03- 05.12.10 The Pantanal

I´m sure that you have gathered that Ryan and I are alternating the blog writing and to my delight, I have landed the Pantanal.

The Pantanal is a large wetlands the size of FRANCE(!) which spans two states in Brazil, the Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.  We were booked on a three day tour which included camping overnight, Piranha fishing, trekking (day and night) amongst other activities.  Originally we were booked to stay in a lodge but Al (the sales person) persuaded me on the journey from the bus station that the rest of the group were camping and that we would be split up in the evening if we didn´t.  I was reassured that camping was underneath a structure in either hammocks or on a mattress and there were mosquito screens up with no chance of tarantular spiders that I had heard inhabit the area.

Our camp

We arrived quite late on the first day as the camp was a five hour ride from Campo Grande where we started the journey.  We jumped into the jeep off the main road as a group of nine and started to spot the fauna straight away.   Over the three days we spotted caiman crocs, marsh deer, river pigs (capybara), toucans, macaws,  howler monkeys, tarantular spiders and a few farmyard animals!  It was amazing to see the animals in their natural habitat at such close proximity.

Jabiru stork - a symbol of the Pantanal

The river pig - a favourite of ours

Caiman crocodiles

Marsh deer

Jabiru storks nesting at 6am!

During the wet season, the water levels can rise up to three meters which means most of the wildlife spreads over a larger region but as we were at the end of the dry season there was very little water and the wildlife was concentrated around the watering holes.  The best part for me (and Ryan, along with swimming in a caiman and piranha filled river), was hearing the howler monkeys in the trees as we approached.  It was pretty daunting as it was so loud, almost like a spooky orchestra.  We saw several monkeys with babies clambering through the trees and I managed to get peed on by one of them.  Amazing.

Howler monkeys - adult with baby

The whole experience was enhanced by the friends we had met - the first ones really on our trip as we had only chattered to people in passing at the hostels previously.  Because of the heat there was a lot of time spent in the shade at camp and the banter (and beers) we shared with them was great.

(From left to right) Beer belly Ryan (his words!), Thomaz (Austria), Lexmy (Netherlands), Rach, Laura, Leon (UK), Mika (Germany) - sorry guys for any mis-spelling!

The second night brought some serious drama to the trip.  I headed off to my hammock early for a spot of reading when I came across a tarantular next to the door to our compound!  A TARANTULAR - my biggest fear (this was just after I had squealed for Ryan to remove the bat)!  Ryan ran over to check out the spider just as it was disapearing down a hole IN THE ROOM.  It was too big even for Ryan to remove so we got Ronny our guide to do an inspection.   I cannot decribe my terror in words but it is safe to say I slept very little that night.  The tarantular and it´s mate appeared twice in the night and I hear the next day that there had been a snake at camp too (although Ryan had tried to keep it a secret).

Bloody great big tarantular - spotted on safari (not the one from camp although when a piccie is received from Thomaz I will upload!)

The guides and tours were great although the piranha fishing involved little more skill than dropping some meat on a hook in the water and pulling out a fish.

Rach after catching an easy Piranha!

One of our guides, gutting a tiny piranha with a machete

Anyway, on the way back I wrote out a mental list of the events of the last few days;

Camping (in a hammock) in the Pantanal - check
Seeing amazing fauna on foot and in a jeep both day and night - check 
Piranha fishing - check
Ryan having to give me a piggy back through a caiman filled swamp as I point blank refused - check
Monkey peeing on my head - check
Swimming in a river with piranha and caiman - uncheck (although Ryan did!!)
Bitten several times by the biggest mosquitos you have ever seen - check
Sleeping in a room with TWO tarantulars and a giant moth (thanks Al!) - check
 
Had more excitement and drama in 3 days than we had had in 3 weeks.  Amazing. Goodbye to the cities for a while and rock on with nature.  Next stop, Iguazu Falls and Argentina.