In ancient Tupi, the word “Mogi” roughly translates to "river of snakes" or "snake river."

Mogi das Cruzes is a really neat city that’s about an hour away from Sao Paulo. And, there’s a direct train route between the two cities.

I like visiting Mogi das Cruzes because of the “Japanese Immigration Centennial Park.”

This is a beautiful and relaxing park that also happens to contain a lot of wild animals. Marmosets and Capybaras are two of the most common sights, but apparently there are porcupines that also live there. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen one while visiting.

What I have seen plenty of in the park, however, are Capybaras.

In fact, here’s a big family of capys relaxing on the river bank just outside the park’s perimeter.

Kind of random, but I usually buy train tickets to Mogi das Cruzes with paper money. And most Brazilian notes have local animals on the back. This got me curious if there’s any currency with Capybaras on it. And there is!

While not Brazilian, there is a Capybara Coin.

And no, I’m not talking about cryptocurrencies.

Uruguay has a two peso coin with a Capybara on it.

Which leads into today’s trivia question…

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

- CapyTube

P.S. You can enjoy a virtual tour of “Japanese Immigration Centennial Park” by watching this video.