Wildlife of Brazil

by Roxanne Schinas in September 2013

In a small, isolated village in southern Brazil, the long, hot day is finally ending. From our yacht, anchored out in the river, we watch the sun sink slowly into the mangroves, lighting up the clouds like tufts of pink candy-floss, and streaking the water with rainbow colours as though it had been mixed with oil. The characteristic sounds of the Brazilian daytime – motorbikes, the shrill screaming of cicadas, and the sound of Roberto Carlos’ latest hit being played…

Birdwatching on the Rio Luján

by Jill Schinas in September 2013

One thing which doesn't interrupt my thoughts, as I stand in meditation on the foredeck, is the quacking and whistling of waterbirds - and that's because there are surprisingly few in this vicinity. The Rio Luján and our quiet little creek are very polluted. Having passed through hundreds of miles of farmland and through cities with every form of industry from leather tanning to nuclear power generation, the river is choked with heavy metals and poly-poisons and also with an…