El Dorado 964 Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 9.35 Gram beauty Link to post Share on other sites
El Dorado 964 Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Start of the story: Ok a bit of the story...... We started off on the premis to find an entire new area for gold. The home base from wich we operated was Uruacu, Brasil. That is where Don has been living for the last 10 years. Anyway the place he had in mind was 1 1/2 days driving North of Uruacu (I like that name) to a 3000 acre ranch owned by a friend of Don's. We packed food and supplies for 3 weeks and headed out. What a long trip to the middle of nowhere it was. Definatly not tourist areas! The ranch was beautiful and after 3 days of three of us beeping our brains out and finding zero zilch nada, we decided on plan B. Since we did not have plan B, we drove back to Uruacu. This used up a week, but I got to see much of the interior of Brasil that gringos never see. We were treated like kings on the ranch by the forman and his wife. She did all the cooking, dishwashing and even washed our sweaty clothes. The weather was brutally hot as we were only 14 degrees south of the equater. Got to eat all the mangos we wanted, learned what cashews look like growing wild are like and you will not believe it. The nut itself is poisonous untill roasted but the fruit tastes great. We stopped at every cashew tree to pick and eat away and mangos too. Food, beer and everything but diesel was dirt cheap.Typical meal with lots of beer was $6, Diesel was just over a dollar a liter........ More later with the next nugget picture Our ride at a hotel in Parranah (yup just like the fish)on the way to the ranch Cashew fruit Nice bridge How to keep meat with no refrigeration in 100 degree weather Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger 43 Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Don't know how I missed reading about your journey to Brazil. :shrug: Anyway it sounds like you and Don had a very successful trip. Congratulations on the spectacular nugget find. Looking forward to seeing the rest of them. Steve Link to post Share on other sites
El Dorado 964 Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Just pictures today, story to continue later........... 10.68 Gram Nugget Don Teaching the finer points of collecting Ripe Mangos Mid Day siesta time at the ranch Miles and Miles of RED Dirt Link to post Share on other sites
bill-costa rica 4 Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 el d keep those photos and stories coming, I bet garimpo has a few good stories to tell himself... nice looking gold by the way... how did the chances of dredging look? bill-cr Link to post Share on other sites
El Dorado 964 Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 Yup, I want Don to tell the story of the giant purple frog! Link to post Share on other sites
garimpo 2,282 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I wasn't going to bring up the "purple frog" story but now I'm glad you did...it went like this... early one moring we were getting our gear on...me and E.D. were in front of the Toyota and Ken aka "snowflake" was behind the PU.....first let me explain that snowflake can't hear himself fart... much less anyone else....so E.D. cut a real rusty up front and said there's that purple frog again... I heard and knew what was going on but snowflake only heard the words....about three minutes later here comes snowflake with his big awesome camera with the telephoto lenses ready to take some serious pictures and very seriously ask "where's that purple frog?"....it took about 30 minutes for things to calm down and the sides quit hurting....snowflake didn't laugh nearly as much as we did.... Link to post Share on other sites
El Dorado 964 Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 OK, I'm gonnna let the cat out out of the bag. I did find some gold with the detector, but not as much as I hoped. I knew ahead of time, well before I went to Brasil that my GPX 4000 was a much wanted commodity down there. When I first arrived, we put the word out to the locals that I wanted to trade it for gold before I left the country. A couple of Garimpos (prospectors) wanted it, but I struck a deal with a guy that came pretty far and his gold was as beautiful as gold comes. I made out very well on the deal. But took my chances because all gold in Brasil is supposed to go to the government and not leave the country...... you can figure that out for yourself. Most of the gold ends up at the local Gold Buyer and he puts those fantastic nuggets on a steel block and pound them flat to get the rock out, then it just goes to a refiner.... what a waste. Very few appreciate the beauty of the gold there. A great thing being based at Don's was we got up at 5am and got to start beeping just after sunrise. That allowed us to get about 5 hours of detecting in before the searing heat