Fazenda Sao Francisco Porto Seguro

Our last activity was piranha fishing this morning, before our long trip back to Campo Grande this afternoon. To be fair, Gabrielle was a bit happier and helpful today (but by no means what I would call happy or helpful!). We walked from our camp along the banks of the nearby river, to a picturesque spot of the river, which had a big sandbank like a beach, and a pool of water which had a big group of fresh ...

The first half of today was mainly travelling again! Breakfast was good this morning, with lots of fruit, and cake and doce de leite (yummy caramel stuff which Caz has been spreading on bread.... mmm healthy!). We had a long mini-bus trip to start with, but got chatting to the other people on the tour which was good. After about 4 hours we changed to a 4x4 and actually entered the Pantanal wetlands reserve, and had another bumpy journey before we got to our camp. We ...

Three days later, after a total of 20 hours spent on several buses, we were in the middle of the Pantanal jungle. Together with 2 Dutchmen, one Australian guy, and under the command of our rough guide called Amazon, we spent 3 nights in hammocks & waking up at 5:00 – according to Amazon, this was the best time to spot big mammals such as jaguars. Activities to spot wildlife included trekking – one of ...

... how nice it is to have the ocean right outside your window! I mean, if even the gas stations get an ocean view, it can't be a bad place right? Today we leave to go to Sao Paulo. I've been warned that this last flight of the day to Sao Paulo through Salvador is a pain and we may not make it all the way. That's ok though, because our flight to Paris tomorrow isn't until 16:00.

... result was a cayman shooting up from the water and successfully grabbing his prey. Often when we were fishing on the river bank, there would be a cayman about 5 yards away intently watching us and hoping we would treat him to one of our catches. Speaking of piranhas, I in ...

... day, I was cold. We curled up under the covers and got back up at the crack of noon. Our neighbors (some of the nicest people I know) had been collecting our mail and checking on the house. We had about 20 pounds of mail, 19 of which was junk. 19.5 depending on how you count tax stuff(we had to pay again this year, so I'll call it junk) We spent all of one day in the house before we left for Portland. I had to work for a few days down in Eugene (I ...

I think that we had a good time in the Pantanal- well, I am sure that we did, it is just that when I describe it, it doesn`t sound like it would be all that much fun! We got eaten alive by the thousands of mozzies that appear each evening, had showers with frogs and other various insects, waded through waist high swamp water with slimy things brushing against us, but it was great! We also did some horseback riding through the swamp (so only had to get feet wet!), went fishing for ...

The day begins with yet another frog in our bathroom, but we're glad it's not one of the caiman (alligators) that swim underneath our lodgings ... good thing they can't climb stair I say! Our guides take us on a boat cruise down the Paraguay River, which we have been living on the banks of for the last couple of days. They promise to show us some wildlife and stop for a swim somewhere along ...

After yet another 24 hour bus journey accross S.america (Our 4th one with many more to come!!) we arrived in Campo Grande to begin a trip into the Pantanal, a huge wetland area which is supposedly one of the best places in Brasil to see wildlife!! And what a lot we saw! Our bus journey to the camp site took us thought some spectacular scenery and as we drove along the incredibly bumpy track in our 4*4 we watched the sunset go down on a massive variety of birds and a handful of alligators ...

After the LONGEST travel day possible, Paul and I eventually roll into Bonito at 11:30pm at night - with no accommodation booked. You would think somewhere in the last 14 hours between the THREE flights and TWO bus rides we had that this would have been taken care. Well, welcome to travel with Paul and Aaron - it's always an adventure. :) Lodging proved not to be a difficulty in finding, but choosing (and ...