Near the ocean lies a sedimentary barrier, vast continental tablelands covered by wet green forest, and amazing, largely unexplored fauna, in a surprising, seemingly endless land. In recent centuries, this magnificent forest was so heavily exploited that it nearly vanished. On this expedition, we visited some of the last fragments of these ancient forests.
of these ancient forests. Mountains awash in waterfalls. And a reserve protecting some of the planet’s rarest primates.
The rainy season is ending. But rain falls here year round and the forest is always green. Fantastic trees grow in these woods.
Pau Brasil National Park lies in southern Bahia near the town of Porto Seguro. Created in 1999, the park protects nearly 75 square miles of spectacular Atlantic Forest. Tableland forests blanketed much of this coast until the mid-20th century.
This lush forest boasts many mighty trees with straight trunks and many bromeliads. Amazonian species can be found here even though the Amazon lies thousands of miles away. We climbed to a lookout on our first day.
Flying high above the treetops or perched on the highest branches were southern rough-winged swallows, experts in the art of devouring flying insects. On the lower stories of the forest, a male blue dacnis was going after fruit. A bird found exclusively in these coastal lowlands lives in these humid forests: the kinglet manakin.
This male flitted nimbly from bush to bush, never staying long in one place. He wasn’t after food. And he wasn’t curious.
He was just being cautious. It’s good to keep an eye out for intruders like us. Farther on, we walked by centuries-old trees and small brooks flowing downstream.
Deep in the valley, a creek cuts through the dense forest. Along a rocky stretch of this stream, the water has made a lovely waterfall: Jacuba Falls. The stream empties into the Barra, a small river that crosses the park and once enjoyed 15 minutes of fame.
Its reddish waters earned it the name Brazil, after the wood. The river appeared on early 16th-century maps. The story was eventually forgotten and the Brazil River became the Barra.
We saw a rufous-tailed jacamar near its banks. This stunning bird perched on a branch and watched for passing insects. When it spied one, it swooped down to capture it and then flew back up.
That’s how it spent most of its day. It didn’t even care that we were there. The moustached wren is another story.
Shy and wary, it lives in the thickest forest and is nearly impossible to spot, whether it’s singing or hunting. Brazil’s tableland forests rank among the world’s most biodiverse, with hundreds of species per acre. Incredible animals inhabit the area, but finding them is always a challenge.
Like the scaled antbird. Unless it’s singing, it’s always bustling about. It spends its day in the understory, searching for mature bugs and larvae.
Another resident of the forest’s lower layers is the southern white-fringed antwren. It was a bit rainy the next day. We visited another area of the park.
We took a rather flat trail and saw a great variety of species. The trail led to a pool of water tucked away in the forest where they say tapirs gather. But we didn’t see any that day.
While the rain fell, we admired the beauty of this nature. You have to use special equipment to see the fauna hiding in this forest. Using a camera trap, we spotted a number of species.
Like the cougar. The jaguarundi. And the red brocket.
The camera trap captured an animal we didn’t think we’d find here: a large female jaguar. Next we visited one of the most remarkable areas. The sandy, damp earth here is home to large trees and myriad bromeliads.
Despite the sandy soil, the area isn’t salty, like Brazil’s restinga, and it’s much damper. Lush vegetation thrives here— giant plants and tiny ones. It looks like a cultivated garden, with bromeliads of all sizes at different layers.
One species grows so large that it looks prehistoric. Unique animals live among these diverse species of plants. Like this black-eared fairy, taking a break until its next meal of insects or nectar.
The male red-headed manakin lives in the forest’s lower and middle layers. The little fellow is an excellent dancer, who has to go all out to attract the ladies. These greenish females are colored to blend in.
They’re waiting nearby for the show to begin. But it looks like it’s been cancelled today. At the end of the trail through this gorgeous garden, we found a centuries-old pequi tree.
We saw a reddish hermit in the same spot. Suddenly, we heard a branch break. We walked toward the sound.
A red-stained woodpecker was hammering away at a tree trunk, part of its daily hunt for insect larvae. That’s when we spied a troop of critically endangered brown howlers swinging from the branches. They went on their playful way through the forest and were soon out of sight.
That wasn’t the case with the green-backed trogon, who lives in the treetops and eats insects and fruit. He could care less about us. Way above, we caught sight of a black-necked aracari.
Despite our distance, he got nervous and flew off. We went into the woods in search of the nest of an amazing bird. It was early afternoon and everything was quiet.
We didn’t know if it was the time of day or fear of this powerful animal. But the fact was that silence reigned. We soon reached a gigantic tree that stood out from the others.
Above, a harpy eagle’s nest— but nobody was home. The harpy is the world’s largest eagle. Lord of the skies over South America’s big forests, it feeds on large animals like monkeys and sloths.
Because it needs extensive forests to survive, it is increasingly hard to find in the Atlantic Forest. On our last day, we met someone whose history epitomizes the history of the Atlantic Forest and its exploitation— a species so heavily logged off that it has all but disappeared. This hardwood tree produces a reddish resin.
The European colonizers called it brazilwood. The tree became the country’s first economic product and the source of its name. Trees of all sizes and ages stand in the middle of the park.
Brazilwood, or Paubrasilia, is a unique species. It grows very slowly. It’s nice to have thorns when you’re young if you need to survive a long childhood.
In adulthood, the trunk turns dark red and is almost impenetrable. Its timber is so heavy and dense that it sinks in water. Brazilwood buds once a year, sowing the nearby ground with seedlings.
