Bonito ... at the edge of Pantanal

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Paraguay, Asuncion, and the lovely blue hotel in a sweltering Concepcion are left behind. Bonito, Brasil lies ahead.

The trip across the border was tedious.

At one point on the way to Bonito we first past and then retraced our steps to go to China Shopping. This was a HUGE, really HUGE store that sold everything at outrageous prices … in dollars!

Also found in the complex was buffet food sold by the kilo. On offer were vegetables, vegetables and vegetables. Since my system shut down in Asunción, meat has not been on the menu.

When everyone had satisfied their appetite for food and shopping we got back on the bus/truck and continued on our way to Bonito. The shortest route was not taken. It was left unclear whether the reason was road condition or not finding the road. The long way round was twice as far on paved highway.

Bonita, on the southern edge of the Pantanal is near the south west corner of Brasil, closer to Argentina than Rio.

After a long day of driving we arrived at the international hostel … allied to the one in Foz.
The hostel was a longish walk from the centre of town. As usual we arrived late … no separate rooms were available. I stayed with five others in a dorm. We had a bathroom between us. A breakfast of fruit, white buns, cheese and sliced meat was included. There was a lovely swimming pool.
There wee other overlanding trucks parked in the grounds.
Every one at the hostel was looking forward to a BBQ to be held next day. I too paid my money for the event but ate only the veggies.

In the morning I arranged for a driver to take me, next day, to San Francisco, an ecotourism fazenda in the southern limit of the Pantanal. I invited others to come. Most declined.
The Pantanal proper, sited in the description of this nine month trip, had been cancelled because the mosquitoes were bad and “we’ve been to Estero where it was cheaper and we’ve seen all the animals”.

Hils was the only person who came with me to the farm. Three people went cave diving. The others spent the day around the pool.

The excursion began at 04:30. We arrived at the farm at 07:30. In the pre-dawn light we saw three ocelots running into the grass along the road. The driver and I believe we saw an anteater running away from the road … it really was a very unclear spotting.

At San Francisco we met a beautifully handsome guide … Guilhueme … who led the morning Safari Tour around the farm. There were about 30 people on the open truck. We drove around rice fields and along irrigation canals. The tour was in Portuguese. And never before have I heard a guide offering so much information. Luckily two teenager sisters, who had spent some time in New York, helped explain some of the facts.

“Fazenda San Francisco is located in the Pantanal of Miranda, where can be found a great diversity of fauna and flora in combination with the day-by-day life of an authentic farm, all with the concern of conservation of the environment.
Fazenda San Francisco occupies 14,800 hectares and produces irrigated rice and raises cattle. The ranch, on the left margin of the Miranda river is in the basin of the high waters of the Paraguay River and receives water from the central Bodoquena range and the Miranda and Salobra rivers and flows to the Paraguay River.” (from the Internet)

Hils kept a record of all the birds we spotted: more than 40. She filled pages with names of other animals we saw; caimans galore, capybara the largest rodent in the world, rabbits, marsh deer and turtles.

“During the afternoon boat trip birds that inhabits the river margins like kingfishers, cormorants, egrets, herons, hawks, jacamars and many others were seen. Caimans were very often very close to the boat.” (from the Internet)

After fishing for piranha, we came to a place in the river where we could feed the caiman. During the feeding a struggle developed between caiman, cormorant and eagle. All wanted the fish. They waited patiently and each one fulfilled his role as wasexpected. These three know that the tourist boat arrives regularly. All passengers squealed in glee as the eagle stole the piranha from the cormorant and one big caiman out swam the small one in an effort to get the fish first. The head of the piranha is crushed each time before being fed to the lazy predators. It is said that if the head is not crushed the fish can still be alive and eat the innards of the caiman.

My first encounter with numerous mosquitoes was during the time of getting on and off the river boat.
A ramble down a wooden catwalk thru the swamp and trees of a wilderness area produced few mosquitoes. Certainly not enough to warrant massive amounts of insect repellent loaded with DDT.

Between the open truck safari and the river excursion a bountiful buffet lunch was served in the dining room. Overnight visitors and day trippers alike ate the wonderfully prepared food.

