We arrived in Campo Grande by bus early on Wednesday morning. After ducking the usual overly friendly tour operators that greeted us from the bus we we made for the hostel that we hoped would get us straight back on the bus to the Pantanals. Thankfully they had room on the desired tour and bus, due for departure at 10am.
At 10, freshly showered and fed, we met our tour group – 2 Welsh Tom and Connie, 2 Irish Joel and Nicky, and another Aussie Katrina. We boarded our bus to the Pantanals.
The Pantanals is a 230,000 sq km flood plain that covers land in Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. During the rainy season, the Rio Paraguai and lesser rivers of the Pantanal inundate much of this low lying region. The waters rise as much as 3m above low-water levels making much of this territory accessible only on foot or by boat. The waters team with fish (most notably piranhas) and caymen (non-aggressive alligators that grow up to 2-3 metres). The air is populated with over 650 species of birds including Tucanos (tucans), Araras (blue parots) and other brightly colored parots, storks, wood-peckers and larger preditorial birds (jabery). Land animals include panteras (pantha – very rare), capybara (worlds largest rodent and looks like a wombat), Armadillo (almost ran over the 1st one we saw on the final day) and the howler monkey. Howler monkeys live in the tops of the trees and make an industrial sized and spine tingling howl reminiscent of a distressed chainsaw taking to a fa!mily of yodelers. Karyn wishes to note she thinks howler monkers sound like a pack of jaguars ripping open live human (and very vocal – no doubt Greek or Italian) prey.
The bus was intercepted by a ford ute that drove us the remaining 45 min alonh dusty tracks to the Sante Clara farm. We unloaded and were greeted by our tour guide Trudy, an Australian who married a Brizilian (Carlos) and has lived in the Pantanals for 5 years. From Trudy´s abrupt manner and relentless efficiancy we figure she must have been a school teacher in Australia before her `breakdown´ (marrying a Brazilian and moving to the Pantanals). Karyn attempted to extract more personal history from her but her answers indicated she was sick of Aussies interrogating her.
Thursday saw a 5am start on the back of the utetrying to beat the sunrise. The roads through the Pantanals are effectively dykes with marshland either side. We walked through palm groves as the sun rose waking the howler monkeys that began their terrible screaming. We gazed endlessly at thge tree-tops hoping to spot monkeys, anacondas, tucanos and maybe a pantha. We did see a hand-full of howler monkeys and two tucanos at distance (all in the tree-tops) and some capybaras running away from us.
We were a little disappointed that the wildlife experience did not live up to our expectations, set rediculously high by our Chobe experience. I guess we hoped to see panthas feasting on capybaras while howler monkeys (with oversized tucans on their shoulders) lamented the dead from the canopy above.
In the afternoon we took the boats out for a spot of piranha fishing. We used rotten beef as bait and a length of bamboo for a rod. The piranhas attacked our bait with unchecked ferocity and I caught 2 smallish piranhas, Karyn catching a piranha and a sardine. We were told it is safe to swim with the piranha so long as you are not bleeding (nor have any rotting limbs), however I passed the opportunity to swim citing mossie bights I had scratched – read a book instead. We were told it´s also safe to swim with the Caymen as they aren´t aggressive and mainly eat fish – I was happy to watch the Irish test out that assertion.
Other Pantanal activities included a similarly unyeilding wildlife bush-walk (a couple more monkeys, capybaras and birds) and horse riding. My horse was a temperamental and truculent creature called Bonacca who was disrespectful of authority (mine at least) and spiteful towards the other beasts frequently trying to bight their necks.
The Pantanals is heralded as offering a density of wildlife found nowhere else in South America. However we didn´t realize that this is particularly so during the rainy season – when all the animals are stranded (concentrated) on the little remaining dry lands – or at the end of the dry season when they´re gathered around the few remaining water holes.
However, we did love a few days of:1. Reading in hammocks with countless varieties of brightly colored birds in the surrounding trees.2. The resident bush-pig (pumba without horns) entertaining us with her antics (including copulating with the farm fog – initiated by the dog but seemingly consentual).3. The antics of the resident parrot that spent much of its time in the chapel by the crucifix, hopefully praying for the pig.
It´s worth mentioning that I survived electrocution having attempted to adjust the shower head while under the shower. Most shower heads in South America have electric heating elements inside them (I now know) making the entire unit live (it would electrocute your head except for the broken fall of the water!). Thankfully the shower doused the flames of my burning hand.
On Saturday afternoon (after uneventful river safari) we caught bus further north-west to the Corumba, near the Bolivian border.
