Massacre in the Pantanal

After the natural wonders of Iguazu we reckoned we were on a nature roll and should head into the Pantanal - the largest biosphere in the world with loads of animals, birds and fish. We first though had to take a 19 hour bus journey to get to Campo Grande. We arrived for the bus trip at 5pm to discover the bus we had booked didn´t exist and the bus company then proceeded to drive us half way and then left Maura, I and 4 other tourists at a service station in the middle of the night for 2 hours so we could catch a different bus.

We eventually arrived in Campo Grande and got straight on our tour - this included another 5 hour bus journey at the start. We were not amused as we had been told it would be a 1 hour jeep ride - damn salesmen! It didn´t matter though as the camp was brilliant, hammocks or tents next to a river with parrots and other birds all around. A brief walk around and a night drive were all we had time for. The night drive produced lots of caimans (crocodiles to you and me) some capybaras and a great viewing of an armadillo which was very cool.

Our first proper day on the trip was a long game drive then a boat tour. The game drive was quite uneventful with some cool birds and more caimans but nothing spectacular - that was saved for the afternoon. On the boat trip we went anaconda hunting when the clouds literally shot it - from perfect sun to the most amazing storm I have ever seen. And there was Maura and I sitting in a little boat as thunder, lightning and more rain than I´ve ever seen (and I´ve been to Scotland) came in from all sides. It actually got quite cold so everyone jumped out of their boats into the warm river water!

The next day the weather had calmed down a bit and so we went horseriding in the morning. Maura´s horse was the laziest fatist horse I´ve ever seen so all the photos are of her 100 yards behind with the horse´s head in the grass. We were lucky enough to see some blue macaws which was special as they are very rare in the wild. Other than that the trip was more about laughing at Cat our American friend as her horse was totally out of control.

In the afternoon we took to the river for some piranha fishing. Maura outfished me once again but at least I managed to catch something this time so I didn´t feel totally emasculated! The fun part was hitting the caimans as they tried to eat the piranhas just before we had reeled them in. It was a good afternoon especially as one of our fellow travellers had a cooler that was filled with beers. Proper American fishing he called it.

The final day was spent doing a walking safari and this was when the mosquitos became intolerable (all through the trip we had been eaten alive) it was ridiculous we were literally taking the mozzie spray and pouring it over the tops of our heads. All of my body was eaten to shreads and it made the walk a bit of a misery to be honest. Still we saw a cool armadillo again that shot out of his hole when we approached and some racoons and monkeys.

The search for the Jaguar goes on - I have now had 8 days in the Jungle, Pampas or Pantanal constantly scanning trees, searching waterholes and generally just praying for a sighting. I think I saw one during one of the drives home but unfortunately no one else saw it and my guide said "it was probably a large rat." Bastard.