas, where we get to wade through the water (only about a meter deep). Tomorrow, I will be with Mary, Vanda, Edson, and Manuel to survey signs of otters--I really hope to see at least one, but it is rare this time of year because, with the banks flooded to overflowing, the dens and resting areas are also flooded and the otters have migrated until a drier time. We'll see!

Also, another goal of mine is to see the Hyacinth Macaw, which are around, but I have missed every sighting and photo-op so far. I am also keeping an eye out for the Howler Monkey and the Toucan. I learned that when you keep the image in your mind's eye when you're searching, you are more likely to see the animal you are looking for. It's called the "search image". Makes sense, right?

More to come tomorrow....

Into the Pantanal!

Hey guys! I'm writing a bit early today and maybe I'll get a chance to write tonight too.

I'm sitting in the classroom area right now trying to cool down from the morning's activities. It is about 90 degrees on average with humidity that makes it feel like 97 degrees. It's surreal to me that I have to date these with a February time stamp, since I am conditioned to believe February is cold.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We spent the morning repairing amphibian/reptile traps. The concept and design of the trap is simple, but genius. A plastic barrier is placed between and over traps in a line of 8 traps; the traps consist of barrels sunk into the landscape so they are less noticeable to the animals. The black plastic sheeting is held up by poles of naturally-growing brush--the fencing is tied to each pole or stake to ensure stability. Another stabilizing factor, to make sure the string doesn't rip through the plastic is to duct tape the portion of the plastic that the string is poked through. The purpose of the fencing is that a frog, reptile or any number of other creatures will follow the fence after the barrier ends up in their path (because they're trying to get around it). Inadvertently, the creature will follow the fencing until they drop into the barrel trap. When spring comes, I would like to go outside with you guys and make similar traps to catch creatures. We can find out what creatures move around during the day, and then what creatures move around during the night. I think it will be fascinating and fabulous. By the way, it took us 3 hours to repair 4 lines with 4 traps on each line.
The area we were in is the only salt water lake in the area called the Salinas, which means "salt water lake". Different bird species live here than in other areas of the Pantanal. Check out the great pics from today.
Have a great snow day! That's quite a storm system over you guys! Skiing anyone?

Checking out Traps!

To my students.....
It was great to hear from you, Megan and Taylor, and I would really love to hear from everyone! It makes me feel like I'm not quite so far away! I miss you, but not necessariy the weather!
For everyone...
Today was so exciting, though that hardly seems to be a sufficient word. We were out in the boat checking certain trap sites. We spent some time in the classroom, and we took many, many photos. Check out the photo galleries here.
I will be in the higher regions of the Pantanal tomorrow with Chin-loo, Karen, Mary, Ellen, and Edson to clean and restructure the traps for the snakes, amphibians, and reptiles. Details to follow!
Mrs. Chambers

Our Wonderful Lunch

Mmmmm! Pineapple!!!

Our lunch plate