Fazenda Barranco Alto - Pantanal Lodge

... sellers that so typified Bolivia and its underlying poverty.<br><br>I had arrived in the town of Corumba and, despite sleeping for much of the train ride, was still tired. I immediately checked into one of the most expensive places I've stayed in on the whole trip (not through choice, just because Brazil almost has European prices) to crash for the night.<br><br>However, I could not lie prostate for the whole day. Oh, no. I had a very important mission, that was at the top of ...

... saw our first live wild pig and fresh water otters before they disappeared off into the trees, as well as a number of caimans who hadn't quite made it to the receding water before succumbing to the vultures!<br><br>After we got back to our camp from the walk we had 5 hours before our horse trek, so we all chilled out, had a mid morning siesta and played some cards.<br><br>Now I've never ridden a ...

... 15min late and I barely have time to pay my remaining balance and get on the bus.<br><br>The first activity is Piranha fishing from the pier -- apparently they don't fish by wading in the Piranha-infested waters as my friend claimed he had done years ago. My fingers are crossed that my luck is better than in the Amazon (refer to Manaus blog). First improvement is my pole -- made from bamboo that transfers almost as much vibration as a ...

... lang, maar goed, een beet van hun zal aanzienlijk meer indruk maken dan een van mij) in onze weg, die hij koelbloedig met een takje van een meter wegjaagde. De black howler monkeys waren overigens heel gaaf om in het wild te zien. Op de een of andere manier voel je toch die connectie, die familieband (en doe nou maar niet alsof jullie hem niet voelen!). ´s Avonds gingen we kijken bij de vijver tegenover de boederij (het had al zes maanden niet meer geregend, dus water was ...

... staff. The water was not clear but it was so refreshing during the hot afternoon. It was easy to dry off on the hammocks in the camp. Next day another early start to board boats for a trip down the larger river further into the farm. We were in a boat with 6 people and along the river at 8am we saw a lot of birds such as kingfishers and heron fishing in the river. We also got close to the caiman which were fed with freshly caught (by our guide on board) piranha so we got great photos of ...

... So I guess I can say I have swum with piranhas on two occasions! At lunch time it was sadly time to say goodbye to the Pantanal but as much as I enjoyed my time there I couldn`t have handled even one more night there due to its ridiculous number of mosquitos and as hard as I tried to cover up and always wear insect repellant it was pretty much impossible to avoid bites and by the end of our time I was absolutely covered and extremely itchy and oh so ready for Rio!!!

... everything which was an amazing feat to watch. Despite our offers to help and skip our morning activity, the tour and experience of the Pantanal went on as though nothing had happened. I spoke with the family and they have never seen a storm like that before... It did not detract from our trip but it sure mixed things up and bit and we both slept like bricks on the bus to Bonito..... We highly recommend the Pantanal to all our bush-loving kindred spirits!

... and Paraguay. As part of the Paraguay floodplain, it receives water from the Paraguay River and its surrounding tributaries. The Pantanal lies in a 140,000 sq. km bowl-like depression. Its flat terrain paired with seasonal rains cause widespread flooding. This results in a landscape of river channels, abandoned river courses, and seasonally isolated swamps, backwaters, and lakes (thanks google!). Carrying on with our journey, we arrived at a small ...

... a bus for the four hour trip to Buraco das Piranhas. (Translated this means fishing hole for Piranhas) It ended up being a six hour trip (Brasilian time once again! hehe) Then we joined another group and had a one hour ride on the back of a truck to the camp site. It was a very rough road and the bridges we crossed were in various states of dis-repair. (with hungry looking Caymen Alligators waiting on the banks of each river) The Pantanal is a bit ...