Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 23:53:24 +0900 From: ss66428 <ss66428@hongo.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3068$foo@default> Subject: Brazilian Expedition 12
To all,
Thus I left the Serra do Cabral saddened that I hadn't found the weird
D.villosa-like species, but nonetheless happy with all that I had found,
especially considering that there were relatively few good CP habitats on
those mountains. I headed back towards Sao Paulo, which would take more or less
9h if there were no problems along the way. But there were. Right after passing
through Belo Horizonte all traffic was being diverted due to constructions,
meaning that we all had to take a slower alternative route.
The indications were not so good and I missed a turn, but while trying
to find a way back on my road map, I noticed I was on the road to a town near
Furnas. In late '91 I had passed by this town on my way to the Serra da
Canastra and accidentally discovered a few beautiful little waterfalls next to
the road, one of which had numerous interesting CPs. It would take me several
hours longer to go to this waterfall, but why not?! So I put another tape in
my walkman and stepped on the accelerator.
I arrived at the waterfal around lunch time and hung around there for
around an hour. I was a bit late in the season apparently to catch U.nervosa
and U.laciniata in flower, which I had seen there on my previous trip, but I
saw all the others: D.montana var.tomentosa, G.repens, G.violacea, U.amethys-
tina, U.neottioides, and of course U.subulata. The most curious CP at this
site is G.violacea, which is smaller than usual and has very uniquely colored
flowers, which are curiously somewhat immitated in the U.amethystina and
U.laciniata present at that same site. I found plenty of G.violacea and
U.amethystina in flower, but was unfortunately not able to take too many good
photos since the photometer on my camera had broken at the Serra do Cabral.
After all the work was done, a short dip in the waterfall was essential to
cool off from the summer heat, and to prepare for the last leg of the trip
home in my air conditionless car. AAARRGH!
I was tempted to go even further to the Serra da Canastra and stay
there maybe two days, but I had already been out of Sao Paulo for over two
weeks and the plants I had collected in the beginning of the trip were already
in pretty bad shape after hundreds of km of bouncing around dirt roads.
Although there are several CPs at the Serra da Canastra I would like to take a
closer look at, including a possible new species of Genlisea resembling a tiny
G.violacea, I decided they would have to wait for a future trip. The fact that
I would have to travel almost 100km by dirt roads just to arrive at the Serra
da Canastra was one of the main reasons I decided to definitely head on home.
I had gotten more than enough of dirt roads in the past 2 weeks!!!
The whole truth is that it was a Saturday and I was dying to get back
to Sao Paulo and spend the night out on the town with friends and then Sunday
with family. I had to AT LEAST pretend that they were the reason why I had
gone back to Brazil for vacation!!! :):):)
To be continued......... with my trip to Goias
Fernando Rivadavia
Tokyo, Japan
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:31:07 PST