Get personal with the cerrado
Brazil's Cerrado is an enormous savanna that includes tall grasses, tough, twisted trees, shrubby forests, and canopy forests along streams. Although its beauty is perhaps not as apparent as that of the Amazon, look closely and carefully, and its allure becomes ever more apparent. That gnarly tree over there produces the succulent and brilliantly colored cashew fruit. An anteater is napping somewhere in the middle of that tall grass to your right. Up high in that palm tree, a flock of macaws rests and chews on palm nuts. Keep looking and one encounters hundreds, if not thousands, of edible and medicinal plants and fruits. Rife with flowers like orchids and bromeliads, waterfalls, and endemic mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, the Cerrado has inspired me to paint.
Below is a poem I wrote in 2012, after 3 years of frequenting a place in the Bahian cerrado called Chapada Diamantina (Diamond Plateau):
Chapada Diamantina
The Brazilian hinterland
the brilliant wonderland
the Never-never-land
the sparkling diamond-land
the wild water-land
the Diamond Plateau-land
mysterious reflections and refractions
cave pools turned turquoise
with the fingery rays of god
liquid rainbows in misting waterfalls
a sparkling stream over a mosaic rock-bed
moist stone cities lost in time and space
somewhere in xique xique cactus wilderness
spirits of the world
butterflies, hummingbirds,
woodpeckers, and fairies
darting in and out of
dripping ferns and dewey moss,
orchids, bromeliads, and lichen
secrets of the Bahian cerrado
crista de galo
alma de gato
buceta de fada
meganina
sempre vivo
candéia
Old souls and new
sharing stories and secrets
on the gurgling trails of the
resplendent plateau
and in the cobbled colonial towns.
Chapada Diamantina
The Brazilian hinterland
the brilliant wonderland
the Never-never-land
the sparkling diamond-land
the wild water-land
the Diamond Plateau-land
mysterious reflections and refractions
cave pools turned turquoise
with the fingery rays of god
liquid rainbows in misting waterfalls
a sparkling stream over a mosaic rock-bed
moist stone cities lost in time and space
somewhere in xique xique cactus wilderness
spirits of the world
butterflies, hummingbirds,
woodpeckers, and fairies
darting in and out of
dripping ferns and dewey moss,
orchids, bromeliads, and lichen
secrets of the Bahian cerrado
crista de galo
alma de gato
buceta de fada
meganina
sempre vivo
candéia
Old souls and new
sharing stories and secrets
on the gurgling trails of the
resplendent plateau
and in the cobbled colonial towns.
Following is some text from the book I am developing. These paragraphs describe some of the animals and plants I have painted, above:
Anteater
Giant anteaters, the kind that live in the Cerrado, eat as many as 30,000 ants and termites every day. Good thing they have a long, sticky tongue that moves very quickly. They send their tongues out to slurp up ants about 150 times per minute when they are feeding! They use their strong curved claws to knock down termite mounds and dig up the earth to find ants. They smell much better than they see, and use their sense of smell to find ant nests beneath the ground. That's when the digging begins.
Giant anteaters, the kind that live in the Cerrado, eat as many as 30,000 ants and termites every day. Good thing they have a long, sticky tongue that moves very quickly. They send their tongues out to slurp up ants about 150 times per minute when they are feeding! They use their strong curved claws to knock down termite mounds and dig up the earth to find ants. They smell much better than they see, and use their sense of smell to find ant nests beneath the ground. That's when the digging begins.
Bromeliad
This particular bromeliad, endemic to the state of Goiás, is called Bromelia goyazensis. Bromeliads have long, hard, pointy leaves that radiate out from the center. A flower, which sometimes produces fruit, emerges from the center. Besides this beautiful bromeliad depicted here, another special kind of bromeliad found in the Cerrado is the ananas: a wild, edible pineapple! (Hint: there are two paintings of this bromeliad)
This particular bromeliad, endemic to the state of Goiás, is called Bromelia goyazensis. Bromeliads have long, hard, pointy leaves that radiate out from the center. A flower, which sometimes produces fruit, emerges from the center. Besides this beautiful bromeliad depicted here, another special kind of bromeliad found in the Cerrado is the ananas: a wild, edible pineapple! (Hint: there are two paintings of this bromeliad)
Cashew Fruit
Many people around the world know, and enjoy eating, the cashew nut. Fewer people know the cashew fruit, from which the nut dangles, as you may observe in the painting. The very juicy cashew fruit has a sweet, sour, and slightly astringent flavor. The variety of cashew fruit that grows in the Cerrado is smaller than the one grown commercially in the northeast of Brazil. People who pick it in the wild eat it straight from the tree, which grows up to 12 feet tall, or gather as many as they can to make juice and sweets.
Many people around the world know, and enjoy eating, the cashew nut. Fewer people know the cashew fruit, from which the nut dangles, as you may observe in the painting. The very juicy cashew fruit has a sweet, sour, and slightly astringent flavor. The variety of cashew fruit that grows in the Cerrado is smaller than the one grown commercially in the northeast of Brazil. People who pick it in the wild eat it straight from the tree, which grows up to 12 feet tall, or gather as many as they can to make juice and sweets.
Seriema
Another large bird roams the grasslands of the Cerrado: the red-legged seriema. Though not flightless like the rhea, the seriema will only fly if necessary, such as to escape a predator. Their diet consists mostly of lizards, snakes, frogs, rodents, and young birds, though they do eat some vegetation as well. Seriemas have a distinctive call, which can be likened to laughter, and which one often hears before being able to spot the bird.
Another large bird roams the grasslands of the Cerrado: the red-legged seriema. Though not flightless like the rhea, the seriema will only fly if necessary, such as to escape a predator. Their diet consists mostly of lizards, snakes, frogs, rodents, and young birds, though they do eat some vegetation as well. Seriemas have a distinctive call, which can be likened to laughter, and which one often hears before being able to spot the bird.
Toucan
Toucans are famous for their large, colorful beaks. The toco toucan, the species that inhabits the Cerrado, has the largest beak of them all, measuring 6 to 9 inches in length! Toucans eat fruits, insects, and small reptiles and birds and their eggs. They are typically observed in pairs or small groups.
Toucans are famous for their large, colorful beaks. The toco toucan, the species that inhabits the Cerrado, has the largest beak of them all, measuring 6 to 9 inches in length! Toucans eat fruits, insects, and small reptiles and birds and their eggs. They are typically observed in pairs or small groups.
Wolf Apple Flower
The Wolf Apple shrub is named after the Maned Wolf, which is neither a wolf nor a fox, but belongs to a different genus. The flower and fruit of the wolf apple tree are resemble the bitter eggplant, the tomato, and the eggplant. The purple flower turns into a big round fruit, which is sometimes the maned wolf's main source of nutrition.
The Wolf Apple shrub is named after the Maned Wolf, which is neither a wolf nor a fox, but belongs to a different genus. The flower and fruit of the wolf apple tree are resemble the bitter eggplant, the tomato, and the eggplant. The purple flower turns into a big round fruit, which is sometimes the maned wolf's main source of nutrition.
Yellow-Rumped Cacique
This blue-eyed, black and yellow bird builds baggy nests that hang from tree branches. Each nest usually contains a wasp nest. The wasps provide protection from predators.
This blue-eyed, black and yellow bird builds baggy nests that hang from tree branches. Each nest usually contains a wasp nest. The wasps provide protection from predators.