Day 2 - Pantanal Day of the Toucans

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April 18th 2011

Published: March 17th 2012

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Caught this deer having an early morning game of volleyball

Monday morning rolled around and we were up early doors for a brekko of fruit, cake, juice, eggs and proper coffee, before setting off at 8am for a morning of riverside fishing. To get to the river though we first had to wade through waist-deep water crossing what would normally have been fields, to get to the campsite and the river. The campsite was totally flooded with everything stored up on tables to keep it dry and you couldn’t actually tell where the campsite ended and the river began as it was all submerged in 3 feet of water. The sun was burning hot even at that time of the morning and so we stood in bikinis (Ian of course was not wearing a bikini but boardies instead, being the only guy in the tour group so far), on the submerged river bank, with caiman hanging around watching us from just under the water’s surface. Marcelo caught something almost immediately of course, but all us girls and Ian managed to catch were twigs. We could feel the fish biting the chunks of meat on the hooks but never for long enough for us to haul them in. We could also feel

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the little fish pecking away at our feet as we stood there so did get a free fish pedicure at least!

To while away the hours we played games and chatted to Marcelo, a lovely, lovely guy who had worked in the Pantanal for 13 years and obviously had a real passion for wildlife, birds especially, and his job. He threw his catch up on to the roof of one of the campsite picnic tables right next to us and a large bird of prey swooped down from a nearby tree to gobble it up. The preying bird did take a bit of beating whilst devouring the fish though because, to its detriment, it had chosen to take the fish to a tree with a couple of very protective (and small) parent birds who chased it off to another tree. Right in front of us, we were witnessing jungle wars!! We also saw kingfishers and vultures, who had been keeping a beady eye on us before getting bored and flying off to find something more interesting to watch.

So after an unsuccessful but enjoyable morning of fishing we waded back to the Pousada for a dip in the

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pool to cool down and more food. Lunch was just as good as dinner with a similar choice of food. In the afternoon we took a boat trip down river where we saw an array of birds – toucans (at one point 9 in just one tree), kingfishers, vultures – as well as a howler monkey. The wetlands were extremely green but not colourful at that time of year, with no flowering plants. It was still super-hot and so when we had to wade back again through the water, it was actually a relief, as well as being great aqua aerobics for us all, especially with all the food we were consuming.

Back at the Posada we chilled, drank and ate, and got the chance to see a mescla macaw, one of only 2 known birds of this mix to exist in the world. We had then planned to go on a night walk but another group ended up going and so we sat around the Posada, drinking vodka and chatting. Another guide called Tom (born to a Welsh mother, who had come on a trip to the Pantanal and ended up falling in love with a guide!) came

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Equipment stored out of the water's reach

and joined us and as the drink start to flow, so did the stories and I think some things were revealed that may not have been meant to. Luckily no one could really remember what was said the next day, although Rhonda claims there had been a lot of Watford talk. (Not especially riveting for those not from the area!) Some new recruits arrived for our group that night, Nick and Veronica from Sweden, and we finally crashed out at about 1.30am, filled with happy memories of our first day of jungle fun...and vodka!

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