Northern Pantanal - day 3

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Day 3 saw us rise an hour and a half before the sun to try and track the Giant Anteater under the full moon. It was surprisingly fresh and soon clouds shrouded the moon, meaning that we had to rely on our head torches for light. Flavio found fresh Anteater tracks, but we were unable to track him down. We did come across some Capybara's, Agouti's, and crab eating Foxes, plus numerous birds creating the dawn chorus. On our way back to the Pousada we spotted a Blue and Yellow Macaw, a magnificent looking creature, and extremely noisy.

After gorging ourselves at breakfast (i think we have worms), it was time to do horseback riding, not my favourite pastime. Of course i got stuck with a horse that did not like being told what to do, and had an innate fear of water/mud. Each time we came across some a wet area of land he would detour 90degrees to find a dry patch and regroup with the other horses afterwards. Soon though he had no choice to get wet, as we crossed across a large swamp, startling some deer in the process. Once we had crossed to the other side of the swamp, Flavio spotted a Yellow Armadillo. A very shy, and surprisingly nimble creature, and contrary to what i thought, they have a soft exterior (not that i touched him, but was informed by Flavio). After somewhat terrorising the poor bugger for a few minutes while Flavio and I were trying to get a photo (Mojo was on lookout from her horse), we left him alone to go dig for grubs.

After lunch and a siesta, we chose to go for another cruise down the river in the hunt for Giant River Otters and to do some Piranha fishing while we were at it. We were successful in both. After fishing for 20 minutes we had caught at least 20 Piranha's, it was the easiest fishing i have ever done. Simply put a piece of chopped up cow on a hook with a metal tracer, attached to a piece of bamboo, and drop it in the water. 10 seconds later, presto a decent sized fish on the other end. The teeth on them are impressive, and only once did i venture to extricate the hook myself, leaving it to the skillfull hands of our guide the rest of the time. After getting a decent bucket full, we were soon joined by a troop of Giant Otters on their evening fishing expedition. They move down the river so quickly, swimming underwater for 20-30 metres at a time, making it near impossible to get a decent photo, especially as it was nearly dark.

More plates of food for dinner was followed by an unsuccessful night spotting expedition. We were shattered after getting up at 4.30, and i was getting a case of the noddies sitting in the back of combie while we trying to spot animals.

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