Blogs from Pantanal, Brazil, South America

13. Dezember Uruguay Heute fuhren wir mit der Fähre von buenos aires nach colonia in Uruguay. Es ist eine ganz kleine Stadt und man fühlt sich wie in Italien. Kleine Gassen, überall Blumen und eine Menge Wein. Es war ein wunderschöner Tag. Am Abend trafen wir die neuen Leute die mit uns nach Rio reisen. 14.Dezember Lydias Geburtstag Die Free walking tour (in den meisten Großstädte in Südamerika werden gratis "Spaziergänge" durch die Stadt angeboten. Man trifft sich auf einem bestimmten Punkt und von dort aus wird die Stadt zufuß erkundigt und man bekommt natürlich auch alles erklärt) durch das Zentrum von BA. Am Nachmittag erkundeten wir noch andere Stadtteile alleine und wir mussten feststellen das die Stadt viel zu groß ist für nur 2 tage sightseeing. Am Abend machten wir uns fertig zum Geburtstag feiern. ... read more

Choosing whether to visit the Amazon or the Pantanal is often a dilemma for people - you read that the Amazon is better for jungle whereas the Pantanal is better for wildlife spotting. Tomas and I are fortunate, we didn't have to make that tough decision. We'd already travelled the Amazon and were now visiting the Pantanal. We decided not to pre book a tour to the Pantanal before arriving to Camp Grande, we'd learnt from experience that it can be more economical to organise tours and excursions when you arrive (with the exception of the Inca trek which needs to be booked at least 6 months in advance and other highly popular tours). We arrived into Campo Grande at 8pm from Curumba (7hrs B$90 each) with no accommodation booked, which was becoming a common theme ... read more

Keliamės anksti, apie 6 ryto, pusryčiai 6.30. Pirmiausiai išplaukia vakar sutikti 5 draugai, po to mes keliaujam pasiplaukiot. Pakeliui matom tuos pačius žvėris: kapibara, kaimanus, pempių paukščius. Tada sustojam nedidelėj saloj ieškoti anakondų. Deja randam tik vieną mažą anakondą, sako nepakankamai karšta, kad didžiosios išlystų iš krūmų. Daugiausiai šansų jas pamatyti kai temperatūra viršija +40, šiandien turbūt net nėra +30. Tad grįžtam namo taip ir nepamatę didelės anakondos. Papietaujam, o po pietų plaukiam žvejoti piranijų. Čia jų labai daug. Sako, kad aksčiau žmonės plaukdavo be valčių per šioje vietoje per upę, bet tam, kad saugiai galėtų perplaukti turėdavo paaukoti 4-5 karves. Taigi atplaukiam į vejybos vietą, gidas supjausto karvės širdį, kurią naudojam kaip masalą. Žvejyba neįprasta, nes reikia spėti ištraukti žuvį, kol ji nespėja suvalgyti viso masalo, o tam užtenka 15 se... read more

We have been travelling for just over a week now. Since my last update we returned to the mainland and visited a beautiful colonial town called Paraty. I really liked this town. It reminded me of Antigua in Guatemala with cobbled streets and colonial buildings but it had the advantage of being on the coast. We went out for an amazing Thai meal on the first night and though expensive, it was probably one of the best meals I have ever had- shrimps with asparagus! My favourite. The next day we went out on a "party" boat. We were fortunate to have great weather and we visited a number of beaches and could jump off the boat into the moderately warm, but crystal clear sea. Due to its party boat nature it did also involve some ... read more

A private tour with charming Brazilian guide ‘Fabiano’. Started on the Argentinian side with a little train ride to the falls. It was heaving with coach-loads of tourists – an invasion of our space until we remembered that we were also tourists. First surprises – the Iguazu river is huge (several kilometres wide) but shallow with hundreds of little islands and it was surrounded by dense jungle. Having elbowed our way to the front the falls were spectacular and surprise, surprise John took hundreds of photos. Over the border into Brazil (the bridge was painted blue and white on Argentinian side and ended green and yellow in Brazil) and as Fabiano had predicted, the falls were much better – and fewer tourists. Walkways led to increasingly amazing panoramic views ( another hundred photos). Wildlife included vultures, ... read more