of the day. Then it was back to town. befor it got brutally hot. One of the great things we got to enjoy being back at Don's was the fantastic lunches(main meal of the day) served. My favorite place hands down was Maria's place. That woman knows how to fee hungry people. She usually has about 13 courses to serve every day! She would bring out seconds on anything we cleaned the plate off without even asking! The beer was only one degree above freezing, Don and I really appreciated that, Snowflake on the other hand rotted his inside out on Cokes! A meal at Maria's including all drinks was about $5.50. I am really going to miss that place big time. After lunch it was back to Don's house for serious siesta time! Around 5pm Don's wonderful wife would serve us a fresh made jusice or cold watermellon... way to perfect! Around 7-mepm it was time for a light dinner..... STEAK ON A STICK! The businesses closed and the sidewalks became BBQ restaurants serving prety much the same things everywhere, A couple of varieties of steak on a stick, bacon wrapped chicken on a stick, cheese on a stick and great soups, along of course with lots of very cold beer. Don's favorite dinner restaurant was on one of the busiest street corners of main street. At this point I have to share about the stop signs. They are there and you can easily see them, but the rule is you only have to stop if you think you need to....... that made for much to watch at dinner, not to mention the parade of beautiful women (that love men with DEET on)! OK more later and now for some pictures. The Three :icon_mrgreen: :icon_mrgreen: :icon_mrgreen: gringos at Maria's Brasilian Cat's claw...very wicked stuff! Meat sales at the local Farmer's market A nice 10.13 grammer: Link to post Share on other sites
GotGold 0 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 .....that made for much to watch at dinner, not to mention the parade of beautiful women (that love men with DEET on)! El Dorado.....sooooo, where the pics? :innocent0009: Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger 43 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Most of the gold ends up at the local Gold Buyer and he puts those fantastic nuggets on a steel block and pound them flat to get the rock out, then it just goes to a refiner.... what a waste. Very few appreciate the beauty of the gold there. That's a shame. Think how much more money they could get if they had an auction of gold specimens every quarter or so, instead of ruining them. :hmmmmmm: Steve Link to post Share on other sites
El Dorado 964 Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 I have to admit, I did not take pictures of the extraordinarily beaustifull women, you will just have to take my word on that or just go see for yourself. One of the great things about Brasil that the USofA could certainly take some serious lessons on is about importation of goods. While there I saw no made in china crap whatsoever! Except for cars, motorcycles etc almost everything is made in Brasil! If it is imported you have to pay a 60% import tax! That and high fuel prices makes personal transportation expensive, but there is an expanding middle class and more and more are getting these items One of the things I did not like about Brasil was it is illegal for citizens to own weapons. There are a few exceptions, like black powder rifles and 22's. But the beurocracy to be able to legally own those is like 20 feet of overburden. More pictures: Garimpo on the forum A no tresspass sign with the usual no hunting and fishing, but also no prospectors Snowflake scraping up a nugget Very tough beeping conditions in the jungle Link to post Share on other sites
jagdoctor1 0 Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Ok. Maybe I missed something. I have a child talking to me atm so it's possible. You said you did not find as much gold as you wanted to... How much was actually found? :confused0013: Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger 43 Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Whether he found as much as he wanted to or not- I'm still looking forward to seeing some more pictures of the specimen gold from Brazil. Steve Link to post Share on other sites
El Dorado 964 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 Ok. Maybe I missed something. I have a child talking to me atm so it's possible. You said you did not find as much gold as you wanted to... How much was actually found? :confused0013: I found enough to make me very happy! Here are a few more pictures Garimpo taking a well deserved break showing his infectious smile A group shot on Garimpo's desk Snowflake finding one in a patch he discovered Link to post Share on other sites
