Next we were off to a huge hill in the middle of Joinville. Morro do Finder is part of a conservation effort so there's beautiful jungle and (supposedly) lots of animals. After we parked our car, I hiked down the hill a bit to get a picture of the entrance of the park. As I did I spotted what I thought was a iguana. It spooked and ran into the bushes but then I spotted another one and was able to notice it in better detail. It was the size of an iguana but it had shiny green scales! It was beautiful! I tried to call to my family but almost before I could even turn around it was gone. That was about the only wildlife we saw on our hike.
This park had a giant hill with a steep rocky trail wide enough for a car. Smaller hiking loops broke off from that wide trail and after hiking several minutes straight up, we took one of the loops to the right. The kids were not thrilled. The ground was wet and muddy from recent rain and it was hot. Have I mentioned how hot it is in Joinville? After only 10 minutes of hiking we were all wet with sweat and humidity--like clothes sticking to bodies, literally dripping with sweat wet. But the scenery was definitely worth it. We got to hike through tall viney, jungly trees (again, technically the Atlantic Forest but by all appearances--it's the jungle).
Our side hike was supposed to take us to a spring. All we found was this rock that dripped some water and a sign explaining how the spring was here.
The white mushroom I found, red growth at the base of a tree
This reminded me of Fern Gully--that's kids movie about the rain forest.
Back near the playground, the kids found a inchworm, played on the stage, and then found a creepy looking spider as we were about to leave. We made it to our car and just as we started down the hill away from the park, it started raining. Whew! What good timing--because when it rains here it POURS! Anyway, that was a fun little stop to see a little more of this town we call home for now.
The whole map was in Braille! There are lots of things with braille here. Cereal boxes, cake mixes, pizza boxes--lots of boxed food items have braille on them.
The spider we found
The inchworm
Looking at Joinville from the Ranger's Station
Stage for educational purposes. The Boss and Safari Girl put on a show for us.
The playground
Driving home from Morro do Finder--just to give you more of a feel for the city.
I thought this one turned out pretty!
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