Pantanal - MT, Brazil

I had signed up for a 4 day, 3 night lodge stay in The Pantanal. In the morning while waiting for the van the gentleman with the tour company informed me that the other party that was going to be at the lodge with me decided to go with the camping option instead and that I would be the only person at the lodge if I decided to stick with my original plan, plus it was R$100 (~$50) cheaper. The money saving of course sold me, even though I did not pack anything in preparation of sleeping outdoors. I left my thermals and sleeping sack back in Rio in my main duffle bag. The weather in Campo Grande was a little cool, but I was hoping that in The Pantanal it would be a bit warmer. Especially since upon arrival I pulled out my 1 long sleeve shirt only to realize that the last place I took it to wash did it incorrectly (it was polyester) and it was quite a bit smaller. The shirt was supposed to be an XXL but now appeared to be a small at best. I did not have time to go and get a new shirt so I had to put this on. It looks like a half shirt on me, the sleeves come up to about my elbows, I´m sure I look ridiculous but at least I´m not cold.

The ride to The Pantanl would take 5 hours, the first 4 by van and the last in a open air jeep. The ride in the van went by fast and gave me more views of Brazil. The road was being worked on in several places, every so often I would see road workers just sleeping by the side of the road. They take siesta time very serious. We stopped for lunch that had a buffet which included Brazilian style barbecue. This is where they have different types of meats on grilling skewers. I ate more than I should but it was really good.

Shortly after leaving the restaurant a giant anteater cross the road and soon after a capybara also crossed the road. Out the window I saw more capybara, some caimen, a deer, and a couple of tuiuiu (pronounced "to you you") which are large white, red and black birds. This all gave me a good feeling as to what I would get to see over the next 4 days.

We switched from the van to the open aired jeep for the last part of the journey. This part was on a dirt road as we were officially in The Pantanal. In a couple of places along the way we saw vultures cleaning up some of the wildlife that didn´t have a good day. Gotta take the good with the bad when siteseeing in nature.

As we arrived to the "campsite" I was feeling a bit better about me having to "rough it". There were several buildings, 3 for sleeping, 1 for bathrooms and showers and then 1 was the kitchen/dining room. The bathrooms had regular toilets and sinks and the showers had warm water. For sleeping I was given the option of sleeping in a tent outside or sleeping in one of the buildings in a hammock. Hammocks are nice for relaxing in the sun, but the thought of sleeping in one all night (without falling out) did not seem attractive so I took the tent option. They provided mattresses and blankets so it wasn´t that bad, also it was a bit warmer here so I wasn´t worried about freezing at night.

Once I settled into my temporary living quarters I went out to socialize. We were quite the international group. There were 2 guys from Germany, a guy and a girl from France, 1 guy from New Zealand, a couple that was from Argentina and Spain, 3 guys from Argentina and then a 3 person family from China. The conversations easily flowed despite the various languages being spoken. Discussions included things like types of beer, smoking, and of course the upcoming world cup.

It was a campsite so of course there was a fire. Gustavo from Argentina was the fire master and was very particular about it´s maintenance, he was very good about keeping it going. At one point in the evening Ling from China was teaching Blanca from Spain and Gustavo from Argentina some tai chi moves.

Finally it was off to bed. I expected to hear many sounds of The Pantanal, but some of the snoring from the various tents and hammocks drowned this out a bit. I did hear one of the horses go right by my tent just as I was drifting off.

There are well over 600 different types of birds in The Pantanal and it would seem a good portion of those signed up for the wake up brigade for any visiting tourist. Around 5:30am the birds would start up. There were many nest in the area, but there were also quite a bit of fly overs. Breakfast started around 6:00am so it wasn´t so bad.

First activity of the day was a boat ride down one of The Pantanals many rivers. The 3 guys from Argentina were avid bird watchers so this was a highlight for them. In addition to the birds we also sighted some capybara and a deer. Capybara are the largest rodents in the world with some getting as big as 45kg (~100 lbs), and they´re apparently really good swimmers.

At one point we stopped and got out for a bit in case anyone wanted to go for a swim. It was only about 8:30am so it wasn´t to warm yet, although the water didn´t feel too cold, but I think it was the combination of the piranhas and the possible caimen at the bottom that prevented anyone in our group from going in.

After lunch and a quick siesta we were off for our first hike. Our guide did wear any shoes during my entire visit. He said "you must feel nature". I´m not sure that my travel insurance would cover this so I kept my shoes on. Keep in mind that as we walked there were many fresh piles of poop from various animals. Including cows and some howler moneys. This didn´t seem to bother Max at all. At one point we ran into a very territorial cow that was blocking our path. Rather than challenge it we took another route. It must have known we would come back because on our return trip it had called for back up and 3 of his friends showed up.

