Blogs from Mato Grosso, Brazil, South America

After finally making our way through Bolivian customs we headed to the Brazilian border town of Corumba, the gateway to the Southern Pantanal. The Pantanal is the world’s largest flooding plain (20 times the size of the Everglades) with hundreds of species of birds, insects, ranches of Brahma cattle and the world’s largest population of jaguars. Our hostel welcomed us with a dorm all to ourselves and a pool to relax in after the brutal heat of the border crossing. Since it was low season, there weren’t many tour operators in the area (most use Campo Grande as their base) so we took the advice of our host who also had connections in tour companies and ranches in the Pantanal. With a 3-day tour decided upon, we wandered into town for dinner and found an excellent ... read more

Thursday 23rd January (Odyssey Day 76) We had a relatively late start today, departing at 1030. I believe the main reason was because we had to collect our laundry and it didn’t open until 0700. As it turned out, we needed the extra time because it was a bit complicated to get our clothes back. It was all mixed up and they tried charging double what was quoted. It certainly served to exasperate everyone. I was one of the fortunate few who got all my clothes back – there weren’t too many who could say the same (and there were a few people who got a shirt or two back the next day as people went through their bags and found more things that didn’t belong). We headed for Pousada Bom Jardim, a campsite not too ... read more

Friday 17thJanuary (Odyssey Day 70) We departed camp this morning at 0900 after taking the opportunity to fill the water tank, seeing as we are heading for a bush camp tonight. There was some arguments about seating plans this morning, and really I wish people wouldn’t come to me to complain. I get complaints about the seating, and then when we try and fix the problem I get more complaints about it all. It’s not like it’s a difficult concept, sometimes it seems like no one can think for themselves. Ironically enough (though not unexpected) it is the people who complain who are generally the ones who are being selfish about the whole issue anyway. The ones who do the right thing all the time don’t tend to complain. The bush camp tonight was on a ... read more

Day 2 starts off with a very hearty breakfast, still don't understand where this massive appetite is coming from, and then onto a small dinghy to cruise down the Rio Claro for a few hours, spotting numerous waterbirds, Hawks, Kites, Iguana's, Monkeys and of course Caiman. The weather is overcast, so it means the animals are a bit docile, but it also means that us of the fair skin do not fry and crumble under the usual mid 30 degree heat and high humidity. Once again Flavio is a machine, pointing out animals with his eyes that are so well camouflaged, that we have trouble finding them with binoculars. Our break after lunch allows us time to go through Flavio's encyclopedia-like mind and write down the names of the birds that we have managed to take ... read more

It is 2am, Sunday night, and we are in the Campo Grande bus terminal. The Lonely Planet guide said that this is supposed to be fairly seedy at night, with hookers & dodgy characters. But there is nothing that interesting to observe to help kill the next 3.5 hours till our bus. We arrived here at 11.45pm, after another fairly torturous day. Getting to the border crossing at 9am this morning high hopes were held of getting into Corumba, Brazil by 12. We got through the Bolivian side in 2 hours, but the Brazilian side took another 4 hours. Not sure if today was a special day, but there were a lot of Bolivians seeking visas today, the majority on their way to Sao Paulo. There was around 150 people to process, including 5 gringos, and ... read more