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Pirahna Hunting in the Pantanals
Entry 15 of 42 | show all | print this entry |
Now that Marge and I have caught the nature watching bug, we wanted to take it to another level with an organised safari into the Pantanal. It's an enormous wetland where annual rains can cause the water level to rise and fall by as much as 3 metres. Considering it's stretched across an area as big as Portugal, there hasn't been a lot of interference by humans in the heartland, allowing nature to wreak it's dynamic best across the country. Jaguars, caimans, anacondas, birds of all colours and creeds....there is such an incredible abundance of wildlife in the area that we were confident even novice David Attenboroughs such as ourselves would spot a critter or two.
After a couple of hours of serious off-road bussing (this activity alone would be considered an adventure sport in most other countries, but in Brazil it's called 'commuting'), we arrived at our lodgings, perched up on stilts overlooking the Rio Miranda. Stilts on houses are de rigeur in this part of the world, as the annual changes in water level would leave your carpets a bit damp and your fancy TV a little bit worse for wear.
TV and carpets were certainly not the order of the day in the lodges we were housed in. Basic doesn't even begin to describe it. Two little beds in a cabin made from balsa wood, with walls so thin you could hear the guys next door thinking, let alone talking. And the bathroom. Oh the horror. I was deeply concerned when I saw the shower head as it looked like another euthanasia special, but was at turns delighted and disgusted when I saw that the owners had chosen not to connect it to the mains. At all. Thoughtfully, lest I think my safety was the reason for said wiring arrangements, the only electrical socket in the cabin was perched above the handbasin, giving us much cause for hilarity as our recharging ipods fell into the basin as we washed our teeth.
And the smell from the toilet. It would have literally caused a maggot to gag. I can't dwell on it as I'm in tears even thinking about it now.
Of course from here, the only way was up, and the rest of the trip was outstanding. On our first evening there, we took off with a group of the by-now-standard 5 Irish people on a canoe trip up the river (by the way, we Irish have become a bad joke. We are EVERYWHERE. It's nuts bumping into one after another as we've traveled around. I can only think that the census takers really missed a trick last year and we've seriously underestimated how many of us are out there.) We pootled along up the river Miranda for close on two hours, spotting hundreds of caiman on the banks of the river and bird watching to beat the band. We tried to ignore the fact that the river was piranha infested, and that it was by now getting dark and we were miles from our camp, and that every time a caiman spotted us, it would slither off the bank and into the water. Once you could put all that out of your mind, the ride was great, and watching the sun set along the length of the river was incredible. Watching the red eyes of the caimans on the river bank by torchlight as we headed back to camp was bizarre, and Marge and I began to develop a new way of measuring the relative sizes of one caiman to the other. As horses were once measured in hands, caimans are now to be measured in handbags.
'That one was at least two handbags and a purse long', piped I.
'Thats nothing - I've just seen a suitcase and a washbag slip into the river beside us', quoted Marge.
The following day, it was up bright and breezy for a breakfast of fruit and cake and then off on a nature watching safari with our guide Marcel and a family of 6 Americans we were teamed with for the next few days. Once we got over the fact that our side of the jeep seldom spotted any wildlife, Marge and I really got into it. Giant otters, more caiman (shoe shop after shoe shop), parrots, monkeys, wild boar, deer, armadillos, capybara....the list went on and on. It really was extraordinary how many species we saw - all wandering around their natural habitat without a care in the world. It was helped somewhat by the fact that one or two of the American group seemed to have bionic eyes and an uncanny ability to identify most of the birds before the guide could get around to it. And thanks to their sense of humour (suspiciously un-American) and their card playing skills that evening (Vegas honed I'm sure), the evening turned out to be an outstanding end to a great day.
The following day, we saddled up some horses and took off on a trek around the locale. Now when I say 'horse', I actually mean part horse, part donkey, which should in my book make them asses. But I'm not sure if they can put 'ass-riding' as an activity in their brochures as it could attract the wrong type of clientele. Asses or not, the trek was a different way to see the countryside and the full speed gallop we finally mustered out of them was great fun. Not a lot of wildlife was spotted, but we did get the chance to hike up a 32m high viewing platform for some outstanding views of the area.
That afternoon...well what else would you want to do?....a spot of piranha fishing. The river was pretty silty, but sticking a piece of raw beef onto a hook and dropping it into the river seemed to do the trick. Within minutes, we were pulling the ugly little snappers up onto the bank and imagining them lightly grilled with a bit of lemon. Which, in a matter of 60 minutes, was exactly what we were looking at. It's not really the type of fish you're likely to order as part of a one'n'one in Beshoffs, but eating something with such sharp gnashers that you yoinked out of the river yourself....well, it sure tasted good to me.
As we were due to depart the next day, we were 'treated' to a 5am start for a 1 hour hike through the undergrowth towards that 32m high platform to watch the sun rise. Up we got and we stumbled through the scrub and grudgingly made our way up the tower. But at 6.20am, the sun started peaking its way up, and we were treated to the most vivid, hallucinogenic palette of colours I've ever seen in nature. The photos don't do it an ounce of justice, and as Marge and I cuddled to stay warm, we both agreed that smelly loos or no, this had been the highlight of our trip so far.
Check out some of the photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/richard.mcguinness/PantanalExped ition
Latest Comments (1)
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The not so scary pantanals...... (reply)
Jul 3, 2007 06:46 EST by jesters
Hey you two..... David and I watched a documentary on the pantanals at the weekend and just so you're not too scared seeming the pirahns don't eat live humans and the camens don't either, so you're both safe as houses! The trip is sounding better by the week...have fun and we'll keep you updated on the apartmento!!!! xxxxxxxx
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