Brazil_Pantanal

 

“Pantanal is a tropical wetland. 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nuturing an astonishingbiologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping support a dense array of animal species.” And yes, the wildlife in Pantanal is really worth it, especially if you like Caymans (around 5000 of them in the region Matto del Sur), birds, monkeys, tarantulas and of course...mosquitoes! (I ve used a whole bottle of mosquitoes spray in 4 days; and no rest during the night!) And it s really realy hot!

We slept in a hammoc the 3 nights and made diverse excursions. First day we went and saw the caymans, and actually found out that they are simply afraid of us and try to run away if we approach to closely. They eat actually mainly fishes and birds, and surprinsingly otaries eat them. (see the pic in album). We saw monkeys as well, which was quiet funny, because feeling threatened they started to pee and shit on us from above the trees! (I was still holding my binoculars when being hit at the shoulder ;)

Afterwhat we had a tour in a small boat on the Paraguay river. Here is the fishing forbidden because of the pollution, but actually it is not even use to fish: a certain species of fish use to jump out of the water when feeling threatened and quite a few landed on the boat (one even hit the head of a girl ;)

The next day we went on a nice trek and had more opportunities to observe wildlife. In the afternoon we went fishing pyrahnas (according to the guide to a not fobidden area). We ate them in the evening, but honestly there is not much to eat. After that we went to watch the caiman during the night; it is nice because you see their eyes reflecting our lamp flash (see the black pic). The next day we had a horse tour in the morning.

I left in the afternoon with 3 other guys to go to Curumba, but as no bus wanted to take us, after 4 hours of waiting a taxi accepted to take us for the same price than for the bus (but well, we were 4 in the back of really, really small car...but was funny).

Regarding Pantanal del sur, I would like somehow emphasize the fact that in spite of a large number of animals and a rich wildlife, a huge part of the region has been burned down to favorize farming.

I was until yesterday in Curumba and arrived this morning in Sant Cruz in Bolivia. At the border you notice immediately that you re arriving in the poorest country of South America. And you can now forget about air conditioning in bus! But you cannot imagine how cheap life overhere is (my hostel costs 3,5€ the night for ex and you can eat well for 1,5€). Tomorrow I ll leave for Samaipata, a villagea bit more in the west of Bolivia. Afterwhat I should head for Sucre, the second largest city after LaPaz.

Related albums to the article:

Brazil_Pantanal: http://latinamericaltobelli.over-blog.com/album-1543384.html