Need to start publishing some photos

---

Ok, so i've spent a couple of days in the world's largest wetland, except the guide tells us he has never seen it so dry. I flew rio to sao paulo (sorry, i'm on the phone again) and on to campo grande - the "d" is a 'juh' sound, about 500 miles inland.
From there it was basic hotel with a fan and a dodgy computer, then a 6 hour coach ride towards bolivia. Then another hour up a dirt road to the fazenda, where we were greeted by a cacophany - mostly parakeets. On the way over i'd already seen a toucan, a howler monkey, a couple of rheas and the stork, along with countless herons, egrets and hawks - oh, and a caiman, but now the wildlife hunt really began! First was a tour on foot - we didn't see much, but I got bitten a lot! Actually that's not completely fair, we saw peccaries, agoutis, deer and howler and capuchin monkeys. My companions were an austrian couple, two german students and a mad dutchman, all very nice people.
Next day dawned a little cloudy, and we saddled up for a horseride. This time we saw toucan, and a coati (that's 2 of my wishlist) but the rain meant not a lot else showed itself. Next was piranha fishing - we caught a few, although the kingfisher tried to steal them off the hook! There were caiman all around, and the crazy dutchman and I fed them with the left over bait, although only he tried to pet them! After lunch it was safari time, but I was a little disappointed that we stuck to the big road. On the other hand, we saw so many animals, including giant otters - I hadn't expected to see them, and it made up for not seeing a giant anteater. Lots and lots of photos. The anaconda hunt drew a blank, and the nighttime drive back was not so great either, except seeing the reflected light in thousands of caiman eyes! It looked like a city at night.
Next morning dawned clear and roasting hot, and we went on a river trip, the highlights being the dancing caiman, and a fish jumping into the boat.. Then sadly it was time to leave, and the thunderstorm I had been watching broke..

---

Photos

monkey
now if only someone could train them to stay still for photos!

big stork
it's the emblem for the region, I think the local name is Jaibiru

vultures
not circling, fortunately

piranha!
who's eating who, though?

anyone for Guiness?
these guys lived up to my hopes

the swamps
...looking for anaconda here...

yea, through the valley of death I walk
actaully, the caiman couldn't chew these guys into small enough pieces, so they leave each other alone

Giant otters
meeAAA!