The last day of the conference dawned to a typical bright clear Aracaju sky. The days and nights have had a definite northern Australia feel to them with temperatures ranging from the low 20s over night to the low 30s during the day and a constant level of moderate humidity that occasionally breaks into a sudden, but always very brief downpour. Given that this is the end of the Aracaju winter, I’m certain that the high summer would be climatically uncomfortable. In summer, Aracaju has seen increasing tourism over recent years from the large southern cities of Rio and Sao Paulo. The town, however, is almost completely undiscovered in terms of international tourism.

Like every other day of the conference breakfast is a lavish buffet style affair with an astounding variety of pastries, eggs, meats, tapioca, fruit and strong coffee. The fruit includes some familiar items such as paw paw, pineapple, kiwi fruit and passionfruit plus a large range of unfamiliar tropical items endemic to this part of Brazil. I proclaim Brazilian breakfasts as the most impressive in the world. In a sobering moment I am reminded of the great poverty of the nation and tables such as this are only enjoyed by the privileged few.

For the last day of the conference we have a major focus on extinctions, in particular, two of the largest, namely the end Permian extinction that wiped out about 95% of all life forms, and the end Cretaceous extinction that saw the demise of the dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the services of the translator are no longer available today, but I still sit through a number of great presentations delivered in Portuguese to enjoy some fantastic visuals and the great enthusiasm of the presenters. I’m finding that as the conference draws to a close I’m picking up the meaning of a great many more words than I could fathom at the beginning of the week. The translator seemed to be there largely for my benefit. All the other English speakers at the conference have a good working knowledge of Portuguese.

There are also a number of shorter presentations on museum and curatorial issues. A large number of conference delegates seem to be employed in the management of collections, many of which are associated with university research programs.
On the last day there is also time to reflect on the outcomes of this conference and how it differs from others (particularly Australian ones) that I have attended. In Australia, palaeontologists are represented by the Australasian Association of Palaeontologists. During the 1990s there were a few national conferences that embraced the full spectrum of palaeontological endeavour. These appear to have fallen by the wayside in recent years. Apart from this they are sometimes accorded a session in the regular Geological Society of Australia conferences. But the community of scientists in Australia is divided by speciality. For example, there are regular meetings on Vertebrate Palaeontology in Australia, those with other specialities tend to orientate themselves towards international meetings dealing with their own fossil groups. In Brazil, there is a combined meeting of palaeontologists, like this one, every two years. The next one will be in Rio in 2007. In short this seems to provide a greater sense of community for South American scientists than is the Australian experience.

It is very refreshing to attend a meeting with such a strong focus on education and the part that palaeontology can play in the school curriculum. The emphasis on museums and collections is also something that is not strongly represented in Australian meetings. Although there was not universal acclaim for this approach from all the conference delegates (some would prefer the model of individual specialised meetings), there was genuine praise for the organisers at the close of the conference. There was general consensus that the conference theme “A new look for palaeontology” had been addressed with flair, vision and creativity.

At the close of the conference the floor was opened to any delegate who wished to speak on any aspect of the conference, the Society and the future direction of the science. All the speakers were positive about the achievements here at Aracaju.

That night a group of us adjourned to a nearby restaurant for an experience that can only be described as “red meat eaters heaven”. Waiters circulated with every variety of red meat on large skewers. You indicated your willingness or otherwise to partake by a sign on your table. It was an eating experience like no other. One of our party was originally from the United States and is now working and teaching at the University of Sao Paulo. There was general derision amongst our table for the poor quality of meat consumed in the US and many an assertion that only in Gondwanaland do we produce high quality red meat. After such an intense feast of protein, I think it will be back to a diet of the local fruits for my body to readjust.

After the conference my kind hosts, Luiz and Fernanda, who were also the main organisers of the conference, treated me to some of the cultural and natural highlights of Aracaju and the Sergipe Province. We visited the local produce markets in the old part of town. It is cluttered with ancient buildings with spectacular Portuguese architecture. There is a large square in the centre of town where every year a massive three-day dance party takes place. I couldn’t imagine the dancing at the Cariri Club scaled up to occupy such an enormous space!

The “caju” in Aracaju refers to cashews. The largest and tastiest ones in the world are grown here. We had a pleasant afternoon exploring the town, working our way through a large bag of “caju” and drinking ice cold coconut milk from the coconut bought at roadside stalls.
We also spent a day out sailing along a river to the south of Aracaju, our boat captain enthusiastically dispensing “Pingu” (a spirit distilled from sugar cane) to all his passengers and crew, but mostly to himself. We visited more spectacular Atlantic coastline, swam in the ocean, dozed under the coconut palms and buzzed around in dune buggies. A great way to counterbalance the gravitas of conference deliberations!

We also visited the Aracaju aquarium. Here we learnt about the Tamar Project. It is a national project sponsored by Petrobras (the national oil company) to save the Atlantic turtles that were once an important part of the diet of many people living along the Brazilian coastline. The aquarium, though small, provides invaluable insights into conservation and marine biology for all the local schools. There is also a live link to an underwater camera on one of the many offshore oil platforms.

It was with some sadness, and very little sleep, that I finally clambered aboard the first of many flights on the homeward marathon. On one leg (Salvador to Sao Paulo) I met the first Australians I’d encountered since leaving Sydney. But we didn’t have much to say to each other. I preferred to reflect on what I’d learnt from the experience and think about my many new friends in South America, potential collaborative research projects, potential students for our palaeontology and museum studies programs at Macquarie and possible reasons for my next trip back to the other side of Gondwana.

Delegates listen to the closing remarks to end the conference

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