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Published: November 1st 2006
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...unless a piranha gets us first!
The jungle adventures where about to begin. We though we had seen bugs, we though we had walked tough terrain, we thought we had roughed it! Oh dear, we had not seen anything yet!
Having successfully made it across the border and to our HI hostel in Corumba, we set about confusing all the Portuguese speakers by rabbiting on the pigeon Spanish we had perfected over the last few weeks! The hostel was nice with a lovely pool and hammocks but completely empty apart from us and a guy we were sure was an axe murderer. This coupled with the fact that Corumba is an unremarkable town with little to see or do, apart from the dramatic sunsets over the river, meant that we decided to cut the trip short and head directly to Campo Grand after 2 nights. This had the added bonus of meaning that we could meet up with buddies from home, Roger and Amber, a day early.
We caught the bus to Campo Grande which took about 6 hours. The air conditioned bus, and surprisingly smooth roads through some amazing views made it a pleasant journey. We even
saw toucans and other wildlife as a taster of what was to come.
Once we arrived we found that Campo Grande too is unremarkable with little to do. However, it was great to meet up with Roger and Amber, who are here on a 3 week holiday. They introduced us to the rather fearsome Brazilian cocktail - the Caipirinha. Which, by the way, as a rule you should never have more that 2 of in one evening!
The main event was a four day trip to the Pantanal, a wetland on the Brazilian Bolivian border more than half the size of France. It is renowned for its abundance of wildlife and we were not to be disappointed. We decided to go with Ecological Expeditions as they gave us a free nights stay in the hostel next door. They were a great company and despite looking chaotic, everything always seemed to work out well organised. Our guide, Mario, was excellent giving us loads of info as well as a great adventure.
The journey to the Pantanal was by way of a 5 hour bus ride, most of the way back to Corumba, followed by an hour or so
Super Bugs
Cast member of the film 'Starship Troopers' on the back of a truck with pretty much no suspension! We arrived at camp to find our dormitory (a wooden shack with 20 or so hammocks hanging in a row), running water for loos and showers and a bar - who can complain! We later found a scorpion had moved into the dorm. Hey, the more the merrier!
We had to wait for the generator to kick in to cool the beers but after that we got stuck right in. Going to the toilet after dark was a bit of a drama as you had to find the loo with the least mossies, toads, frogs, crickets, etc in and then go as quickly as possible to limit the mosquito bites on the exposed bits! The first night of hammock sleeping was interesting with varying degrees of sleeping success. Vicki faired the best having knocked herself out with three Caipirinhas (yes - she did regret the third on in the morning!).
Each morning we were worken at 5.30am by some gong that signalled the start of breakfast. The heat and the noise of the pigs, dogs, etc meant that you couldnt sleep much past that anyway.
On
the first day we went for a trek in the morning. Mario took us around showing us all sorts of animals and birds. We saw the amazing Jabiru which is a huge stork and the symbol of the Pantanal. We also saw racoons, howler monkeys, macaws, alligators, wild pigs, capyvara (the biggest rodent in the world) and much to Ambers horror we even saw a little snake! We then headed back to camp for lunch and hammock loafing as the heat is too much for any activity in the middle of the day.
In the afternoon we went on a boat trip which was fantastic. It was just the relax we needed after our trek and we saw loads more wildlife; kingfishers of all sizes and types, toucans, alligators and many more types of bird (not surprisingly David Attenboroughs Life of Birds was filmed here). At one point we were convinced into swimming in the river by Mario - a pretty hairy experience given the abundance of nasty things! This point was proved by the noise of alligators coming from pretty much the point of the river Paul had been swimming a few moments after he came out.
The evening was filled with deet spraying to avoid bugs, Skols and the by now staple diet of rice and pasta.
The next day we went piranha fishing which involves standing waist deep in piranha and alligator infested waters throwing around chopped up pieces of beef heart! Not overly surprisingly Amber and Vicki were not convinced but made a valiant effort of looking into it in ankle deep water. Paul and Roger on the other hand loved it and Paul was soon scooping out fish after fish! He got nibbled by one - a war wound he is now very proud of! Roger saved the Vestey name at the last minute by hooking the biggest fish of the day!
After lunuch of (you guessed it) fried piranha, we went horse riding. This was an excellent way to see the more prairie like expanses of the Pantanal plus we all got to chase an armidillo...not something you do every day!
Before we headed back to camp we went and sat on of the open plains and watched a beautiful sunset. We eventually got back to camp about 7pm but our day was still not over as after dinner
Jabiru Stork
This baby needs flight clearance we went driving in a jeep with a flashlight supposedly to spot wildlife although it did turn into a bit of a lads alligator hunting expedition. The boys caught an alligator (bit of a tiddler) and Martio talked them through its workings! We finally went back to crash in our hammocks after an exhausting but amazing day.
We awoke on the final day foolishly expecting a bit of a stroll before the journey home. Apparently, they saved the best for last! The walking was heavy going as it was so hot and sunny and the bees and wasps seemed to be out in force. One of the girls got three brutal stings from a red wasp and everyone got just a bit jittery! Just as we thought we were on the home straight Mario strolled into a huge swamp that we had to cross. You couldnt see where you were putting you feet (sometimes it was thigh deep), we could hear alligators splashing near our legs and to top it off, after Vicki got a sandal stuck in the mud, we had to walk bear foot. Mario received some fiesty scowls from Amber and Vicki by the time we
Alligator Hunter
Picking up where Steve Irwin left off reached dry land. Not feeling he had upset the chicks enough, Mario then found some anaconda tracks and started an expedition to hunt it! This proved fruitless but fun none the less.
It was then finally time to leave on our bumpy truck ride back to civilisation. A fantastic time was had by all - all the dramas were just part of the adventure. We headed to Bonito where we hoped for some good rest and recovery!
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John Lewis
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All is forgiven - come home now !!