Welcome!
On this website, you will be able to find information about the Prosperando study tour and its organizing committee.Day12: Flora&fauna unleashed
After a slow start of the day, our trip through the Brazilian flora and fauna could begin in earnest. Expectations were high, because the day involved a visit to Parque das Aves, a tropical bird park, and the long awaited visit to the Iguaçu falls, the largest waterfall on earth!
After a tedious journey with the bus, the monotony was broken by the spectacle at the entrance. A few dozen brightly pink colored birds greeted us as the last of us entered the park. Immediately there was a little interaction when one of the tropical birds showed interested in my shoelaces and tried to untie my shoe. However, the birds were caged and lacked the freedom to truly interact. Nevertheless the specimens in the cages were stunningly beautiful. Ara's showing all colors of the spectrum, Toucans with bright yellow beaks... All avian jungle species were accounted for and it did not stop there. Insects, reptilians and fish were also present. In the end the caged sections were impressive but the aviaries were the climax of the visit. In these aviaries you could mingle with the birds, giving you and the birds more freedom to interact. Approaches with Aras, parakeets and quails, within tenths of centimeters were common!
After this display of fauna, it was time to visit one of the world's wonders and one of the greatest displays of Mother Nature's power, the Iguaçu falls. The largest waterfall in the world is part of the national park of Foz de Iguaçu, and a 10 minute drive away from Parque das Aves. It is after 6 minutes that the relative silence of the surrounding jungle gets broken by the roaring thunder of the falls. An amazing sight to behold, it gives you the feeling of an Indiana Jones movie.
After our arrival at the falls and a lunch break at a restaurant next to the Iguaçu River we descended to one of the viewing points. The group was divided in the approach. Some decided to add clothes and get a poncho and others removed clothes, their Prosperando vests, in an attempt to keep them dry. Neither proved very effective, because as we descended down the platforms near the falls, the spray and force of the falls became more and more ferocious. At the very edge at the platform there was a viewing point looking down part of the falls and into the "Garganta del Diablo", translated the throat of the Devil, the most extreme part of the falls. I could never do justice to the view by describing it, so i will let the photographs do the talking for me.
After enjoying the view everybody was allowed to roam the park at will and explore, concluding the day with free time in the evening.
Written by Tim Meulenbroeks
written on: 28-07-2014
Day 11:Buzzzz
This Friday morning we had the morning off. During the free time you could do whatever your heart desired. It is no wonder most of us decided to sleep until we had to gather at 12:30. However one brave group of women ventured to Paraguay on the hunt for bargains.The Paraguayan people turned on to be very different from the Brazilian. They were slightly darker skinned, spoke Spanish and seemed on a not relenting pursuit of trying to sell us socks, leggings, hats, GAP sweaters, sport shoes, blankets and so on.
After their try or deal we went back to Brazil and gathered in our fine suits so we could go our way to Furnas. Before I tell about Furnas I will have to tell about the way to it.
It is no secret Brazilians drive pretty wild always trying to get from A to B in the fastest way possible and in this they sometimes forget road lining, signs, speed limits and traffic lights. Combine this with a bus fit for 75 people (packed with at least 100 of which 32 in suits) and apparently no knowledge of the difference between the break and the gas paddle you could imagine the ride.
When we stopped 45 minutes later we were happy and baffled since we stopped on something resembling a dirt road with no company in sight. Here we had to walk for quite some time in the middle of nowhere yet somehow right next to one the slums.
We arrived at Furnas and were driven to the largest substation in the world. First we were treated to a video about the company (VHS, 8 bit music, horrible graphics, you know the kind), but after this we got to see the substation. This one was a normal substation x infinity (for those of you that don’’t know, search on Wikipedia) and it was freaking awesome, standing in the middle of the buzzing trafo’’s.
After this we went back to the hostel and had more time off. During the evening everyone enjoyed some different activities including but not limited to reading, drinking, and drinking multiple bowls of caipicerva (a mix of caipirinha and beer), enjoying a good blues band and falling in a swimming pool. All in all, it was a good day.
Written by Linda Janssen
written on: 27-07-2014
Day 10: Oh Dam(n)
The day started a little bit later than our program book indicated. The morning activity, the Eco Museum became optional, but due the late flight from Rio de Janeiro to Foz do Iguaçu everybody slept or relaxed the whole morning.So the educational part of the day started at 13:00 when we left to Itaipu dam by bus. The bus was completely stuffed with Prosperando people who were busy analyzing the profession of being a bus driver in the southern part of Brazil. After arriving at the Itaipu complex, we had a quick glance at the visitor center and took some nice pictures. In the visitor center we started with a movie which was probably directed by Steven Spielberg. Later it turned out that this movie was only a small preview of the amazing structure we got to see afterwards.
