Brazil, Pantanal & Beyond

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Well our voyage into Brazil from Bolivia was enjoyable, we got onto a super Pullman class train and watched Jean Claude Van Damme movies until the army came on and searched my bag and eventually we woke up at the border. Tired, weary and having no clue what our plan for Brazil was (aside from getting to Rio on Feb 18ish) I was really looking forward to settling in a hostel and doing some planning. I did not actually get that chance because before any of us knew it, our fatigue roped us into going to the Pantanal. The Pantanal is something I was interested in, albeit from reading a book about it years ago, however it was not really a priority because I was more or less intending to spend my time in the Amazon later. However, we bargained hard, got a good deal and for $150 USD we spent a week out there with no other expenses besides a few bottles of 51. which is a sugar cane liquor that tastes similar to tequila and you drink with lemons instead of limes, even though we just used limes.

The list of animals we saw out in the Pantanal was impressive, I did not expect to see any anacondas or jaguars, only because, well we knew the tour operators were full of shit. We managed to hire a decent jeep out there and prolonged our stay successfully, the way back was absolutely horrible because we were attached to a group of 11? people and had to cram into the truck to get back to Corumba. I have no idea how, but I was one of the lucky ones and ended up falling asleep in a spare tire full of dirty laundry.

I got a bit pisses off at our guide for lying to us about countless things, including ETAs that were so incredibly ridiculous that you just began to ignore everything he said. However, the food was great, the rooms were great, the horses were fast and the experience is definitely one I would do again. The horseback ridding was definitely the highlight, there are few trails and the horses were trained (at least I presume) for herding cattle because they ran everywhere and got excited whenever we saw the herds of cattle. Thankfully no hoofs were caught in the armadillo holes.

Lots of nice people came and went through the farm, including the bearded Englishman and his one eyed Australian friend who were a delight to share a drink with. Our images of Australia being an outlandish rendition of Mad Max with trikes and pirates of the desert are slowly being confirmed.

Once back in Corumba, we hoped on a bus to Campo Grande (just in the nick of time I might add) and last night once in Campo Grande we parted ways, I to head North to explore the Mato Grosso province whilst Jord and Ry were off to Brasilia and then Salvador. Massive reunions are expected for the Stones concert in Rio next weekend!

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Photos

New Friend
Me and the Toucan, moments before he shit all over Jord.

Rio Paraguay
Waiting for the ferry at the Rio Paraguay, one group that arrived after us had to sleep on the dirt at the crossing haha!

Sunset
Sun setting from the farm we stayed at.

Tractor
Our sturdy tractor that crossed rivers in order for us to slaughter innocent pirhana's!

Guide
Our guide, Walter, aptly named Papa Amazon. He is nice, but he's also a god damned liar.

Cowbino's
Hidding from us on our horses, the pale cattle of the Pantanal know we mean business!