SE Brazil 2-3 weeks, November 2021 (1 Viewer)

[kstrating]

Hello! I will be in Brazil October-December 2021 focusing on birding the Atlantic Rainforest and am trying to organize a SE Brazil trip starting in either Rio or Sao Paulo (though that is flexible). I'm in contact with a couple different birding companies with good reputations, but nothing is set as yet. Ideally the trip would begin around Nov 15. The goal is to see endangered habitats (restinga, Araucaria forest, Atlantic Rainforest etc.) while supporting local conservation efforts, and seeing as many species as possible. Please PM me if you are interested.

 

[Butty]

I went on a custom trip there with Adrian Rupp Birding Tours – Birdwatching trips in Brazil, Argentina and Peru - and it went well enough.
You're brave to try and get a trip going at present... personally I'd say it runs much too high a risk of failure to make it worthwhile - but good luck!

 

[kstrating]

I went on a custom trip there with Adrian Rupp Birding Tours – Birdwatching trips in Brazil, Argentina and Peru - and it went well enough.
You're brave to try and get a trip going at present... personally I'd say it runs much too high a risk of failure to make it worthwhile - but good luck!

Thanks for the reference. Don't agree with the "high risk of failure". As long as the group is vaccinated, and is flexible, then it should work out. One reason I prefer to use a local guides, they can usually think on their feet to find a "plan B".
I feel this is a critical time to visit the Atlantic Rain forests. Before the pandemic many endangered ecosystems were under tremendous pressure from logging and fuel wood collection. That pressure is even higher without tourist dollars coming in. If my actions can help delay the chainsaws, then it is worth it.

 

[Butty]

Don't agree with the "high risk of failure". As long as the group is vaccinated, and is flexible, then it should work out.

I think that the sort of 'failures' that can be avoided by vaccination and flexibility are the least of your worries. I was thinking more of the medical/entry/exit/testing/quarantine regulations, etc, etc, of either home or destination country, changing some time (anytime) between now and a few hours before you fly out - and ditto before you fly back. And ditto internal travel restrictions/regulations/prohibitions etc. Any one of those has the potential to shaft your goals, and with pretty much zero warning.

 

[kstrating]

Oh ye' of little faith... lol. Funny thing is, I'm trying to visit friends in Canada and have those very issues.

To date, Brazil has not required quarantine for air travel to the country though they do limit flights from the UK. Friends in Sao Paulo are saying things are getting better and testing is available for the return flight. It is a risk I'm willing to take and since I plan on spending 2 months down there, even a short quarantine won't tank the whole trip.

I did contact Adrian, his photographs are wonderful. So thank you, and thank you for your concern.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

I've got a trip to Brazil scheduled for October, so I've been watching the vaccination rate there as well as other things. It's certainly been heading steadily upward, although they allow Sinovac (among others), so there's definitely some concern about performance against variants.

The tour company has arranged testing for all patrons who need it to return home. Hopefully, the US will have changed policy to allow vaccinated citizens to return home without testing by then.

 

[kstrating]

I've got a trip to Brazil scheduled for October, so I've been watching the vaccination rate there as well as other things. It's certainly been heading steadily upward, although they allow Sinovac (among others), so there's definitely some concern about performance against variants.

The tour company has arranged testing for all patrons who need it to return home. Hopefully, the US will have changed policy to allow vaccinated citizens to return home without testing by then.

Now there is a coincidence, we will be on the same trip in October!

I'm staying on to spend time at Itororo Lodge, then REGUA, and then heading farther south (I hope). Adrian Rupp has responded to my inquiries and seems quite professional. We are discussing itinerary options with his 18 day SE tour being our starting point. I've also been in contact with Birding Brazil Experts regarding their 15 day standard SE tour. Adrian's tour includes some of the very southern endemics in the Santa Catarina state, but the Experts tour is less harried and I'll have been on the road for 5 weeks by then.
These are good decisions!
-K

 

[kstrating]

Well Butty, it seems you are correct. I am having to cancel my trip to Brazil in 2021. This thread can be deleted.

 

[PeggyG]

Well Butty, it seems you are correct. I am having to cancel my trip to Brazil in 2021. This thread can be deleted.

Hi - I am wondering what caused you to cancel your trip. My husband and I and a friend are going to the Pantanal, Chapada dos Guimaraes and Cristalino Lodge starting August 15. We just sent final payment and our tour company (Birding Pantanal) assures us everything is a "go".

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Hi - I am wondering what caused you to cancel your trip. My husband and I and a friend are going to the Pantanal, Chapada dos Guimaraes and Cristalino Lodge starting August 15. We just sent final payment and our tour company (Birding Pantanal) assures us everything is a "go".

Hi Peggy. The tour company canceled the organized tour. At least two patrons bailed when the tour was officially confirmed.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I've got a trip to Brazil scheduled for October, so I've been watching the vaccination rate there as well as other things. It's certainly been heading steadily upward, although they allow Sinovac (among others), so there's definitely some concern about performance against variants.

The tour company has arranged testing for all patrons who need it to return home. Hopefully, the US will have changed policy to allow vaccinated citizens to return home without testing by then.

Brazil is on the UK 'Red list' which means an enforced, ten day confinement in a hotel on return. Isolation in the hotel is at your own expense and currently costs £1750 per person.

