Blogging with Brau

Braulio de Nazaré and little friend Maria Eduarda

 Brau (Braulio de Nazaré) is our old time friend and former crew champ of Botafogo Football and Crew Club in Rio de Janeiro. I had the pleasure of having lunch with him and 'Prince' Luis Sacopan, head of Quilombo Sacopan, and his little grandchild Maria Eduarda. 

Luis Sacopan is not only head of the proud Sacopan people, but also an accomplished musician,  a local 'pagodeiro' (Rio roots samba style) and master of the Sacopan carnival band known as 'Rola Preguiçosa.' Our lunch  meeting was 'assisted' by 'Scooby-Doo' the resident canine, better known to neighbors as 'O Psicopata'...

Prince Luis Sacopan and Princess Maria Eduarda

O 'Psicopata'

So, over Tia Tininha's wonderful medium-rare done contra-filé, loose white rice, very honest  not watered-down black beans and sauteed freshly cut mustard leaves on garlic, I got updated on the local ecology happenings and misadventures of the Quilombo's inhabitants such as the close encounter with an unusually large live specimen of Boa constrictor (no photo available) which just 'happened' to descend into the Quilombo's patio (probably looking for some fresh free-range and live chicken), and the forest fires of last month - which sent neighbors scurrying out of their homes in the next door 'Chácara' condominium just above the Quilombo. Torrential  rains earlier this year left huge erosion scars on the hillsides above and around Quilombo Sacopan.

 

 

 

 

The city council has restored, to a limited extent, the the terrain from the erosion caused by recent rains. It claims the planted grass will help contain future landslides... Hmmm.. I'm not too convinced this will really work...It looks promising where the grass is in open sunlight, such as on the hillside next by, but  in areas closer to the quilombo, i.e. in the midst of the forest, sun-loving grass is not doing very well,.

 

A visit by a friendly British agronomist is soon due, and we'll see what he will propose...