Our World Tour group has returned home safely! Please scroll down to see journal entries from the entire trip. We hope you enjoy the words and images presented on these pages. Thanks for your interest!

Top 5 Surprises . . .

Over a cup of Starbucks in the Atlanta airport, I asked Doug, Caroline and Don:  “What were the top five things that surprised you about Brazil on this trip?”   Their on-the-spot answers follow.  -- K. Elliott Nowels

Caroline Wendt

1.  Red soil (it was fabulous against the green trees
2.  It’s not as hot as I thought (except in Cuiaba)
3.  How self-sufficient the country is.  How much they can continue to grow.
4.  The numbers of people. People who drive, cut in front of, step into traffic,plus             
     motorcycles dodging in and out of traffic – all with an air of “no, you first”.
5.  The final big surprise was how open and friendly the people we met were in this   
     incredible journey. That will forever stay with me in memories and in my heart.

Doug Wendt

1. The sheer expanse of great farmland – deep red soils, uniform rainfall over            
     huge areas, nearly year round growing season.
2. Having Brazilians be so self- sufficient, hydropower, sugar ethanol, petroleum,
    metals, etc., tremendous natural resources.         
3. People proud and competitive. Teasing about where each other were from and who
    has the best coffee, cheese, cattle, soccer team.
4. The value of education is preached. The realization for focus on sciences,            
    agricultures, higher learning starts very young, is very competitive and all know the
    necessity.
5. Good people, good food, good beer.

Don Kambitsch

1. Size of the cities – Sao Paulo, Rio – and number of small cars – people seem happy.
2. Layed back life style – very friendly and patient people.
3. Size of agriculture; i.e., sugar cane, soybeans and cotton. I have not seen such large
    fields and cropping systems.
4. Progressive in farming – The knowledge and motivation to be the best farmers they
    can be.
5. Brazil potential as an even bigger competitor of the US in agriculture in the near or
    sometime future.

Rest and relaxation in Rio . . .
"A fantastic end to a wonderful trip ..."

A fantastic end to a wonderful trip. Rio is a bustling blend of very old and very new. Churches, warehouses, and piers built by the Portuguese, alongside a new “Samba-dome” for people, rich and poor, to prepare for Carnival. As we traveled south towards Angra dos Reis, we went through many small villages (often with an Oil platform in the bay) that were in a state of flux between old customs and tourism. Beautiful landscapes with the hills climbing sharply from each seaside town or village.

The resort chosen for us was spectacular! After the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks, you could not ask for a better place to unwind, visit about all that we have seen and done, and prepare for our trip back to reality. The ocean, the pool, and each afternoon rain were all the same temperature. Sitting on the dock, looking out into the bay reminded me of visiting Priest or Courd’eAlene lake back home (other than needing a coat and campfire in the middle of summer) looking across the water to islands, and star-gazing. Like I said before, a great place to reflect on a spectacular journey, and to be thankful for the friendships made.

When we arrived in Spokane after about 30 hours of constant motion, it actually felt really good to walk, and drive toward home with the window down (until Caroline yelled at me) even though it was 28 degrees (F this time). A special thank you to all who make this trip possible, Doni, Elliot, Don, the ERA team, CropLife magazine, and DuPont, as well as all the wonderful people we met throughout the trip for making us feel so welcome.

Doug Wendt Feb 10, 2006

As we leave Cuiaba for Rio, it is very early in the morning and already its getting hot! The plane ride allowed some time to get caught up on sleep, before we were met by our Rio de Jainero guide Christiana (heavy on the French sound of her name). Rio is so pretty and spread out along the coast that it looks smaller than it is. The sights we got to visit before traveling south of town included the “Sugar loaf” rock or mountain which was named because the formation resembled the sugar the Portuguese brought with them when they landed in Rio. While at this sight we saw a young man painted in silver acting like a statue. (He was good at it!) The statue of Christ is very impressive and is indicative of many Brazilians who have smaller statues on their own property to protect and bless them. After spending a couple of hours along the pier and around town, we headed for the town of Angra dos Reis for a little rest and relaxation. O.K. the van drive there (it took 2 ½ hours) was anything but relaxing, but the stop certainly was.

