Saturday, we took Avery out to a nearby Jaguar Preserve with a group from the Embassy. We had heard wonderful things about the place, despite the somewhat treacherous drive required to get there. The Preserve prides itself on providing a natural place of respite for jaguars, pumas, ocelots and other animals rescued from poachers - who more often than not, mistreated the animals horribly.
This animal sanctuary was amazing - the beauty and magnificent strength of the cats enthralling! Here's the large, male onça-pintada, who was none too thrilled with his audience.
This animal sanctuary was amazing - the beauty and magnificent strength of the cats enthralling! Here's the large, male onça-pintada, who was none too thrilled with his audience.
The pumas appeared more laid-back, but also seemed to take a keen interest in the small children...
After the first meet-n-greet with the animals, our guides took us on a small hike to a fantastic little waterfall, where the kiddos took a swim.
One of our guides got in on the cool, water action.
The natural flora of the preserve was also interesting. This is a jabuticaba (say, ja-Boo-tee-caba) fruit tree. Amazing in that the flower and fruit develop on the tree trunk and branches, rather than budding from the leaves. It's aroma - jasmine-like, was intoxicating!
I have a thing for parrots - and there were plenty to enjoy: blue and red macaws, green amazon parrots, and even a token (and adorable!) toucan!
I tried to make friends with the red macaw, but things went downhill when her "love nibbles" got a little too close to sensitive areas. Nice face, huh? ;)
Just when we thought the day was winding down....out comes the jaguars' dinner (the wheelbarrow, not the blond morsel!)
...And 'ol Mr. Big Cat got geared up for action
Just me and Pumpkin, enjoying some more parrot action
Overall, a great day for the Portu-Gieses!
Was there any wildlife on your agenda this weekend?
I'm a decorator, wife, and busy mom of three. I believe in elevating the average space, and bridging the great design divide. I love homes, and aspire beyond builder-grade blah. This blog chronicles our own home projects, what inspires me, and sometimes, just what's on my design-track mind. Taking ordinary homes to higher levels is my little happy place.
16 comments:
Looks like you had a GREAT weekend! :)
What an amazing experience and such a cute family you have! The only wild life on my radar these days are my two kids... per the usual! :)
Great pictures! I became a proud pet owner and bought a beautiful betta fish named Leo this weekend... That's as close to wildlife as I'm getting anytime soon!
Glad ya'll had a wonderful weekend. The wildlife of BYU eating our lunch was our agenda. Not so much fun...
Oh what a great post. I loved seeing all the pictures! The whole fam looks so cute!!!
Hi there, how wonderful to be able to share that kind of wildlife experience with your family.Those memories are so important we need to bottle every one and store them somewhere special! Sharon xx
whew! not like that!! just a few fat house cats and some air duct cleaning...oh and burgers.
what a perfect weekend! those jaguars are amazing - how beautiful!!!!! no wildlife adventures for me this weekend, other than the wildcat that's in my womb!
Your comment about the animals being interested by the small children reminded me of our visit to our local zoo recently. There was a man enjoying the zoo who must have lost his legs and so got around using a skateboard. Well the lioness took a keen interest in him and started to "hunt" him through the cage. She got all tense and stalked towards him carefully and then ran up to the fence near him. It was really neat (and scary) to see. She even followed him along the fence and watched the place where he disappeared for awhile after. Crazy hu?
what a fun trip! there were some wild cats in my weekend - only of the tiny gray house cat variety :)
I would love to go to that Jaguar "zoo." I love seeing cats like that and love going to the zoo in New Orleans. I babysit a lot and the girls I babysit for, love going to visit the lions and white tigers. Avery looks like she had so much fun!
Sometimes I completely forget you're living in fabulous Brazil, Alison! What a wonderful family outing (and the family photo is so cute).
Wow, what a fun adventure. The pictures are amazing. I'd love to take a swim under the falls!
What a fun weekend- the cats are such beautiful creatures. That picture of you with the macaw is too funny!!
What beautiful pictures! This looks like a wonderful place to visit, and you and your family are a such a great lookin' bunch. laurie
this look like a lot of fun. I hope you did not get as close to those leopard as you id to that parrot.
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