We arrived in the Pantanal on the first day of December to absolutely sweltering conditions. We jumped in to our safari jeep and bounced along the dusty tracks to reach our campsite some 30 minutes later. We picked out our hammocks for the next 2 nights and then met our guide, Gabriel, who told us that our first outing would be a short trek, followed by some Piranha fishing. On arrival at the fishing hole we were greeted by some other inhabitants, Caiman.
Gabriel preceeded to inform us that we could cool off with a swim if we liked, I looked around for the Piranha/Caiman free pool which he was referring to but to no avail. The madman was suggesting that we join these very toothy creatures in their stretch of water!! Unsurprisingly none of us felt so hot that we jumped in; instead we put our fishing rods in to action and our fishy, flesh- eating friends were soon nibbling at the bait.
Dave's previous fishing exploits paid off and he was soon whipping the little buggers out of the water right, left and centre. My haul was slightly less impressive, but nonetheless I managed to hook one or two during our fishing session.
After returning to camp as the sun set, we ate dinner and then embarked on our night safari. The jeep was set up with a huge light and we set off along the tracks to spy some of the nocturnal animals of the Pantanal; nothing particularly exciting emerged, a few deer and a big spider, until we got out of the jeep and walked along side the water. We shone our flashlights in to the distance and hundreds of pairs of eyes reflected our beams back at us, Caiman.
The following morning the weather was rather unsettled, so we donned our raincoats and climbed in to the back of the jeep for a wet journey towards the River Paraguay. We stopped en route for some more Caiman spotting; it really wasn't hard!
The Pantanal is crammed full of wildlife and during the couple of hours to the river we saw lots of it, Capybaras, Armadillos, Ostriches, Deer, Giant Otters and a whole array of birds. During one of the treks off in to the wetlands we came across this little fellow; a baby Caiman, have your hand off in a second.
We reached the river at lunchtime and after a feed and a siesta we piled into a small, uncomfortable metal boat for a water safari. The fish in the River Paraguay appeared to prefer our boat to the water and tried their best to jump in with us, causing much hilarity and girlie screaming (and not just from me I might add!) Next on the wildlife agenda was an Anaconda, but the increase in heat during the day meant that they were rather elusive; only after a very hot and long search was one eventually found. He wasn't particularly large for an Anaconda, but this didn't stop the compulsory round of 'hold the snake' photographs.
Highlight of the journey back to camp were the numerous Toucans flying alongside the jeep, such amazing looking birds.
After another surprisingly comfortable night in our hammocks we ate breakfast and felt extremely lucky that this spider had remained outside of our hut.
Our last morning was spent on horseback, trekking through the wetlands. Dave galloped off on his trusty steed and got a glimpse of monkeys in the trees; while I was trying to control my greedy horse who threw a wobbly every time I stopped him from eating the luscious Pantanal grass. After a few hours in the saddle we returned to the ranch, ate lunch and were soon winding our way towards our next destination, Bonito.
Gabriel preceeded to inform us that we could cool off with a swim if we liked, I looked around for the Piranha/Caiman free pool which he was referring to but to no avail. The madman was suggesting that we join these very toothy creatures in their stretch of water!! Unsurprisingly none of us felt so hot that we jumped in; instead we put our fishing rods in to action and our fishy, flesh- eating friends were soon nibbling at the bait.
Dave's previous fishing exploits paid off and he was soon whipping the little buggers out of the water right, left and centre. My haul was slightly less impressive, but nonetheless I managed to hook one or two during our fishing session.
After returning to camp as the sun set, we ate dinner and then embarked on our night safari. The jeep was set up with a huge light and we set off along the tracks to spy some of the nocturnal animals of the Pantanal; nothing particularly exciting emerged, a few deer and a big spider, until we got out of the jeep and walked along side the water. We shone our flashlights in to the distance and hundreds of pairs of eyes reflected our beams back at us, Caiman.
The following morning the weather was rather unsettled, so we donned our raincoats and climbed in to the back of the jeep for a wet journey towards the River Paraguay. We stopped en route for some more Caiman spotting; it really wasn't hard!
The Pantanal is crammed full of wildlife and during the couple of hours to the river we saw lots of it, Capybaras, Armadillos, Ostriches, Deer, Giant Otters and a whole array of birds. During one of the treks off in to the wetlands we came across this little fellow; a baby Caiman, have your hand off in a second.
We reached the river at lunchtime and after a feed and a siesta we piled into a small, uncomfortable metal boat for a water safari. The fish in the River Paraguay appeared to prefer our boat to the water and tried their best to jump in with us, causing much hilarity and girlie screaming (and not just from me I might add!) Next on the wildlife agenda was an Anaconda, but the increase in heat during the day meant that they were rather elusive; only after a very hot and long search was one eventually found. He wasn't particularly large for an Anaconda, but this didn't stop the compulsory round of 'hold the snake' photographs.
Highlight of the journey back to camp were the numerous Toucans flying alongside the jeep, such amazing looking birds.
After another surprisingly comfortable night in our hammocks we ate breakfast and felt extremely lucky that this spider had remained outside of our hut.
Our last morning was spent on horseback, trekking through the wetlands. Dave galloped off on his trusty steed and got a glimpse of monkeys in the trees; while I was trying to control my greedy horse who threw a wobbly every time I stopped him from eating the luscious Pantanal grass. After a few hours in the saddle we returned to the ranch, ate lunch and were soon winding our way towards our next destination, Bonito.
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