Bonito and the Pantanal
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2008
1
2
15
Trip End
Ongoing
La Paz,
Bolivia
Monday, April 28, 2008
So after leaving Asuncion we went to Bonito, back in Brazil. Wasnīt the most exciting of days travelling but well worth it when we arrived in Bonito. It is technically a city but only has about 18000 inhabitants so not much bigger than Wellington really, but it was set in some of the most gorgeous countryside in the world which made up for it and to be honest I had had enough of cities for a while. Must make a note though that one of biggest similarities between Wellington and Bonito was the sheer amount of rude boys doing uppies and downies in their cars. However, in brazil its so warm they open their boots so the music is that much louder and they play warcrime brazilian techno. nasty...
The day after we arrived we all decided to go on this snorkelling excursion in a fresh water river. I wasnīt expecting too much as I didnīt think anything could beat snorkelling in the carribean but yet again I was left overwhelmed by it all
Claire and Julie
. First of all I will say that the area was voted number 1 tourist attraction in Brazil by Brazillians themselves which I believe speaks volumes. Just try and picture caves, waterfalls, rainforest and crystal clear rivers.....Anyways, we basically got to swim for about 2hours down this gorgeous river which was filled with something ridiculous like 500 different species of fish. Not that we had to swim much as the rapids carried us down stream. Underwater it looked just like what you see in the documentaries on the rainforest ie you swam amoungst tree branches. I wont go on too much as I will include some pictures to help you imagine it, although I must add that they dont do it justice. Have got them on a dvd at the mo but will upload them as soon as i can.After a couple of days we left Bonito and headed to the Pantanal. The Pantanal is a huge wetland area, about half the size of France and is an absolute must for wildlife enthusiasts, particularly birdwatchers. We stayed in these cool little huts, suspended above the swamps and were surrounded by wildlife (particularly mozzies, grrrrrrrrrrr). For instance we were woken up by monkeys, went piranha fishing from the jetti just outside our rooms and there were caiman swimming about eveywhere as well. On our second day there we went on a tour which included a two hour trek through the swamps, followed by a two hour horse ride in the afternoon. I cant begin to mention how many different species of birds I saw but my favourite was definitely the macaws. The next day we went for a boat trip along the river and i then went for a swim by our hotel were we had caught the piranhas from and seen the caiman! I dont know what i was thinking (well apart from that if i was going to die it would be pretty cool being eaten by piranhas, lol) but anyway, i survived unnibbled.