While eating I spoke to a woman from Holland who was at the feranza doing volunteer work for three weeks. Local farmers are still killing the cats because they believe that the jaguars are responsible for the deaths of their animals. The project she was working on is proving evidence to local farmers that their cows die from other reasons besides jaguar attacks. She sees at least two jaguars a day.

Behind the dining area three rehabilitated blue macaws were enjoying a snack of oranges. In front of the offices of San Francisco Fazenda a rhea was strutting around pecking at small seeds on the ground totally unperturbed by all the camera totting tourists.

Rheas can lay between 20 and 40 eggs. The pair we say in the fields had only three young following them around. The rhea has enemies that like to eat eggs. Even the toucan is known to eat the eggs and young out of the nests.

In the fields could be seen the rice gathering machines and the trucks full of brown rice husks. The very large jabiru stork, the emblem of Brasil, awkward looking with heavy black neck and red band under the bill was seen in great numbers sitting in trees and looking for food in the fields.

After an afternoon snack of popcorn, fish soup (tasted like piranha fins), cake, coffee and fruit juice Hils and I said our goodbye to the new friends we had made. One more stop at he very nice bathroom and we were off with our driver back o the hostel 200 km down the bumpy rutted road. No wonder so much time was slotted for road travel.

The first obstacle to a quick return was a herd of cows on the road. This presented a good opportunity for horn close ups, not to mention … finally … a shot of a real gaucho, called a vaicero (sic) in Portuguese. The second detour was a short trip into a small town, parking beside the church and after a visit to hear the choir practicing, a resumtion of the retoourn journey to Bonito. Why the driver stopped here and walked off some where was never made clear. It as OK. The church was quaint, the choir came by bicycle to practice their singing and I took a few shots of cement storks in the town square.

It was a very worthwhile day with reportedly more sightings of animals than was experienced in Estero … did not see a jaguar … got a lot of info from the presentation of pictures and skeletons at the Fazenda … and learned that San Francisco is so important that Animal Planet has visited and featured the place in the television series. The visit gave rise to curiosity about the family of Italians who arrived here and with hard work made a success of the venture.

The BBQ later in the evening, after some pool time was a delightful feast of varying salads, and lots of grilled meat.

This was to be our last day in Bonito. The rush was on to get to Paraty. Another sixteen hour haul in the bus/truck, a “bush camp” at a gasoline station … read no toilets … and a second day of over ten hours of driving and we arrive at a pitiful campground.

When it was newthe place may have been pretty. The hidden agenda seemed to have been achieved: the orange monster was the first overlanding truck parked in the grounds and six days loomed ahead at a crowded, mouldy, wet site.

I set up my tent for the last time. I ate one last meal prepared on the truck under similarly questionable hygienic conditions.

I extracted all my belongings; Panama hat, guidebook, boots, and sundry from the vehicle. I left the truck behind ... lite hearted and relieved to be rid of the constraint of travelling with a group on a truck going past places that I wanted to enjoy longer. I did have to carry the backpack now. It was a relief not to have to carry it daily for nine months.

BUT! ....

NEVER AGAIN … OVERLANDING!

NEVER AGAIN … with www.eoe.uk.org !!!

Rio, Brasilia, Belem and Manaus beckon ... my itinersary ... my timeline ... my eating schedule ...

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Photos

Succulent Beauty
Hedges of leaves and this yellow flower covered the fences around the hostel in Bonito.

Talking Macaw - Welcome to Bonito
The Macaw Phone Booth is found in many towns in Brasil.

The Road not Taken
This may have been or maybe was not the short route to Bonito ... Beautiful ... Brasil.

Charcoal Load
Twenty trucks filled with over 300 bags each waited at the truck stop ready to travel into Brasil ... how many trees? from which part of Paraguay wee sacrificed. Street vendors of shishkabobs all use charcoal to grill their product.

Nice Truck
First word learned in Portuguese .... ovos - eggs ... obviously cock is universal!

Agate House
The facade of this business address was covered in slices of agat The slices were cemented over the front of the two story building.

Saint Francis and I
In this garden we had fish fin soup, fruit juice, pop corn and sweet chocolate cake.

Rhea in the Yard
Rheas could be seen along the highways of S.A. just as llamas and lizards.

The Stork
The jubari stork feeds in the rice fields of San Francisco Farm.

Largest Rodent in the World
The cybara can weigh more than 20 kg.