Armadillos or Tattoos

By the title, you might think I'm deciding on a hobby... or whittling down some strange list of New Year's Resolutions...

Not quite.

For anyone unfamiliar with the creature that is the official mascot for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, you might be surprised to learn that it is an armadillo, or tatu (pronounced: "tattoo"), as it is known in Portuguese.

Up until now, most people didn't associate Brazil with armadillos — parrots or jaguars, sure. Amazon river dolphins and stinkbirds, maybe. I don't recall seeing an armadillo in the movie Rio, either.

This energetic mascot needed a campaign all his own, I guess.

"Fuleco," (pronounced: "fool-ay-koh") is a colorful, playful rendition of a Brazilian three-banded armadillo that is one of the two species of armadillo that can roll into a ball. What better mascot for soccer?

As a Texan, I must say that Fuleco is one of the two cutest renditions of an armadillo that I've seen.

When I first moved to central Brazil, I was surprised to hear that Texas didn't have the market cornered on these armored creatures. A fellow Texan was even more surprised when he learned that some armadillos are actually eaten in certain regions of the country.

That came with a disclaimer:

"...but [they] don't eat the ones that eat dead people, though."

Whew! That's a relief!

I suppose?

You know, that statement sounds like a line straight out of a Scooby Doo episode. Perhaps it's the Mystery Meat factor.

Mystery Meat is best experienced vicariously, in my opinion. (Especially if it's the kind that can give you, say, leprosy.)

Tourists need not worry that the kebab, or espetinho (pronounced: "eh-speh-cheen-yo") stand on the corner will be serving mascot, since the hunting and consumption of this creature is discouraged due to its endangered status. (That, and it's hard to come by in the big city. Kidding!)

Appropriately, Fuleco's very name reminds us to be eco-minded. On a related note, in Goiânia there is a slang term pronounced like the English word "echo" that is used in place of "ew, gross."

Pantanal, My Husband's Other Love

My man did some recon work for me on his recent fishing trip. He went to the state of Mato Grosso to fish in the area known as "Pantanal." Pantanal [pronounced: "pahn-tah-nahl"] is a tropical wetland — the largest of its kind. Think The Everglades ...only larger and more tropical.



Transpantaneira [pronounced: (nasally) "trahnz-pahn-tah-nay-rduh"] is a famous road that runs through this portion of Pantanal, from the town of Poconé to Porto Jofre, on the Cuiabá River. It is known for the 122 bridges made of wooden planks. My husband stopped to take a picture of the starting point. You'll notice that the signs are in English and Portuguese. This is because Pantanal is a popular fishing destination for Europeans.

To enlarge pics, right-click & open in a new window.

Pantanal is teeming with wildlife. Capivaras [pronounced: "cah-pee-vah-rdahz"] (capybaras) and jacarés [pronounced: "jah-kah-rdayz"] (alligators) are everywhere. So are the rest of the 1,000 bird species, 400 fish species, 300 mammalian species, 480 reptile species, and over 9,000 different subspecies of invertebrates.

My guy said that there are so many capivaras that they lie in groups in the road, oblivious to vehicles trying to pass. They are apparently more stubborn than a herd of cows — or more carefree. Before you think that is because cows tend to have a certain fate, apparently so do the largest rodents in the world. People eat them, as well. A friend actually had some capivara meatballs when he first arrived in Brazil. He said that he ate the dish before he knew which meat it was.

I haven't had the "pleasure."




I think the capivaras are too cute to eat — especially in the pictures that my man snapped. This series of pictures had me grinning when I saw just how close the truck came to these lounging furballs ...but the final one of nothing but skin and shafts of hair, caught when he simply stuck his arm outside of the window, cracked me up. They really were that close.








My guy knows how much I love wildlife, so he promised to take me back with him on the next trip. I can't wait! I'll be able to get up close & personal with the many different creatures that call this region home.

Incidentally, we will be leaving in a week to camp along the Araguaia River, among the creatures from that region. This year's trip will be almost 3 weeks long, so I will not be posting or moderating comments from June 26th through July 14th.

When we return I will hopefully have tons of photos of creatures to show and tell. I am determined to get good footage of the freshwater dolphins this year — like every other year! We (meaning me & my partner in hijinx: my nephew) are also planning on filming the sequel to The Araguaia Monster (O Monstro do Araguaia) featuring my nephew in the title role.