September 24 – October 23, 2024
Ray and I taught at Sao Paulo American Schools in 1974-76. Our daughter Ling Ling was born there in 1975, so Brazil holds a special place in our hearts. At the end of 1975, Ray and two friends, Jay & Carl, traveled together to Amazon. I stayed in Sao Paulo because LL was still a baby, and I couldn’t leave her for that long. Since then, I have dreamed of traveling down the Amazon River and seeing all the beautiful animals and villages Ray told me about. Now, after 50 years, my dream has finally come true. We will be back in Brazil for a whole month. In addition to Amazon, I added Pantanal Reserve, one of the world’s largest freshwater wetland ecosystems and a great place to watch for unique wildlife, including large jaguar populations. After our jungle experiences, we will head to Sao Paulo to reminisce about our time there and see how much this city has changed in half a century. We will round up our trip with a celebration of our good friend Christiane’s birthday party near Rio. This is quite an ambitious itinerary, and I hope all goes well with our adventures.
We traveled all over South America in the two years we lived in Sao Paulo. LL went everywhere with us. Ray converted our little yellow Volkswagen bug into a mobile home by removing the front passenger seat and setting up a foldable cardboard box bed in the back with me. Nurturing her was easy; I just covered her with a big shawl over my shoulder. Diapers, however, were a problem as we didn’t have disposable diapers except a few that our friend Vivian mailed in large envelopes from the US. We washed cloth diapers in the bathtub immediately after arriving at the hotel. For many days along the South American roadway to Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay, you will see diapers flapping inside our little VW bug. Those were the days!!
