Jacare Brazil May 2016

We took the train to Joao Passoa to visit the old historical area and to go to the only chandlery we'd heard of around here.  This city is a 40 minute train ride from Jacare where we are anchored in the river.  Jason on the sidewalk in front of one of the old churches in Joao Passoa.

The old buildings are delineated by their change in paint color.

One of the old churches in Joao Passoa.

The colonial architecture stands out, but isn't really cared for very well.

Inside the old church.

Looking down a city street at a church in the distance.

The entrance to the Masonic Temple here.

The big boxy truck is a giant set of rolling speakers blaring out Portuguese.  The decibels were deafening.  The louder the music, the better it must be, eh?

The skinny facade of an old interesting building across the street from the chandlery where some yachties shopped til they dropped.

In the Paraiba River outside the Jacare Marina, we watched a local regatta zoom in among the yachts at anchor and on moorings.

 Another day, the local kids herded a bunch of cattle between the buildings and down the road to a new pasture.  The cows stepped through a workshop where men were trying to make new boat trailers from long pieces of steel.  The cows stepped on the steel and the men tried to shoo them away.

 The cows took the opportunity to try to grab a mouthful of greenery at the end of the dock walkway.

 My shadow and another yacht lady's watching the Zebu cattle get pushed along the road in front of the marina.

 This bull took his own path along the waterfront.  The hump on the back is like a Bramha bull and is a characteristic of the Zebu beef cattle from which tasty meat comes.

 The young boys on their horse as they herded the cattle along the street.  The horses here are small and scrawny, but we see folks running them up and down the street a lot.  Sometimes they have a cart attached and are clip clopping down the road with cars zooming by.

 The backside of the cowboys and their herd passing in front of the Jacare marina building where we used the internet and had BBQs.

The big, multilevel tour boats that circle around the anchorage area playing music and dancing until the Bolero Man starts his saxophone playing of Bolero.

 Jason in the marina lobby with the Honda generator in pieces after his cleaning effort.  He got it all back together and it is working again.  Such a good mechanic!  Why he would wear a clean, white T-shirt to do the job is beyond me, though.

 Bill on Juffa (in the orange shirt) spent weeks with his sewing machine in the lobby area at the marina.  He fixed many sails for many boats and finished my duffel bag for me for a bottle of rum.  He was adding to his cruising kitty and helped lots of folks.

 The marina restaurant/bar area at Jacare Marina Village where we were anchored.

 We took a free bus ride into Joao Passoa to go to the zoo.  The train no longer goes all the way into the city; it ran off the track last month sometime while we were in Rio and it hasn't been fixed yet. So you could take the train part of the way and then transfer to a bus, but we just take the bus all the way since it is free for us old folks.  The zoo cost us R$2 (about 60 cents) and we got what we paid for.  It is a small, old zoo with horrible fenced cages for most of the exhibits. This is a roadside hawk in a cage with over a dozen others.

 You can get an idea of how small the cages here are.

 A zoo employee came in with a tray of meat to feed the hawks and falcons.  He whistled and they came to land on his arm to eat meat from his fist.

 They had some beautiful red and blue macaws in a much bigger caged area, but we couldn't get close enough to get a good photo with the phone camera.

 Looking down the fence at a bunch of turtles huddled together.

 A ramp of different turtle types.

 The jaguar spent his time pacing back and forth in his cage.  The lions next door just slept in the dirt.

 We walked around to the elephant enclosure, next to this paddle boat lagoon.  The homes on the other side of the water back right up to the zoo property.

 Way back in the center is the lone elephant, rubbing his hide on the fence.

 These big lizards reminded me of Gila Monsters.  The climbed all over each other once they woke up and started moving around.  The little one climbed piggyback onto the big one and rode into the next enclosure on him.  The fuzzy gray is scratches on the glass of the tank they are in.

 The zoo in Joao Passoa had quite a collection of snakes.  This is a rainbow boa.

 The tan and brown patterns on this one would hide it well in its natural surroundings.

 This tree snake just draped itself onto a twig and hung there.

 These are red corn snakes.

 This snake laid in the water with just his head up and out.

 This python is hiding in the water under a log.  He stared malevolently at me from his hiding place.

 One of the lizards giving me the eye, too.

 We visited an artist gallery that was free nearby, too.  These different depictions of religious figures were just inside the front door.  Lots of variety in their carved forms.

 Three-dimensional carvings of home life scenes and such lined a whole wall area.  Intricate and interesting.

 Puppets and stuffed cloth dolls in a circle were a colorful sight in one room of the gallery.

 These figures remind me of the Mardi Gras/Carnival type heads that people wear in parades.

 Another wall hanging of miniature stuffed cloth people in a ring.  A lot of work went into creating these tiny people.  The entire circle is only about 18" in diameter.

 Some wooden giraffes got Jason's attention and he mimicked them.

 Pretty simplistic, this one.

 These pottery women reminded me of a bell I once made for my mother.  There was an entire wall of these figures.

 Wicker flowers in a glass stand by the door.  Very pretty.

 Our luch of chicken and port mixed, with rice, spaghetti, potato, salad and a little bowl of hot black beans on the side.  Yummy.  We figured it must be ok as the tables here were filled with teens from a local school eating their lunches.  We've been told food is usually cheap by the schools.

 A cartful of cashew fruit.  You can see the nut still attached to the end of the fruit, but it would need to be dried, peeled and roasted before eating.  The fruit, however, can be eaten and/or juiced.  'Caju' is the local word for cashew and is a favorite flavor here locally.  Even Tang-like powdered drinks come in cashew flavor.  I'm not a big fan of the flavor.  The tubs of little round fruit that looks like cherries is a sour plum.  We made the mistake of tasting one in the Cabedelo market one day and what a pucker!  Wow.  Won't make that mistake again.

 The buses and trains are free for folks over 60, but you can't come in the front door or go through the turnstiles.  You use the side doors.  These turnstiles are meant for skinny people!  We watch big folks or those carrying big bags or backpacks try to smush themselves through this tight space after paying their R$3 (less than a dollar).   The fare is for as far as you want to go for any single ride.  They think I'm old enough to ride for free, so I don't correct them for the sake of a few months.