Having left the beautiful relaxing slow way of life of Paraty, we were on the road again heading for the jungle, the Pantanal wetlands!
We had to get 3 different buses including one overnight bus, but we eventually arrived in the small town of Miranda 30 hours after we had left Paraty. A little tired and dirty we located our guide at the bus stop and headed back to his house. At this point we were unsure what to expect. We had looked long and hard to find a tour that wasn`t the usual tourist bus of 30 beer drinking holiday makers making as as much noise as possible and scaring away all the wildlife. We had found this tour and it was just to be Bev and I with our tour guide Marcello. He was a native Indian and had lived in the area his whole life. He even lived in his tribe in the jungle naked until he was 15 and was adopted by a family.
Arriving at Marcello's house we spent the rest of the day relaxing in a hammock and reading our books with our tour to start the following day. We had a small sneak preview though, because as the sun started to set, the sky was full of birds. Just outside Marcello's house we saw several Toucans and even a few red Macaws just sitting in the tree. Very noisy but great to see, especially the Toucans with their enormous multicoloured beaks.
After a good nights sleep we got up early, packed up the van and headed out on our 2 hour drive into the Pantanal! The drive there was fantastic and provided plenty of wildlife. Sadly we passed a giant Ant Eater that had been hit by a car, an Alligator that had been squashed and a Capybara (the largest rodent in the world, bit like a giant guinea pig) that had all been left at the side of the road being picked at by the vultures! A little more interesting than the roadkill we get in England!
Carrying on with our journey we stopped at a small shack to have a drink. Out the back of the building a small river runs along the bottom of their land. We stopped to have a look as it was full of Alligators sunbathing and Kingfishers fishing, what a sight and we hadn`t even reached the proper Pantanal yet!
The Pantanal is the world's largest wetland. Pantanal is derived from the Portuguese word "pantano" which literally means "swamp". It is situated in western Brazil in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and extends into Bolivia 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 fishing settlement where we unloaded the van into a local fishing boat. We then left all our equipment with the fisherman (hoping they wouldn`t steal it all) and carried on down the road (which was a dirt track).
We arrived at a horse ranch where we would be spending the next 4 hours riding around a section of the wetlands. Before we boarded our horses though, we heard some exceptionally noisy Macaws and went off to investigate. We located them in a nearby tree and were amazed to see that they were the rare/endangered blue Macaws. They even hung around and allowed us to snap off a few shots! Very playful creatures and the colours on them where incredible, we couldn`t quite believe that these animals where all wild and weren`t from a zoo. We headed back to the ranch now being careful where we stepped as a few alligators had also come to investigate the commotion. Being wetlands the Pantanal is full of many animals but mainly alligators and Anacondas so we had to watch ourselves!
Climbing aboard our horses we now headed off into the wetlands. I did wonder at this point what there was to stop an alligator or giant Anaconda eating my horse with me on it, I suppose we just had to trust Marcello so off we went. The next 3 hours we rode through the wetlands, sometimes with the water up to our knees seeing endless birds that I can't possibly list but Storks, many different Herons, Macaws, Toucans, King Fishers, Eagles, Hawks are to name a few and plenty of alligators that seemed to get out of our way as we approached. There was one exception though as Marcellos horse nearly stepped on an alligator but luckily no harm was done.
Back at the ranch and a little saddle sore and a little bitten by Mosquito's we headed back to the van where we would head back to our boat. We arrived back at the fishing settlement and got in our boat and started to head up the river. At this point I was weary of keeping my hands inside the vehicle at all times as there where still plenty of crocs sunning themselves on the bank so no doubt there were a few lurking in the water. The boat trip down the river was again amazing, plenty of birds fishing, snakes and alligators in the river and thick green forest for as far as the eye could see on either bank. All we needed was David Attenborough there to describe it!
Now at this point I presumed we would go 10 minutes up the river and set up camp. 1 hour and 30 minutes later Marcello signalled to the boat driver to pull over at a small landing place. The sun was starting to set, the Mosi's were out in force and a huge round cloud was starting to form. We unloaded everything onto the shore and Marcello spoke with the boat guide. He then turned to us and asked when we wanted the boat to return, 2,3 or 4 days!! I then realised we really were deep deep into the jungle and the only way out was this small tin boat that would hopefully come back through alligator infested water when we asked. We bravely said we would stay for 4 days and waved goodbye to the boat and the last sign of civilisation. Without no time to spare as the rain and nightfall were approaching we quickly set up our tents and dived inside just as the rain started. As we had no time to collect fire wood and start a fire it was very dark and the only sounds were as you would imagine a jungle to sound!! Rustling, buzzing, crickets chirping, birds squawking and unidentifiable splashing going on in the water that I was convinced was an army of alligators laying siege to our camp. At this point we looked at each other by torch light in our very hot tent and wondered if we had made the right decision saying we would stay for four days.
