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Published: April 11th 2008
Monday 7th April
Awoken by the lights being raised around 6am, and breakfast follows shortly after. Not long after we arrive at Quijarro where our transports awaits, and we leave Bolivia easily enough (taking the opportunity to change money at a good rate). We drive all the way into the town of Corumba before we formally enter Brazil at the bus station. Santa Cruz had already felt quite familiarly Brazilian, but now I start to recognise names/brands, etc!
After a supermarket stop, we head for the Pantanal. We stop at the Parque Hotel for a buffet lunch (includes rice & beans of course!)... I'm not feeling too good again so don't eat much. Next = transfer to the Jungle truck and meet Levy, our guide for the next couple of days. We head to our nightspot, spotting animals en route. Our accommodation is a farm in the midst of wetlands, the hammocks are arranged in a row in a barn. All looks pretty nice! Several disappear for a look round, but most of us relax into the hammocks for an afternoon rest. In the evening we're taken out in the truck to animal-spot, watch the sunset, and look out for
night-prowlers. Back in time for another buffet dinner and everyone's asleep by about 930pm (and yes, the mozzies were out in force, and I made the mistake of an evening shower)!
Tuesday 8th April
Feel a bit better this morning so decide will go for the optional horse-ride (especially to help forget being thrown off in Peru). We're breakfasted and on horses by 9am... Trying to avoid some of the heat! Horses are pretty calm, aside from Levy's, which scares Rachel's! Quite bizarre riding the horse through water which at times is up to the knees... We're on and off dry land though. Around an hour into the ride I feel something is wrong - everything goes black, then stars appear... I just cling onto the saddle as can't fall off now... Too much water. Next dry patch is some kind of hoo-haa. I want to get off for 5 minutes but turns out two Jaguars are fighting up ahead... They're in a dangerous mood so we have to get out of here. Levy lets me stop at the edge for a couple of minutes but we soon hear breathing/yawling noises so we have to go. We stop at
the next island, then are spooked by noises which indicate the Jaguars may be following so we had to keep going - took it one island at a time and didn't need to stop again! Never saw the Jaguars - but hearing was spooky enough! Levy was making me practise my Portuguese on the way back... I don't remember much though!
After lunch, and a couple of hours lazing in the hammocks chatting to Levy/Lila/Stuart... And having a '7 day tattoo' done on my arm, it's time for piranha fishing. Small bamboo rods, a walk (with Sereta following) to the bridge - and within a couple of minutes Linda has caught a fish. Others follow, all I seem to be collecting is sweat! Finally, I catch one, and head back before the others... This time I want a shower BEFORE the mozzies come out! Take time to chill with my book - head out for dinner/bonfire lighting before heading back to the hammock. Is another GAP group here and there's plenty of fun going on in the bar. Leads to some tension in the sleeping area but by midnight can go to sleep!
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Helen Cruz
non-member comment
Rodents giant size
Bex, the "campivaras" you depicted are actually "Capivaras" and in English they are known as Capybaras. They are large rodents (yes, rats!) and are quite plentiful in Brazil - here in Rio, we sometimes have to save them from surfing the waves, when they misguidedly venture out to the city beaches. Near where I live, there is quite a large family of these very shy, delightful animals living in a very polluted river along with numerous caymans, apparently quite peacefully!