São Paulo to Campos do Jordão

The travelling is mercifully over for a while now, as I settle in to the oddity that is the venue for the International Ornithological Congress - Campos do Jordão.  When I say odd, I'm not joking!  Suiça brasileira as they call it here - a little slice of the Swiss Alps right here, 183km NNE of São Paulo (SP) in Brazil, at about 1700m ASL.  We have Davos, Baden Baden, etc, with the kitsch extending to the architecture and cuisine as well (fondue as far as the eye can see  ;-)  ).  More, with pictures, in days to come.

The trip was great - SP's metrô is fantastic, as many metros are.  From the pousada in SP I walked about 5-10 minutes to the Consolação underground station on Avenida Paulista.  Within minutes I had my ticket ($R2,65 for unlimited travel on the metrô until you go out a turnstile - which is about $AUD1.65), and was on my way on the green line.  The trains are fast, regular, clean and have very wide floors - lots of room.  Around there I met a couple of local guys heading to the bus station, and we easily made the transfer to the blue line, and were at the bus station, Rodoviária Tietê, within 10 minutes.  Tietê is the biggest transport hub in the Americas outside New York, so I guess it has the dubious honour of being the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere too???  Anyway, it is huge, and apart from buses and shopping, you can get your free 'flu vaccine and various other government social services.  It's quite a place.

The bus trip from SP up into the hills was great, I think.  Jet-lag caught up with me and I slept through most of the 183km!  I did wake occasionally to ID the odd bird - Chimango Caracara, Southern Lapwing, Great Egret, Burrowing Owl - two absolute cuties sunning themselves next to their burrow on a rough soccer pitch in São José dos Campos.

Picanha com legumes (steak and vegetables) for dinner, and now I must sleep ...