The rain only lasted 30 minutes and soon we were out of our tent and collecting fire wood. At this point Marcello pointed out we needed enough fire wood to last the night as this keeps animals away from our camp. This fact certainly improved my wood collecting ability. With a fire now on the go we sat down as Marcello pulled four enormous steaks out of his pack. As we had arrived late at our camp we had had no time to fish for dinner, luckily Marcello was prepared as he chucked the steaks onto our fire and waited for them to cook.
Having now had a great steak and a beer we felt a little more comfortable about being in the jungle. I was still convinced something was lurking in the darkness ready to eat us at any moment. As we were only 15 feet from the river I kept asking if we were safe from the Alligators which I was assured we were. This did little to quash my concerns though.
As it gets dark early there isn´t much to do in the jungle so we turned in for the night as we would be up early for our first walk. With no bathroom we forewent the usual bedtime routine and just got into our tent and tried to sleep. I have never found sleeping in a tent that easy but when in the jungle its even tougher! Mainly due to the noise of everything around you and because you´re just sleeping on the floor. We eventually fell asleep hoping that we would make it through the night.
The following morning we were up early due to the incredibly noisy birds waking up. It sounded as though every bird in the Pantanal had come to our camp and wanted us to wake up at 5.30am. Not wanting to argue with nature we got up and had some bread and a cup of coffee. Still with no bathroom we forewent bathroom activities again and headed out in our clothes that we had slept in to explore. At this point Marcello handed me a machete which I gladly attached to my belt. He also had one but pointed out he had forgotten his gun which again made me feel a little uneasy.
We spent the next three days going for two walks a day, coming back to the camp for lunch each time. The walks were fantastic and sometimes lasted many many hours through, dense jungle, swamp lands, open plains and along the river banks. We saw many many birds and parrots, 100s of different kinds covering every colour you can imagine. We saw giant ant eaters, more capybaras, deers, ostrich's, armadillos, alligators, raccoons, giant otters and several different kinds of monkey. The most impressive monkeys were the howler monkeys who let out a roar that sounded like a lion. These fellas could be heard from 5km away! Those also throw their shit at you if you get to close, luckily we remained pooed free. We spotted a family of giant otters crossing the river, at this point Marcello imitated their call which they all stood up to and looked in our direction. It was great to see all these heads pop up and look straight at us.
Each lunchtime we would fish with our rods that were made from a tree and a piece of string and try to catch enough fish for lunch and dinner. The alligators would take a keen interest in your fishing and try to steal your fish as you are bring them in. Marcello said he could catch an alligator if we wanted but I wasn´t sure he was telling the truth. We never did catch enough fish but luckily Marcello had a ready supply of sausages and rice to supplement our meals. He had even some fresh fruit and salad tucked away in his tent.
At the end of our first day we were now rather hot and smelly and decided we really should have a wash, so we headed down to the river with our towels and soap. There Bev uttered the words I never thought I would hear her say and hopefully I will never hear again ''Nick can you keep an eye out for Alligators and Snakes while I have a wash!'' On guard with my machete standing knee deep in water I kept an eye out while Bev washed, I was unsure what to do if an Alligator did attack but luckily I never found out. Bev then returned the favour but I kept finding her looking for wildlife in the trees instead of standing on guard, so I fired her and gave up washing!
That night now a little cleaner we sat down to our fish, sausages and rice that had all been cooked on our open fire and had a beer and talked about what we had seen. Sadly the one creature that we really wanted to see had evaded us, the Jaguar! Even sadder was the fact that our bug repellent was acting more like a bug pheromone! So after dinner we headed to the safety of our tents where thew Mosi´s couldn´t get to us. That night we slept a little better but not much.
