Parque Nacional do Itatiaia

Today was the mid-conference field trip day, and I was on one of three buses that set off to Parque Nacional do Itatiaia - Brazil's first (and therefore oldest) national park.  Itatiaia is huge, and contains a big chunk of the endangered Mata Atlántica (Atlantic Forest) on the lower slopes of Brazil's second highest peak (~2,700m).  It's in the interior of São Paulo state, on the border with both Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais states. 

After a leisurely three hour bus ride (Brazilian buses don't go all that fast), about 120 congressistas got dropped off at the bottom of a mountain, and we then proceeded to amble about 5km up the road to a restaurant at about 1,250m above sea level, through the rainforest.

The birds and mammals along the way were pretty fantastic - the Black-fronted Titi Monkeys didn't photograph so well with the snappy camera, but the Brown Capuchin monkeys at Hotel de Ypê did (see below).  Apart from charming food from tourists, they also haul up the bird feeders on to the roof and clean them out!

The birds in the feeder tray are Green-headed Tanagers - and they really do pulsate in that bright green colour in strong sunlight.

Dinner on the way home was a snappy affair at a roadhouse "Por Quillo" (literally "per kilogram"), but actually not bad.  As you go in they give you an electronic tag on which your purchases are recorded, and you pay when you leave.  So, grab a plate and load it up with picahna, feijão, sobremesas, cervejas ... get it weighed, and then pay your ~R$15 on the way out (about AUD$10).