How breathtaking the country is. When you think you can’t possibly see anything more beautiful, you see something new around the corner. It has been awesome to sit and reflect on what I will remember for the rest of my life, a trip to an exotic land, wonderful new friends, and having the chance to do things I never thought I would do. Thank you to Doni, our wonderful guide and host (he is truly a gem) and to Elliott and Don for putting up with me and letting me tag along.

Caroline Wendt Feb 10, 2006

A Brazilian farm . . .

This day, our farmer host is named Fernando. He had a strong European accent in his Portuguese and spoke English quite well. His father had farmed about 1,500 hectare in southern Brazil and when there was no opportunity to expand, they sold out and moved here to start over. They were able to purchase about 12,000 hectare and developed the land (from native pastures) over time. They currently raise soybeans, cotton and corn with about 2,000 or so hectare of mandatory set-aside along the rivers, 10,000 hectare of high production ground (1,500 irrigated) and 2,000 hectare of a neighbor. Fernando's biggest current challenge in soybean is economics. With the dollar deflating 30% in recent times, their crops are less competitive in world markets, but their inputs are still based on U.S. Dollars -- a double squeeze. Another very real challenge is Asian rust. The rust demands four or five applications of fungicide, but the economics only support two.

While traveling on his farm, the sky opened and dumped a ton of rain. (If we were on red clay in our area [the Palouse], we would have been walking home.) Soon after, the rain stopped, the soil sucked up the rain, and we went back to the farm office to say our goodbyes.

Doug Wendt   Feb 07, 2006

Traveling through Cuiaba . . .

This town, Cuiaba, in the state of Mato Grosso, was actually established in the gold exploration age in Brazil long ago, but has blossomed with growth resulting from the productivity of this rich agricultural region. Many emigrated from the south and southeast areas, where population growth was concentrated and the area for agricultural expansion was limited. In many cases people sold 1000-2000 hectare in the south and purchased 5000-15,000 hectare in this area to develop into the most productive area in Brazil for the production of soybeans, corn and cotton. Most of the Mato Grosso region gets 80" of precipitation per year, and the plateaus have very deep red soils. For hundreds of years this area was unimproved grazing land with a mix of grasses, brush and trees, that has now been "opened" to crop production by clearing, applying lime and planting. The river valleys are poorer soils and have been left native for grazing cattle. The government has regulated that 20 percent of the land be left alone for natural habitat for the early (20-25 years) settlers, while the new "opening" requires 35 percent. Because of the soil types and the regulation, buffer areas around the streams and rivers are all natural. Doug Wendt   Feb 05, 2006

Agro-Amazing!
Visiting the 2005 International ERA winner . . .

Agro-Amazonia has grown its service centers into expanding growing regions, with a current service area in Mato Grosso province of 22 facilities, and one in Goiana state to the east. The company culture is familiar to me as an employee of the McGregor Company; with a drive for customer service, agronomic expertise, and a passion for the long term with continuous improvement, efficiency and environmental protection being part of each and every day. The facility here is very well taken care of, with a professional staff dedicated to customer satisfaction. (They even have a BBQ on the patio and a soccer field to entertain customers after grower meetings). The storage building is self contained, segregated by product category, with excellent security including remote cameras feeding views of the facility (as well as all others) into a third party security firm in Cuiaba. This facility offers agronomic support, financial planning, crop protection products, states fertilizer and folios feeds, seed and a full ventilating line. They also act as an agent for primary fertilizer and facilitate grower sales of commodities to the grain buyers. Other Agro-Amazonia sites also act as an agent for equipment (John Deere).

Doug Wendt  Feb 03, 2006

In the center of South America . . .

From Cuiaba, it took us about an hour and a half to get to the Chapada dos Guimaraes. Our hosts call it Chapada for short, which I think means "plateau" in Portuguese. This plateau is the home of a national park with more than 200 waterfalls. There is also a marker that denotes the exact spot of the geographical center of South America. Pretty cool. The views were spectacular. Caroline Wendt  Feb. 06, 2006 The Chapada is a small range at an elevation of about 2300 feet; about 1200 feet higher than the surrounding area. The area is full of springs and waterfalls and is protected for its long-term source of clean water. The Chapada has been used by generations of natives as a retreat to cool off and relax in the natural beauty. The Chapada is normally 5 -10 degrees centigrade cooler than surrounding areas. Today it's 38 degrees C. Hot, very hot. I earned a native nickname today for my lack of sunscreen use. There's a large bird with a white belly in the Pantanal (swampland nearby) called "Tuiu" (pronounced "Tooyuyu"). It has a distinct red band around its neck, just like mine is now. I know I'm a redneck at home and here I'm Tuiu. Doug Wendt  Feb. 06, 2006

Brazilian agriculture up close
The ERA team tours a local distributor and a recycle facility . . .

