On the road to Poconé

At 12 I’m landing at Cuiabà airport where Celmis, Julinho’s sister is already waiting for me. We get into the car and drive out of Cuiabà, in reality of Vàrzea Grande, the sister city on the other side of the rio Cuiabà where the airport is located. Direction Poconè! Celmis is very communicative, she is happy that I speak Portuguese and tells me a lot about the surroundings, about herself and her family.
The paved road to Poconè is straight and runs through stunning green scenery and some smaller towns. You already get the taste of the vastity of this land, endless green fields, sprinkled with trees, palms and some forest. White cattle dazes at the side of the road.
Our talk get’s so lively that I forget completely to take photos…
After 2 hours we arrive in Poconè; we are going to meet Julinho and the couple that is going back to Cuiabà with Celmis at Alessandra’s home, a half-sister of Julinho’s.
Poconè is a small sleepy town, with a frontier feel, it’s the gateway to the Pantanal. Alessandra receives us at her beautiful house, and engages a very lively conversation with Celmis. She is married to a Japanese man, Nobu and has a little daughter, Raquel, that looks like a beautiful Japanese doll. They live in Poconè and work as tourist guides, she also teaches English to locals involved with tourism. That’s a family with a talent for languages, Julinho speaks a lot of languages himself.