Rio de Janeiro - Campo Grande (and the Pantanal)

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So having left Rio without managing to see any of the major sights, although neither of us would have changed our time there for the world, we headed off the Campo Grande from where we were hoping to arrange a tour to the Pantanal, which are the largest wetlands on earth, not far off the same size as Great Britain! Our original plan was to try and do them on our own, making it a lot cheaper in the process, but we felt that we must keep moving and so figured for the time saved a tour was probably worth it.

On arrival in Campo Grande, a large town at the edge of the Pantanal, we quickly found a tour, one that had previously been recommened to us, which included one night in the hostel there and three nights sleeping in hammocks in the Pantanal itself. The following morning we headed off, taking nearly six hours, a good 1 1/2hr of which was along a dirt road in an open jeep, and it was chucking it down, to arrive at the farm where we would be based. That left just the evening in which we ate dinner, fantasitc homey Brazilian fare, and watched the caiman in the river right next to the camp. The following morning, not long after sunrise, we headed out on a jeep safari, stopping mid-way to go for a walk through the bush. We were recommended, due to the number of mosquitoes to wear long sleeves and trousers, however the only long sleeves either of us had were thermals or fleeces, meaning that we both baked while walking around, and to rub it in the thermals were so thin that the mossies could bite through them! Anyway, on that excurtion we saw some toucans, black howler monkeys, capybara (the worlds biggest rodent), many caiman, armadillos, bush deer, rhea (large flightless birds) and many hawks, vultures, storks and waders. Feeling very satisfied with our sightings of the morning, and after a monsterous lunch, we headed out for a walking safari in the afternoon, again with our thermals on. Unfortunately we didn't sight as many animals, mainly hyacinth macaws and other birds, although did get to try some interesting fruits, one a member of the avocado family and one of the coconut. Feeling utterly shattered we didn't struggle sleeping in our hammocks, and also having had the practice we have helped I feel!

The next day was started by a spot of piranha fishing, at which I think Dani was the best in our whole group, after which we had to go back to the camp to clean them for our dinner. I'm sure many of you will realise what a monumentous occasion it was when Dani herself started scaling and gutting the fish, and then even convincing other group members to have a go! After lunch we had a horse safari which we were both really excited about, having seen all the cow boys in the Pantanal already. The horse ride as very fun, and we did get see some beautiful scenerry, although after a short while everyones bums were really hurting from the horses starting to trot. Unfortunately, once again we didn´t see too many animals, most being birds or caiman, but had a great time none the less and hoped that the night safari would prove more fruitful. It did. First off we saw some deer and then very little other than a toucan and a hawk sharing the same branch to sleep, until that is, we came to a large pool of caiman, their eyes all glowing red by the light of the tourch. Once we were heading back to the camp things started to get really interesting, with a large wild pig in with another group of caiman, and then further down the road a couple of foxes eating something. As we stopped and looked harder we found that the prey of these two foxes was in fact a 2.5m long anaconda, my first sighting, and although dead I was VERY excited! As it was dead we were able to get much closer to the snake and found that it had recently eaten a meal itself, the wings of the bird still clearly visable through the thick body. Luckily the foxes hadn't got far through their meal, with only a small rip on the snakes body and the head pretty comprehensively chewed, and all the while they stood at the side of the clearing watching us with their prey! After a while of my proding and poking the group became bored and so we headed back to the camp, the foxes not wasting any time getting back to their meal.

The next morning was our last in the Pantanal and we had the much awaited boat tour. On the tour we saw a glimpse of giant river otters, jumping out of the river ahead of our boat, many beautiful herons and kingfishers, the ever present caiman and a dazzlingly green lizard. After lunch we had to start making tracks to get to the main road in time to catch our mini bus, the public bus took too long to get us back to Campo Grande in time for our next over night bus. The extra cost of the minibus did however pay off two fold, not only did we arrive back in time but on the way the driver screeched to a halt at the side of the road after spotting first some blue and yellow macaws, and secondly a giant anteater in a field.

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