In the previous wildlife trips I took in Ecuador and Peru I was spoiled by being the only person with the guide, so being with 6 other people was going to be a new experience for me. Now I´m no expert on how to make the least amount of noise in nature, but I have learned a lot of my previous trips. Here are a couple tips:

1. there are no stores, no need to carry all your coins in your pocket
2. for carry things like water, cameras, and jackets maybe you don´t use the noisiest plastic bag you can find
3. try to wear quiet cloths, the noise of your thighs rubbing together in your waterproof pants is enough to scare of anything in a 10 mile radius, plus all that rubbing could start a fire
4. you do not get some of your money back by helping break apart every branch you come across with you feet

I was amazed that we saw anything given all the noise we were making. Our poor guide Max would motion us when there was somethinng to see and people would come rushing to see and scare it away. I fully understand that it´s exciting to see wildlife in it´s natural environment, but you can see more if you don´t constantly scare it away.

We ended up seeing more capybara, 2 of the 4 types of deer in The Pantanal, some South American coati, both male and female howler monkeys, and I literally saw the back end of an armadillo. There of course were also lots of birds including giant parrots and lots of tocans.

We saw a number of different types of skeletons as we walked. Some were cows, some monkeys, and one was a donkey that we were told die as a result of a bite from a poisonous snake.

We completed the hike at dusk and our ride back to the campsite was not due for a bit so we took a little stroll down the road trying to get another look at the giant parrots.

Once our ride came Max strapped a light on top of the truck so that we could look for caimens. Given the number of rivers there are also a large number of bridges which are made of wood in various conditions. As we crossed one bridge we did spot a couple of caimen in the water. Of course everyone wanted to see and so we are sitting in this open air jeep on this rickety wooden bridge all of us leaning towards the side with the caimen infested water. Max turned his light to the grass behind the water and all you could see were little reds dots, the eyes of the many caimen just sitting back there. No wonder you don´t see a lot of folks getting in the water.

Another day another opportunity to view wildlife. So we followed our barefooted guide Max into the brush and trees to see what we could find.

We had just seen a couple of howler monkeys (I can now recognize their poop) when I felt intense pain on my upper right shoulder, like someone is using a cordless drill on me. Just as I´m starting to say "ow" the guy from New Zealand starts saying "spider, spider". These are the last words I want to hear. I´m envisoning some big hairy (of course black) spider with fangs that are now firmly implanted into my skin. I´m wearing a t-shirt and my previously mentioned half shirt so something was really determined to get a piece of me. I rip off my backpack as others are saying it´s a wasp not a spider, meanwhile the pain gets more intense. I did see what appear to be a wasp (on steroids) so I was a bit more hopeful that it was not a spider. Max say the wasp as well and told us to run away (too late). Then he says 20 minutes, which I assumed meant this is the amount of time I have left to live given the pain coming from my shoulder, that and the fact that I´m the only black person and we all know who dies first. He must have seen the look in my eyes as he quickly clarified that 20 minutes is how long it would take for the pain to go away. The lady from China quickly pulls out some green ointment which she brought with her and pour it on my shoulder, this did seem to make the pain lessen. I was a little concerned that perhaps it really was a spider and not a wasp, but nobody else seemed to be worried about this. The pain did last more than 20 minutes, but it did lessen. The area swelled late the next day and is still a bit itchy, but there does not appear to be any long term damage.

Apparently things in The Pantanal like dark meat as later that day as we were fishing for piranhs some very small fish came up and nibbled on my toes, it was the only bite I got the entire time.

After spending some time in Rio I´m off to see other parts of Brazil. First stop is The Pantanal, which is the world´s largest wetland. To get there I could fly or take the bus. The bus was half the cost, but would take 16 hours, but still this is the option I choose. The bus would take me to Campo Grande where I would spend the night at a hostel and then the next day head out to The Pantanal.

I wasn´t sure if food or drink would be provided like it was on the buses in Peru so I went to the store and loaded up on supplies. I love that the stores here have fresh baked sourdough rolls twice a day. I had previously purchsed some peanut butter (it cost me $7) to make lunches to save a couple of bucks and so this was put to good use. This some chips, water anda couple of snicker bars and I was ready for the road. I sat right up front so I could have the best views of all we would pass. We did go through some of the poorer parts of Rio but for most of the ride it was clear that Brazil was a pretty modern place and reminded me of road trips in the US. We drove past a number of companies that I´m familiar with including Yakult, Nestle, and Ecolab.

Turns out they did not provide food, but we did stop at rest stops about evey 3 hours. There were very clean bathrooms and places to buy hot food, snacks and reading materials. The bus left at 1:00pm and reached Campo Grande at 8:30am the next morning. It was not as bad as I thought it would be given that most of the right was spent sleeping.