Two days in the Pantanal
Good news - old camera started working again intermittently. Also bought a second camera in Porto Velho, so have some photos to put on the blog now. Hurrah! Bad news - internet speed here is horrendously slow, so photos may have to wait a while.
Just back from a quick visit to the Pantanal - the largest wetland area in the world (its as big as France!). But first a single photo from Pocone. We only stayed one night the first time, so need to explore a bit more before we move on again tomorrow morning.
Only a quick visit, made even shorter by the fact that our truck got stuck in the mud of the trans-Pantanal highway. Took a lot of effort to move it anyway and eventually we had to call in the cavalry in the form of a large tractor. At least we weren´t the only truck that was stuck. I think Sue and Star are working out what to do with this one! 
Pousada we stayed at was great: pool, comfortable rooms, good food, lots of things to do and plentiful alcohol.
A few shots from the Pantanal to give a flavour of the place:
On the 1st afternoon, we took the truck fursther down the highway and spotted loads of different types of birds (like the Savannah Hawk above). Also had our first chance to sit in the roof seats of the truck for a real good view of the area. Unfortunately it rained whilst we were up there which bu
ggered up the good camera again :-( 
Stopped off at a bar en route which gave Dave the chance to show off his samba skills. Not sure whether he´s going to include the wellies in his costume for Rio Carnaval. Saw loads more wildlife on the return journey, including two lots of capybara (a bit like giant sized guinea pigs).
Day 2 saw my camera in working order again until the humidity levels picked up.
1st on the agenda was a chance to go horse riding through the Pantanal. First time many of us (including me) have ever been on a horse, but fortunately they were very docile and everyone stayed on for the whole 2 hour ride. My horse seemed to have an aversion to water. Every time we were in the water it slowed down to a snail´s pace. It even regarded a puddle of water on otherwise dry land with grave suspicion. Maybe it was frightened of all the caiman around. According to Carlos, who was leading the trip, there are over 10 million of them in the Pantanal. Quite a large percentage of these were basking on the tracks we wanted to ride down.
Plenty of time to relax in the pool and have lunch. Also managed to catch the 1st hour of Middlesbrough vs Arsenal live on Brazilian tv before being dragged away (there are 3 gooners on our trip) to head out on a truck to reach deeper water and a boat ride. Carlos our guide spotted some coatis on the way, so we had a chance to jump off the truck and get some photos.
Saw lots more bird species on the boat trip with the added bonus of a fer da lance snake - one of the most venomous species in South America. The evening was spent drinking capirinhas (rum/lime mix - more rum than lime would be my guess), a bit of dancing and then a midnight swim in the pool. Most of us stripped down to underwear with/without t-shirts. Then Simone (name changed to protect the innocent or not so innocent as the case may be!) saw us in the pool and assumed we were skinny-dipping. She´d got down to panties only before we stopped her! Think there was a little bit of embarassment but not too much - after all she does have a history of this sort of thing already on the trip.
That very late night was followed by a very early morning walk across one of the islands near the pousada. Decided that I could get up at 05:30 and managed it too. Can always catch up on sleep later - most of the rest were going piranha fishing during the morning. Walk was good. Managed to see macaws, osprey, agouti (small rodent) and 2 lots of brown capuchin monkeys. Then back to base for breakfast and a nice snooze in a hammock near the pool.
Then it was time to pack up, load bags on the truck, and then back to Pocone. Quick stop for lunch on the way at an all you can eat restaurant. Luckily this time there was loads of lovely salad for the veggies and the carnivores had great big slabs of barbecued meat bought round and cut from the spits at the table. Poor Niamh got put off her food when blood from one of the spits sprayed across the table. Not the thing to give a vegetarian a good appetite.
So, for once, this blog is now completly up to date. Not sure when the next entry will be. We have 3 full days on the road after today, then a visit to another National Park, then another long drive down to Brasilia. Think all of that will take over a week, and time in Brasilia will be limited. Hope to post something in just over a week´s time but if not, then it will be when we reach Rio and that is 11 days away.