Johnno 64 Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 G'Day Steve Absolutely wonderful pictures. I think I enjoyed those more than the gold (Wrong!!!) But it must have been one hell of an adventure. I think one that will go down as a highlight in your lives. But it's funny that we have a picture of Don looking like a scientific professor putting together his latest papers to introduce to the world. Then we have this amazing transformation to Indiana Jones stomping through the jungles of Brazil after some mysterious object of immense value that has been cursed by some ancient civilization. Keep posting more pics! I thoroughly enjoy them. Thanks! Cheers Johnno Link to post Share on other sites
El Dorado 964 Posted November 12, 2008 Author Share Posted November 12, 2008 Yes, It was an adventure never to be forgotten but best was a new friendship that will last forever! OK. some more pictures. Good Camo Snowflake (purple Frog) taking it easy at the ranch A major erroded quartz vein Link to post Share on other sites
garimpo 2,282 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 El Dorado and Snowflake ....before and after "deforestation"....not Agent Orange but Agent Bic... Link to post Share on other sites
L-T 0 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Nice pics! I notice in the photos you are wearing the snake pads. Do you encounter alot of them on a regular basis? We used to catch, skin, eat and sell the skins at park n swap in phoenix years ago. Wondering if any of you find it a viable source of meat or not of your choice We liked it. "Taste like chicken" Link to post Share on other sites
Lve2fsh 71 Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Sooooooooooo is there another outing next year? :icon_mrgreen: Link to post Share on other sites
garimpo 2,282 Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 LT...the snake guards are just for protection since in most of the places that we beeped we are about five hours from a good hospital....more than enough time to die....I've been struck three times...once in Australia by a King Brown.....and twice here in Brazil....I don't leave the truck without the leg guards.... lve2fsh....nothing planned at the moment...just have to wait and see as things develop... Link to post Share on other sites
L-T 0 Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 I will surely use the guards as you get it when your not expecting it. I was curious though as I laugh to myself while asking as most people tend to freak at the thought, have you or any of you guys ever eaten any of the rattlers or other snakes? We were in Thailand and ate the cobra specials and have eaten python, I have 4 as pets with me in my rv now. I used to hunt the mohave greens and go by the old mining town up near lake havasu and down to the colorado in kingman bullhead area. We used to milk em for the venom, skin em and eat alot of the meat. It seriously is not bad. As I get older though I am not as quick or sharp so I will wear pads in a lot of areas for sure. I wish I had decided to get into this alot earlier in life though, looks like you guys have enjoyed alot of places. Thanks for the reply. Lt Link to post Share on other sites
garimpo 2,282 Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 LT....I spent most of my life in Okla. where we have a rattle snake roundup every year and 100's of the critters are caught....I've eaten a lot of snakes ...then only problem is a lot of work for very little meat.....a Crocodile is different..... I don't go anywhere beeping without the leg guards....El Dorado has a couple of pair for sale that's a good buy for what I consider the best leg protectors in the business.... Link to post Share on other sites
jagdoctor1 0 Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 "I notice in the photos you are wearing the snake pads. Do you encounter alot of them on a regular basis?" Doesn't need to be... Just one time and you get a flat tire... Changing a flat while rattlesnake bit will kill you.. period. Link to post Share on other sites
L-T 0 Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Jag, I hear ya though the only deadly snake we have here in the us is the coral unless you have an allergic reaction. I have gotten some injected in me during milkings in the past from rattlers. It is better, much better safe than sorry. I agree especially for those not used to handling them. Garimpo, I would love to try the croc I just took the last gator from my freezer last week and cooked it. I have thousands of photos from Florida where I was living in cross creek. We used to get the gators all the time but man would I love to have some croc. I can't wait till I can come out there again and learn to hunt the little yeller critters. They don't bite. lol or do they Link to post Share on other sites
garimpo 2,282 Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Hey El Dorado...where's more pics?.....folks he took more pics than I've taken in my entire life.....maybe he's busy being DEET detoxified..... Link to post Share on other sites
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