The following morning we were awoken again by the birds at 5.30am so got up for breakfast. We were sitting there just finishing our bread and tea when all of a sudden there was a mighty roar that came from across the other side of the river. Bev and I froze and looked at each other as Marcello rushed to the bank to try and see what was unmistakably a Jaguar on the other side of the river. All of a sudden there was reply from another Jaguar on our side of the river, sadly both were hidden out of sight but it didn´t stop me almost ruining my nice clean pair of pants. The roar from them could be felt in your chest and reassembled a jet engine. It sounded so powerful and deep that feels you with fear and excitement (more fear for me and excitement for Bev). Marcello at this point again cursed not having his gun with him, I then added some slightly obscener curses to Bev about him not having his gun. I quickly picked up my machete and sat there staring around preparing for imminent death. Marcello sat listening and assured us the cat had moved away. For our walks that day I was on guard with my machete drawn, heart in my mouth and extreme risk to my trousers but luckily/sadly there was no sign of thew Jaguar apart from a few giant foot prints. We did continue to see an incredible amount of wild life though. We came across a couple of cow boys from a farm in the area that had heard the Jaguar the previous night and were now missing a couple of cows. This news calmed my nerves a little as I though the Jaguars would have eaten and might not eat us now. Sadly the cowboys were hunting with guns to shoot the Jaguars if they found them as they destroy their livelihood.
On our third day in between our walks Marcello taught us how to shoot a bow and arrow that he had made from the forest which we were both crap at. Thankfully we didn´t have to rely on our hunting skills to survive. On our final evening having eaten our fish and rice we sat round the fire talking about the amazing things we had seen and what an experience it had been. At this point Marcello was in his tent, then it happened. A low, deep grumbling noise, almost like a truck ticking over came out of the dark followed by a sharp grunt. Marcello quickly said that the Jaguar was here and to build the fire up. Now never being so scared in my life we picked up fire wood and poured anything flammable onto the fire. Again we heard the grumbling followed by the grunt, coming from a different direction. Marcello was still in his tent listening, Bev was trying to find the camera and I was to say the least petrified and just stood there with my machete. Still there was no sign of the beast but we could certainly hear her. The fire was now raging and we all had torches shinning into the wood. Marcello had a spot light, shinning it around when he suddenly spotted her. She was sat on the path leading to our camp. Blocking our escape I thought but Marcello assured us she was just being inquisitive. Bev managed to snap a picture and take a small video before she slunk off into the bush! The magnificent animal had just come to have a look at us and had probably been watching us for a while. Her beautiful skin was incredible to see and the undoubted strength she had in her muscular body was plain to see. To see one of these animals in the wild is absolutely terrifying but at the same time an exhilarating experience! Safe to say I didn´t sleep that much that night!
The next morning we got up and packed up our camp. All of sudden our time in the jungle had passed and most of all we had survived. Leaving the jungle and heading back to civilisation was a little strange. We thought that a world war could have broken out and we would have had no idea. With no electricity, phone, tv, shops or computers we had been completely isolated from the rigors and concerns of ever day life but had been living by a whole new set of criteria for the last 4 days. It had been somewhat relieving to experience this and to get down to just the basics of survival, it was an incredible 4 days!
Now back on the boat we headed back up the river but not before stopping for a spot of Piranha fishing. These things really will eat anything! To put an urban myth to rest Piranhas do not eat people unless you are bleeding heavily or they have no food supply. They will pretty much eat anything else though including each other. So there we were in our little boat fishing for Piranhas when the Alligators took a keen interest and started to close around the boat and steal the fish we were catching. Marcello again repeated that he could catch an Alligator. This time we challenged him to do so as we were unsure this was true. So while one Alligator followed Bevs Piranha in to within several feet of the boat, Marcello stood up and coolly threw a rope at the Alligator. It had landed perfectly over its jaw and a 2m Alligator was now thrashing widely on the end of the rope. Our little tin boat was now being dragged to the middle of the river as Marcello sat there holding the rope waiting for the Alligator tire. After a 2 minute fight the beast started to settle down and Marcello was able to lift it out the water slightly for us to see! He then cut the rope and the Alligator was gone.
With the excitement of the Alligator over we continued up the river to where we had started and loaded to the van to head back to Miranda.
Having spent 4 days in the jungle, I got bitten by giant ants and stung by a giant wasp. Bev got pissed on by a poisonous frog and had a poisonous spider in her shoe. We both got eaten alive by mosquitoes and I even got a couple of ticks in my leg. We bathed with Alligators and snakes, saw an incredible amount of wildlife and were even lucky enough to see the Jaguar. Undoubtedly this has been one of the most amazing experiences of our trip if not our lives. At times it was hard, scary, smelly and sleepless but we do not regret a single minute as we have experienced nothing like this before.
It has been nice to return to civilisation though and to not have the worry about being eaten when you close your eyes at night....
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