Just back from a quick visit to the Pantanal - the largest wetland area in the world (its as big as France!). But first a single photo from Pocone. We only stayed one night the first time, so need to explore a bit more before we move on again tomorrow morning.
Only a quick visit, made even shorter by the fact that our truck got stuck in the mud of the trans-Pantanal highway. Took a lot of effort to move it anyway and eventually we had to call in the cavalry in the form of a large tractor. At least we weren´t the only truck that was stuck. I think Sue and Star are working out what to do with this one! 
Pousada we stayed at was great: pool, comfortable rooms, good food, lots of things to do and plentiful alcohol.
A few shots from the Pantanal to give a flavour of the place:
On the 1st afternoon, we took the truck fursther down the highway and spotted loads of different types of birds (like the Savannah Hawk above). Also had our first chance to sit in the roof seats of the truck for a real good view of the area. Unfortunately it rained whilst we were up there which bu
ggered up the good camera again :-( 
Stopped off at a bar en route which gave Dave the chance to show off his samba skills. Not sure whether he´s going to include the wellies in his costume for Rio Carnaval. Saw loads more wildlife on the return journey, including two lots of capybara (a bit like giant sized guinea pigs).Day 2 saw my camera in working order again until the humidity levels picked up.
1st on the agenda was a chance to go horse riding through the Pantanal. First time many of us (including me) have ever been on a horse, but fortunately they were very docile and everyone stayed on for the whole 2 hour ride. My horse seemed to have an aversion to water. Every time we were in the water it slowed down to a snail´s pace. It even regarded a puddle of water on otherwise dry land with grave suspicion. Maybe it was frightened of all the caiman around. According to Carlos, who was leading the trip, there are over 10 million of them in the Pantanal. Quite a large percentage of these were basking on the tracks we wanted to ride down.
Plenty of time to relax in the pool and have lunch. Also managed to catch the 1st hour of Middlesbrough vs Arsenal live on Brazilian tv before being dragged away (there are 3 gooners on our trip) to head out on a truck to reach deeper water and a boat ride. Carlos our guide spotted some coatis on the way, so we had a chance to jump off the truck and get some photos.
Saw lots more bird species on the boat trip with the added bonus of a fer da lance snake - one of the most venomous species in South America. The evening was spent drinking capirinhas (rum/lime mix - more rum than lime would be my guess), a bit of dancing and then a midnight swim in the pool. Most of us stripped down to underwear with/without t-shirts. Then Simone (name changed to protect the innocent or not so innocent as the case may be!) saw us in the pool and assumed we were skinny-dipping. She´d got down to panties only before we stopped her! Think there was a little bit of embarassment but not too much - after all she does have a history of this sort of thing already on the trip.
That very late night was followed by a very early morning walk across one of the islands near the pousada. Decided that I could get up at 05:30 and managed it too. Can always catch up on sleep later - most of the rest were going piranha fishing during the morning. Walk was good. Managed to see macaws, osprey, agouti (small rodent) and 2 lots of brown capuchin monkeys. Then back to base for breakfast and a nice snooze in a hammock near the pool.
Then it was time to pack up, load bags on the truck, and then back to Pocone. Quick stop for lunch on the way at an all you can eat restaurant. Luckily this time there was loads of lovely salad for the veggies and the carnivores had great big slabs of barbecued meat bought round and cut from the spits at the table. Poor Niamh got put off her food when blood from one of the spits sprayed across the table. Not the thing to give a vegetarian a good appetite.
So, for once, this blog is now completly up to date. Not sure when the next entry will be. We have 3 full days on the road after today, then a visit to another National Park, then another long drive down to Brasilia. Think all of that will take over a week, and time in Brasilia will be limited. Hope to post something in just over a week´s time but if not, then it will be when we reach Rio and that is 11 days away.
posted by Alan at 6:18 pm
1 Comments:
Personally, I'd be very wary of entering somewhere called Pant anal!!!
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