Today was an early start at 6 a.m. We traveled 3 hours from Cuiaba to Primavera D'Leste to visit Agro Amazonia, the retail location that received the Latin America Environmental Respect Award. This location was an excellent example of an agricultural retail location in the Mato Grosso area of Brazil.

We had a tour of their facilities and Roberto Motta provided us with an excellent overview of their business. The business provides technical information and support to farmers, crop protection products, fertilizer, veterinary supplies, and farm machinery to their customers. They also provide a very nice environment to build and grow relationships with their customers. They have an area on their grounds where employees, customers, and children can have a barbecue and play soccer.

We had an opportunity to meet the employee's of Agro Amazonia. Wazdir, sales manager, Vanessa, administration, and three of their agronomists were hard at work serving their customers. After touring the Agro Amazonia location, we all loaded into our van and visited one of 350 IMPEV Recycle facilities located in Brazil. Roberto indicated that 90% of the crop protection product containers from the Primavera region are recycled in this facility. These IMPEV Recycle locations are very important since there are very few products sold "bulk" in Brazil.

Don Kambitsch   Feb 09, 2006

Several times during our visit it has been stressed that agriculture has tremendous growth potential in Brazil WITHOUT any encroachment on the Amazon. There are some 47 million H. (hectare equals 2.48 acres) in annual crops in Brazil currently. "We could crop as much as four times more in Brazil than we are doing now," says Joao Cesar Rando, Director President of IMPEV, Brazil's organization behind a very successful container recycling effort. "All of this could be done without cutting a single tree in the Amazon," he stresses. We hear the same thing in Cuiaba that we heard from Mr. Rando in Sao Paulo: our cropping will grow and without encroachment on the rain forest. It would seem that those in agriculture here are concerned about being portrayed by the general media unfairly as lacking an appropriate sense of stewardship.

Elliott Nowels   Feb 06, 2006

In meeting with the trade associations in Brazil (ANDEF, ANDAV and IMPEV) we learned that government restrictions here for product registration are very difficult with some standards up to 10 times tighter than EPA's. The industry seems to be intent on staying ahead of government regulations by being self-regulated to a higher degree than what's required. Agriculture in Brazil is a growing industry expected to expand in acreage, in productivity per unit and in quality of output. The industry currently represents one-third of the GNP and employs 40 percent of the labor force. Agriculture in Brazil accounts for 40 percent of all exports. They seem very conscious that continuing this growth depends on the ability to communicate their own environmentalism and face the same kinds of problems we have: off-label applications, bootleg products from off-shore markets and negative perceptions in the media.

Doug Wendt   Feb 05, 2006

Our hosts in Brazil
A meeting with representatives from DuPont . . .

We met back up with our DuPont host Donizeti Vilhena and Marcelo Okamura, sales director for DuPont Brazil. Good beer and great conversation. Doni and Marcelo are my first impression of Brazilian people and culture. They are proud of their country, the productivity of their home states, and their heritage. Both were born in Brazil, and both are third generation from immigrants. Marcelo's grandparents were a union of immigrants from Spain and Japan to the Sao Paulo area. Doni's grandparents farmed -- dairy and coffee -- in Minas Goios state where Doni now has a small farm.

Just as in the U.S., good-natured ribbing comes out when it comes to farm produce -- about where the best cheese, sugar or coffee in Brazil comes from. And, they are proud enough of their country to remind us that nearly every make and model of car and truck on the roads are actually manufactured here in Brazil. Mercedes has been making trucks down here for 50 years and VW cars and trucks for 30+ years. There are very few large pickup trucks, although you do see some Ford and GM trucks. Most of the cars and trucks are very small and fuel efficient, and recent models can be purchased with a "Flex fuel" optional equipment, allowing them to run well on either ethanol or gasoline, or any combination of the two.

