The Pantanal
Trip Start
Jun 03, 2008
1
21
27
Trip End
Aug 11, 2008
Pantanal,
State of Parana,
Brazil
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
In the afternoon we went fishing for Piranha`s of the pier with wooden poles. Our efforts were very pathetic, I managed to catch 3 Piranha`s and 2 other types of tiny fish in about an hour and used up nearly half a cow as bait!
Accommadation in the Pantanal
! The Piranha`s were much smaller than I expected but they have incredibly sharp teeth. Our fishing was interrupted by a storm which brought very heavy rain for about 2 hours. After the rain we went for a walk around the area and saw loads of fireflies and the worlds biggest rodent. We got to taste the fish we caught as part of dinner, the Piranha was pretty horrible and full of bones!!The next day we took a bus 22km to go horse riding. Along the way we saw many different types of birds, including a tucan, wild pigs, wild deer and a pond full of Caimans and fish. The horse riding was really good, went through woods, swamps, water and farmland. The last ten minutes two of us got to go full gallop on the horses through water and swamp, was brilliant, got soaked and a very sore arse but was worth it! After the horses we went for a walk around the area seeing monkeys and more birds. Had to go bare-footed as we went through very dirty swamps with the water up to our knees. That night I also got a bit of a shock when I got up to go to the toilet atound 4am, a frog had swam up through our toilet and was still in the bowl. I was quite certain that he would leap out, it was the most nervous pee of my life!!
The last day we got a boat ride down the river for two hours, again we saw loads of Caimans and birds, but much of the same so was a bit boring!! That afternoon we left the Pantanal and got a three hour journey by private bus to Benito along incredibly bumpy roads. Overall it was an excellent experience, especially seeing wildlife that you cannot see anywhere else in the world