It grows slowly, so even a slightly larger trunk means a much older tree. We saw various trees hundreds of years old here. In a hidden corner, we found a majestic tree.
Its large trunk drew our eye. When the tree before us was born, the Roman Empire had just fallen and our New World was but a dream. We were staring at a 1,500-year-old brazilwood tree.
This breathtaking place holds so many rare and endangered species, so many ancient tales, and is a World Heritage Site. Twenty miles from the coast, a set of ancient massifs form the Javi, Quatis, and Lontras mountains. Some top 3,000 feet.
These forest-covered mountain ranges capture much moisture from the ocean and harbor a large number of waterways. Southeastern Bahia is home to Lontras Mountain National Park. Created in 2010, the park protects over 40 square miles.
On the first day of our expedition, we visited the range’s south side and the Javi River. The river courses through dense woodland and over rough terrain, cascading down great walls of rock. One of the loveliest waterfalls in the Atlantic Forest cuts through the park The climate here is quite unstable at this time of year.
Despite the weather, we headed to the north side of the Javi Mountains, where the trees were draped in blossoms like the pindaíba. The understory shelters plants like the jussara palm. Hidden among the leaves, vines, and bromeliads, we saw a large pale-browed treehunter, an expert in entangled environments.
The park’s mascot lives high in the treetops. The “acrobat” was identified only in 1996. It hangs upside down and performs other tricks in its efforts to catch food.
Farther along, we came across mighty trees like the inhaíba. Nearby, a strange fungus was growing in the moist soil. Following a slippery trail, we found another huge tree: the copaiba, a species known for its medicinal properties.
Not far away, our attention was caught by the red trunk of an araçá. The floor is carpeted with myriad species blossoming in a rainbow of colors. The trail led to the Palmeiras River and a beautiful waterfall.
An endangered animal found only in the Atlantic Forest inhabits the very tops of these trees. The maned sloth spends much of its day resting. It eats leaves from 15 plant species.
The leaves are also its source of water. The birds flock to the treetops as day nears its end. Like these white-eared parakeets.
A cliff flycatcher darts off to find a haven for the night. The next day, we visited another river flowing downstream. The northern branch of the Una River is born in a stately forest that boasts rich, largely unexplored biodiversity.
The Lontras Mountains are linked to another forest fragment lying in southeast Bahia between ocean and hills: Una Biological Reserve. It is surrounded by the Una Wildlife Refuge. This 70-square-mile reserve was established in 1980.
Created in 2007, the refuge protects an additional 89 square miles. This small patchwork of protected areas has a core of mature woodland, with trees rising above the canopy. Nearby is a large area of recovering Atlantic Forest and pasture land, rubber stands, cacao and other crops.
On our first day, we spotted the animal that motivated creation of this reserve. The golden-headed lion tamarin is an endangered species found only in southern Bahia and northeastern Minas Gerais. Its largest population inhabits this reserve.
Nearby we saw another primate that lives only in this region: Wied’s marmoset. The two species usually occupy the same territory and sometimes work together to hunt for food. Not far from there, we spotted a rufous-tailed jacamar.
We went to the edge of the Maruim River, which emerges between the Padeiro and Trempes mountains and marks one border of the reserve. On the edge of the forest, we saw an endangered species hidden behind the branches and vines of a small tree: a young female bristle-spined porcupine. Without the radio transmitter around her neck, we probably wouldn’t have seen her.
Part of this nocturnal rodent’s body is covered by quills. It’s a solitary animal, slow and silent, and specialized in eating leaves. Nearby we found another female, probably its mother.
The females give birth to only one young at a time, and mother and offspring soon separate. On our way back, we ran into a group of coatis— females and their offspring out hunting for food. These diurnal animals were curious but skittish and soon vanished.
The next morning, we followed a trail deep in the woods, with many bromeliads and other plant varieties. Among them was the piassava palm, found only in these tableland woods in southern Bahia. The trail reached an area of open mussununga, with vegetation growing in the damp sand.
We found lichen and plants adapted to the poor soil. Tiny plants grow in this environment, which is blazing hot in summer. This ecosystem stands out from its surroundings.
We returned to the place visited on the first day. Because of hunting and the destruction of the forest, many large animals have disappeared. But we still saw species like the collared peccary, which always travels in herds.
And the coastal black-handed titi, another endangered species found only here. With camera traps mounted around the reserve, scientists have been able to identify many species, like the margay, the tayra, the lesser anteater, and the kinkajou. Our goal was to find one of the planet’s 25 most endangered primate species.
An hour after we set off, we came across a troop of golden-bellied capuchins. The troop was over 15 strong— males, females, and offspring. Some were busy grooming, a social activity key to group cohesion.
Sadly for us, this moment soon passed. The troop went off to search for food. It was hard to follow.
Half of their diet consists of invertebrates that they pluck from holes in tree trunks or find amid foliage or bromeliads. The young used their time to play. These monkeys see humans as a threat.
It’s no wonder. They’ve been heavily hunted and are now critically endangered. So they are very quiet and always alert.
Besides invertebrates, they eat fruit and the edible parts of plants. They’re fond of some exotic foods too, like fruit from the oil palm. After getting their fill, the troop crossed the Maruim River.
Since we couldn’t follow, we left. After flowing out of the mountains and across the plains, the Maruim River meets the Una near the ocean. Here, the reserve and refuge reach sandy beaches.
Lontras and Una mountains form a vital corridor of forests and shelter the same endangered species— species that need large protected areas to save them from looming extinction.