First we drove to the lower side of the dam. From that point we got to see the complete 2 km of concrete and rock, but from that point it didn't look that big. This view changed when we went to the top of the dam where we got to see the immense lake on the high side of the dam. Everybody had the time to take some pictures of the lake and some selfies with Tom van Nunen.
After that the technical part of the tour started. We went into the Brazilian side of the dam where the power generation took place. It was nice to know the dam was built on the border between Paraguay and Brazil, so each country could benefit from power generation. The Itaipu river has always been a natural border between the two countries, but now they are working together to generate 14 GW of power continuously. To see the perspective: the peak load in the Netherlands is about 17 GW so the dam could power almost every home in NL.
When we got into the dam we saw the complete installation of cranes, switchgear, power converters and control rooms. One of the most spectacular views was the driveshaft between the turbine and the generators. The guide took us to this huge rotating structure of 6600 tones in total generating 700 MW of power. We literally stood a few meters from the shaft where our guide tried to tell all technical facts about it, but we couldn't hear him due to all noise around us. However this guide knew almost every technical detail there was to know about the complete power plant. He tackled all our high level technical questions with great satisfaction.
After being completely amazed by all enormous things around us we went back to the visitors center to buy some coffee mugs. Everybody agreed this would be one of the highlights of the trip. We had some dinner in the cheapest restaurant we could find and then the unofficial evening program started. With a small selection of the group we went to a few bars in the city center and had a good time. I will not go into too much detail about the rest of the night, because then our chef Teun will make me hand in my 100 euro deposit.
-Stan Hurkmans
written on: 25-07-2014
Recap de Janeiro
As we are travelling to Foz do Iguaçu from Rio de Janeiro, let's take some time to reflect.The past eight days have been very intense and full of impressions. Rio has turned out to be a city of contrasts. Lots of rich people live in big houses behind locked iron gates, while homeless people sleep on the sidewalks. The world-famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema are, at some places, just a few hundred meters away from favelas. The Brazilian efficiency (which has given an entire new dimension to the word slow) is compensated by friendliness of the people towards strangers. In spite of language challenges, the people are proud to talk of their culture and history.
I think that I can speak for all of us that one of the highlights definitely was the favela tour and the story that goes with it. The two famous sights of Rio, Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain, can also be ticked off of our bucket list. From the engineering side, it was very impressive to see the influence of fossil fuels companies like Petrobras in the research industry and university. Even in the renewable energy research, their influence could still be felt. The warm welcome at UFRJ and our many (de-)tours on University Island and showed that this was a really pleasant environment to work.
All in all, our first stop in Brazil has left us looking forward very much for the next stop.
Foz do Iguaçu, here we come!
– Rob Mestrom
written on: 24-07-2014
Day 9:Sunburns and Expeditions
Today we had a day off until half past six. Therefore the group split up and did different things. One part of the group went to Ipanema or Copacabana beach to chill out and enjoy the sunny day. Most of the students who went to the beach suffered sunburns due to the insufficient use of sun blocker. In the evening it was clearly visible who went to the beach and who did not. The sea itself was very wild and a real challenge to swim in, but as you probably can imagine by now that could not stop us.
The other part of the group went to 'Parque Nacional da Tijuca', located on the hills of Rio. They partly took the 'Students trail' up to the hills and saw, among others, a beautiful waterfall. At a chapel a mysterious beast was spotted what turned out to be a raccoon. Continuing the trail the boys (mis)used the huge forest as a giant playground full of lianas to swing around. And at the peak of the mountain Rob Mestrom (age 33) did a monkey imitation (aap na-apen) with sound, which was very funny and of course caught on camera.
Everybody enjoyed the wonderful flora and fauna of the park and a lot of beautiful birds were seen; a wood creeper and a black-blue grass quit. As you probably would expect of this group, also a lot of nerd jokes and more funny recordings were made. The jokes were for example about vectors and the corkscrew rule applied to the lianas. So you have an idea about the level of conversation.
While trying to find a cab, a van full of Brazilian people was found instead. It cheaply brought us back to the hostel. We were with probably more than twice as many people in the van as it was designed for. This and the fact that the van already looked like it could fall apart any moment made it a very fun ride with the locals.
Back at the hostel we ate at a pay-per-kilo restaurant, packed our stuff and left to the airport to fly to Foz do Igaçu were we will continue our Brazilian trip.
-Birgit van Huijgevoort & Lars van Meurs