Caraca part II

I was excited to get out on the trails for my first full day at Caraca. My allergies suddenly acted up and I was sneezing and blowing my nose constantly all day, so annoying. I walked to a 5 tiered waterfalls and then hit another trail. I thought I was following a trail but then it petered out into the bush. The trail was more like an old road with a lot of grassy areas. The vegetation of the park is a transitional forest of cerrado ( grasslands and small trees) and Mata Atlantica ( atlantic coast rainforest). I was walking through a lot of grass and my mind turned to ticks, as it usually does in grassy areas. I inspected myself and yup, I had ticks on me! They had not bitten into me yet so they were easy to remove. When hiking alone I always make sure I know the way I came just in case I have to backtrack. I returned to the main trail and saw that I wasn't on the trail I thought. I took this new trail and was looking for a junction to turn right and make a loop back to Caraca. I was walking for a while and didn't see any loop. It was getting late and I wanted to be back for lunch  between 12 and 1.30. I turned around and went back. As I walked through a forested section on the way back I heard movement in the trees. Monkeys! I always have time for monkeys. I stopped and watched them but they kept getting further away. I will come back to this area to look for them again, I thought to myself. I got back at 1.30 and was starving. I ate a huge lunch and rested for a bit.
      I went back out to the trail I had started yesterday. I would take it 3km to the grutas des lourdes at the trails end. The trail went uphill through dense forest. The trail was really tight and I was constantly brushing vegetation. A few times I lost the way but backtracked and found the proper trail. The grutas des lourdes was nothing special, just a rocky overhang with a little statue of Mary. Halfway back to Caraca, it began to rain but I was prepared this time. I saw a large 60cm long lizard on the way back. Not sure exactly what type it was but I got a great photo of it. I didn't bring any identification books with me this time. I do feel a little lost without them but my reptile and my mammal ID guides would have added more than a kilo of weight and I decided I could go without them, since this trip is a month shorter than my usual 4 month trips, I could make do. I would identify them from my photos when I got home.
       There is a lot of wildlife here, parrots, hummingbirds, many other birds and lizards. There aren't many mammals though. Dinner was another delicious affair. The large pots of food sit on top of a wood burning stove. I was not losing any weight here. That night at the feeding of the wolf I got talking to the couple from the night before. They were Paolo and Deborah and they have been coming here every 3 years for the last 26 years. They have seen Caraca in every season. The park is 1300m and gets very cold during June, July and August, the Brazilian winter. Paolo said it drops to 3C at night! Ouch! Now thats cold considering there's no heat sources in the rooms. I haven't seen anyone on the trails. I think Paolo and Deborah are the only other people here hiking the trails.