 

[PeggyG]

Thank you for the replies.
Sorry your trip was canceled, Jeff.
I know the US requires the testing before arrival back in the US. We are still hoping they change that rule, but I'm not sure that will happen. We will do the test at the Sao Paulo airport if still necessary. Supposedly the results will be sent to your phone in 4 hours...
Andy - 10 day confinement in a hotel on return? That's not worth it!

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Brazil is on the UK 'Red list' which means an enforced, ten day confinement in a hotel on return. Isolation in the hotel is at your own expense and currently costs £1750 per person.

I know. One of the patrons on the tour was British. Right after the tour was noted as good to proceed, he expressed a concern over Brazil being on the red list and the cost of confinement. We never got a confirmation, but we suspect he backed out. We also know an American patron backed out.

FWIW, I replaced the trip with a tour in Hawaii. Not nearly as much species variety, but at least I'm pretty sure it will go ahead and that I can come home from it.

 

[PeggyG]

I wish you well in Hawaii. I would also like to see their endemics. LOL to coming home from it!
I would think they would relax restrictions for vaccinated people. Would maybe encourage more to get the vaccine. If all the mask mandates and testing requirements still apply to vaccinated people then some may say "what's the point?"
Fingers crossed for coming home from Brazil...

 

[mjh73]

I wish you well in Hawaii. I would also like to see their endemics. LOL to coming home from it!
I would think they would relax restrictions for vaccinated people. Would maybe encourage more to get the vaccine. If all the mask mandates and testing requirements still apply to vaccinated people then some may say "what's the point?"
Fingers crossed for coming home from Brazil...

The point of the vaccine for you is that if you catch covid19 you are much less likely to get sick. Same as any other vaccine, you can still catch the virus, you might still get sick but you are much much less likely to get very sick and potentially die.

The point of masks and the testing even after you are vaccinated is that you can still catch, carry and transmit the virus when vaccinated. The point of the testing is to reduce the risk of you making other people sick. It's a pretty minor inconvenience.

 

[mjh73]

By the way, if 'not getting very sick and potentially dying' isn't enough of an encouragement to get vaccinated I'm not sure 'not having to wear a mask' will cut it.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

The point of the vaccine for you is that if you catch covid19 you are much less likely to get sick. Same as any other vaccine, you can still catch the virus, you might still get sick but you are much much less likely to get very sick and potentially die.

The point of masks and the testing even after you are vaccinated is that you can still catch, carry and transmit the virus when vaccinated. The point of the testing is to reduce the risk of you making other people sick. It's a pretty minor inconvenience.

Getting a test is not an inconvenience. Waiting for the test results can be stressful if you're on a time constraint because of a return flight and a testing organization that may not be able to commit to a turn around time, so it's a minor inconvenience.

However, failing a test for whatever reason is a huge inconvenience. The cost of having to cancel your return flight, rebook it at a potentially much higher cost, and pay for two weeks at a hotel while you wait in isolation is fairly significant. And the cost of insurance for such an eventuality is also significant.

And considering that essentially all the new cases in the US are among the unvaccinated, worrying about vaccinated people as carriers when vaccinated people are more likely to have a lower viral load and shed less virus to others seems somewhat like missing the forest for the trees.

 

[lgonz1008]

Getting a test is not an inconvenience. Waiting for the test results can be stressful if you're on a time constraint because of a return flight and a testing organization that may not be able to commit to a turn around time, so it's a minor inconvenience.

However, failing a test for whatever reason is a huge inconvenience. The cost of having to cancel your return flight, rebook it at a potentially much higher cost, and pay for two weeks at a hotel while you wait in isolation is fairly significant. And the cost of insurance for such an eventuality is also significant.

And considering that essentially all the new cases in the US are among the unvaccinated, worrying about vaccinated people as carriers when vaccinated people are more likely to have a lower viral load and shed less virus to others seems somewhat like missing the forest for the trees.

The failing of the test is something that changed my itinerary when I did my most recent trip to Cancun, thankfully the guides were able to accommodate for my needs but I didn't know that the only way to get my test was 2 days before departure when everywhere online it says it can be done the day before departure with plenty of time. Until this part is properly handled, I think international travel will be constrained or people will have to be willing to miss a few hours on the field and a few lifers to not be left in limbo outside of their home country.

 

[PeggyG]

Getting a test is not an inconvenience. Waiting for the test results can be stressful if you're on a time constraint because of a return flight and a testing organization that may not be able to commit to a turn around time, so it's a minor inconvenience.

However, failing a test for whatever reason is a huge inconvenience. The cost of having to cancel your return flight, rebook it at a potentially much higher cost, and pay for two weeks at a hotel while you wait in isolation is fairly significant. And the cost of insurance for such an eventuality is also significant.

And considering that essentially all the new cases in the US are among the unvaccinated, worrying about vaccinated people as carriers when vaccinated people are more likely to have a lower viral load and shed less virus to others seems somewhat like missing the forest for the trees.

Totally agree.
The un-vaccinated people should be the ones wearing masks and getting tested. If, as they claim for the new mandates, they can't tell the vaccinated from the un-vaccinated - just ask. That's what the proof of vaccination card should be for. We got an email with an easy way to put it on your phone wallet - it contains a QR code.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Totally agree.
The un-vaccinated people should be the ones wearing masks and getting tested. If, as they claim for the new mandates, they can't tell the vaccinated from the un-vaccinated - just ask. That's what the proof of vaccination card should be for. We got an email with an easy way to put it on your phone wallet - it contains a QR code.

But vaccinated or not, if you have Covid, you're infectious!