|
The Pantanal3 Jun 2006
|
|
Floating down the river (no caimans here!)
The resident macaw at Pousada Santa Clara
Views in the Pantanal
| Fifteen hours on a bus from Foz and we arrived in Campo Grande. It all happened very quickly. Off the bus we were met by touts, one of whom mentioned a place that a friend had mentioned. 20 minutes later, Paulo and Maureeen from Pantanal Tours had booked us on a bus leaving 2 hours later for the Pantanal. Another 5 hours and the bus driver was motionong for us to get off the bus, it was a bit sudden as I though we had atleast another hour to go. I should know by now that estimates of time here are wildly inaccurate! Well Jaime from the Pousada Santa Clara met us off the bus. The final leg of the trip was an hour in the back of a truck to get to the farm. Not easy to reach but definitely worth the effort... parrots, macaws and other birds were flying about. As a working farm with about 1,500 hectares there was brahmin cattle and horses. Just outside of the main farm compound, Pantanal storks and deer came closeby. Various activities were organised, the best of which was floating down the river in a rubber ring and an afternoon truck safari to spot animals. My Africa experience came in useful..... took my binoculars and saw quite a bit as the birds were a bit shy and flew far quickly. Saw capivaras which were like massive guinea pigs that hang out in the wetlands and in the evenings come ashore to sit in the road with their families. Got glimpses of Pantanal deer, spoonbills from Argentina and loads of other birds I can't remember the names of. Turned out it was a good tie of year to go as the waters were receding causing the animals and birds to group by any water left. There was plenty of it though, so much so that the road to Corumbá was flooded and we had to turn back. Also did a bit more horse riding... getting the hang of this. The first day was on an old horse called Princesa who liked to plod along, the second day was on a much younger horse keen for a gallop. No chance of that. There was no way I was going to end up in hospital... we had a gentle trot and 3 strides of a gallop (I started yelling, I think the horse decided to take off so I quickly had to remember to pull on the reins and stop yelling....) all good :o) |
Advertisement 
|