At 10, freshly showered and fed, we met our tour group – 2 Welsh Tom and Connie, 2 Irish Joel and Nicky, and another Aussie Katrina. We boarded our bus to the Pantanals.
The Pantanals is a 230,000 sq km flood plain that covers land in Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. During the rainy season, the Rio Paraguai and lesser rivers of the Pantanal inundate much of this low lying region. The waters rise as much as 3m above low-water levels making much of this territory accessible only on foot or by boat. The waters team with fish (most notably piranhas) and caymen (non-aggressive alligators that grow up to 2-3 metres). The air is populated with over 650 species of birds including Tucanos (tucans), Araras (blue parots) and other brightly colored parots, storks, wood-peckers and larger preditorial birds (jabery). Land animals include panteras (pantha – very rare), capybara (worlds largest rodent and looks like a wombat), Armadillo (almost ran over the 1st one we saw on the final day) and the howler monkey. Howler monkeys live in the tops of the trees and make an industrial sized and spine tingling howl reminiscent of a distressed chainsaw taking to a fa!mily of yodelers. Karyn wishes to note she thinks howler monkers sound like a pack of jaguars ripping open live human (and very vocal – no doubt Greek or Italian) prey.
The bus was intercepted by a ford ute that drove us the remaining 45 min alonh dusty tracks to the Sante Clara farm. We unloaded and were greeted by our tour guide Trudy, an Australian who married a Brizilian (Carlos) and has lived in the Pantanals for 5 years. From Trudy´s abrupt manner and relentless efficiancy we figure she must have been a school teacher in Australia before her `breakdown´ (marrying a Brazilian and moving to the Pantanals). Karyn attempted to extract more personal history from her but her answers indicated she was sick of Aussies interrogating her.
Thursday saw a 5am start on the back of the utetrying to beat the sunrise. The roads through the Pantanals are effectively dykes with marshland either side. We walked through palm groves as the sun rose waking the howler monkeys that began their terrible screaming. We gazed endlessly at thge tree-tops hoping to spot monkeys, anacondas, tucanos and maybe a pantha. We did see a hand-full of howler monkeys and two tucanos at distance (all in the tree-tops) and some capybaras running away from us.
We were a little disappointed that the wildlife experience did not live up to our expectations, set rediculously high by our Chobe experience. I guess we hoped to see panthas feasting on capybaras while howler monkeys (with oversized tucans on their shoulders) lamented the dead from the canopy above.
In the afternoon we took the boats out for a spot of piranha fishing. We used rotten beef as bait and a length of bamboo for a rod. The piranhas attacked our bait with unchecked ferocity and I caught 2 smallish piranhas, Karyn catching a piranha and a sardine. We were told it is safe to swim with the piranha so long as you are not bleeding (nor have any rotting limbs), however I passed the opportunity to swim citing mossie bights I had scratched – read a book instead. We were told it´s also safe to swim with the Caymen as they aren´t aggressive and mainly eat fish – I was happy to watch the Irish test out that assertion.
Other Pantanal activities included a similarly unyeilding wildlife bush-walk (a couple more monkeys, capybaras and birds) and horse riding. My horse was a temperamental and truculent creature called Bonacca who was disrespectful of authority (mine at least) and spiteful towards the other beasts frequently trying to bight their necks.
The Pantanals is heralded as offering a density of wildlife found nowhere else in South America. However we didn´t realize that this is particularly so during the rainy season – when all the animals are stranded (concentrated) on the little remaining dry lands – or at the end of the dry season when they´re gathered around the few remaining water holes.
However, we did love a few days of:1. Reading in hammocks with countless varieties of brightly colored birds in the surrounding trees.2. The resident bush-pig (pumba without horns) entertaining us with her antics (including copulating with the farm fog – initiated by the dog but seemingly consentual).3. The antics of the resident parrot that spent much of its time in the chapel by the crucifix, hopefully praying for the pig.
It´s worth mentioning that I survived electrocution having attempted to adjust the shower head while under the shower. Most shower heads in South America have electric heating elements inside them (I now know) making the entire unit live (it would electrocute your head except for the broken fall of the water!). Thankfully the shower doused the flames of my burning hand.
On Saturday afternoon (after uneventful river safari) we caught bus further north-west to the Corumba, near the Bolivian border.
3 comments:
My goodness, do you have to go all the way to South America to catch fish that size? Even in Corio Bay you can get them bigger than that!
Yes, but do fish that size eat you in Corio Bay? Apparently they can grow up to 40cm.
Nothing beats Chobe except some farm in South Texas that I visited and it had Zebras I took some photos for you Karyn. The Americans that I was with was horrified when I was day dreaming about having a Zebra skin.
Post a Comment