Today we set off for the lower part of the Canastra park - before entering we searched much of the Sao Francisco river hunting for the rare Brazillian merganser duck but despite much searching it remained elusive. We also stopped at other locations looking for birds seeing amongst others, the guira cuckoo, buff necked ibis, the scaly dove, the squirrel cuckoo, a magnificent king vulture perched and in breeding kit! When we reached the park we walked from the ent...

The morning arrived and it was very cool demanding long sleeved shirt, jumper and body warmer to keep warm. Breakfast was a buffet of fresh fruits, cereals, cakes, meat, cheese and toast. Plenty for all tastes - there was even a toasted sandwich maker if you wanted hot fillings! After breakfast we set off at 6am even though the park didn't open until 8am as there were some good birding stops, which didn't disappoint, enroute. First stop we saw saffron finch, wa...

I awoke in the Ramada airport hotel at Belo Horizante - to a happy birthday from John and a card he had brought all the way from the UK. Today was also the day we started our next adventure in Brazil. We had a leisurely breakfast and watched the Olympics in the restaurant while eating and then I followed the triathlon on the Olympics website luckily just after Andrew Brownlee won we had a call from Fred our guide for the week to say that he was in reception. I ho...