Doug Wendt  Feb 03, 2006

Who's behind that perfect cup?
The group visits a coffee and sugar plantation . . .

As we pulled into the sugar cane complex outside Campinas, you can see how the people doing this for a living must take great pride in their work and surroundings. After a brief presentation from Carlos Tortelli, production manager for the Dedini Agro sugar plantation, we rode out into a countryside full of miles of sugar cane. If I thought Sao Paulo was pretty, this was spectacular!  The field was a pretty green and the soil was red. As we got out of the car, the view was red soil, green cane, blue sky and mountains.

It was made better by the hospitality of these truly great people who care very much about the work they do. They showed us how they replant the cane and we were able to taste sugar cane right from the field. I have died and gone to Brazil! (smile)

On this same day, we had the fortunate experience of visiting a coffee plantation. If I've learned anything here, it is that these people are very proud of their coffee and enjoy raising it. Mauricio Coelho of Sumatra Cafes Brazil is a third generation coffee grower. I watched a "master blender" do his work -- preparing blends of raw, un-roasted beans. Their brand of coffee uses a special blend, and I could not get him to tell me the family secret.

Caroline Wendt  Feb 03, 2006

Coffee and sugar seem to go together in Brazil. Strong coffee -- sometimes served having already been sweetened. Rather like ordering tea in the south back home and getting "sweet tea." We saw both coffee and sugar cane growing in the field today, visiting Grupo Dedini Agro and gaining an understanding of how the cane is managed from Carlos Torelli, who manages the agronomy for 73,000 hectares of sugar cane for Dedini. At Sumatra Cafes Brasil, Mauricio Coelho and Leonardo Amaral started us with an understanding of the value of blending coffee beans of different kinds for the precise consistent flavor a buyer is looking to market. After a quick lesson, Doug tried his hand (and nose and taste buds) at being a coffee taster...and decided he would stick to managing his McGregor outlet in Dayton, WA and diagnosing wheat diseases.

Elliott Nowels   Feb 02, 2006

The world's third largest city ...

After what seemed like more than one day of travel we arrived in Sao Paulo. Flying over the city gives you an idea of just how huge this city is (the world's third largest). While it is very green (these summer months provide rain and the grass and trees certainly look healthy for it), the city of Sao Paulo seems to continue on and on. We were met at the airport by Doni Vilhena of DuPont Brazil, Hector our English-speaking guide and a driver. Before we came to the hotel, we went on a tour of the City of Sao Paulo. Among the interesting facts Hector provided was that Sao Paulo houses more than 11,000 factories and among the largest is Volkswagon car manufacturing. Their plant here is so large they need a bus to transport people from one end of the building to the other.

Speaking of cars, not everyone has one here, but since there are so many people, only certain cars (those ending in an "o", or "l" for instance) can drive on certain days of the week. While a family might make do with one car, Hector says they seem to make up for it with cell phones -- one family perhaps having at least four or more -- second per capita only to New York. Hmmm. I must live in WAY too small of a town.

The houses along the roads are protected by high walls and gates. If you exit the "old" city of Sao Paulo to enter into the "new" part, most of the incomes (and houses) increase in size and stature. Many of these homes also have helioports, as helicopter use saves time for the well-to-do headed to and from work and the airport.

We saw some beautiful churches today. Including one, "Rio Tiente" Church, that is so popular for weddings there is a waiting list beyond a year long. The belief is that couples getting married in this particular church "live happily ever after."

Caroline Wendt   Feb 01, 2006

Bienvenidos a Brasil!

Sao Paulo! It's sunny and warm here today. Hector, our guide, described the city as we rode along on a Mercedes Sprint bus among zooming motorcycles and some beautiful purple jacarandras (a flowering tree that grows here). Lots of lanes of traffic and motorcycles making their own lanes in-between by squirting through on the white lane lines. If you're in a small car, don't stick your arm out the window. Sao Paulo is the third most populated city in the world -- 17 million people, making it about twice the size of New York City. We visited a famous church here -- the one stop we made as we rode around seeing the governor's mansion and other local sites. We arrived at noon at the hotel. Doni will return to take us to dinner at 6 p.m. I think all were glad to have the afternoon to rest -- we were comfortable on the plane -- with great food and service -- but I think Caroline was the only one that got anything that counted as "sleep."

Elliott Nowels   Feb 01, 2006