Truckin' to Bonito

Bonito, Brazil

Today we take off for Bonito, but first we still have the rest of the morning in the Pantanal. After breakfast we get back in their truck and they take us to the jungle lodge. We used to stay here in the jungle lodge in air conditioned beautiful chalets along a nice boardwalk where you could kind of see everything without ever getting you feet wet. I enjoy describing the features to the passengers as they stare longingly at the chalets and try to remember what air conditioning is like. To be honest though, I enjoy the farm much, much more than the lodge as you’re actually out in the wetlands amongst all the animals and whatnot. When we stayed in the lodge, if people weren’t on an excursion they would just bury themselves in cool air in their chalet and never come out, whereas at the farm it’s too bloody hot to stay in your hammock and you’re actually kind of forced to interact. The pax go on a boat ride, which makes me a little nervous as the boat ride is not that good. It’s hot and you usually don’t see much. The boat ride usually is the first thing that they do in the Pantanal and because it’s the first thing they enjoy it, but at the end, they’ve already seen caiman and bird and they’ve already been hot and mosquito bitten and they don’t need to do it again, but it’s paid for, damnit, and they have to have something to do while we wait for our included lunch. I sit inside the air conditioning and read. Hee hee.

Success! They all come back happy as they saw a couple of giant otters. See I know what I’m doing.

After lunch we all pile into Doris. Steve and I have different driving dogmas. I always feel that if there is a safer route to somewhere, we should take it even if it costs us a little extra time. Steve feels that you should just gun it straight through whatever it is to wherever you’re going. My Mom is the same way. There is two ways to Bonito from the Pantanal. The first way is straight through on crappy roads where you have a good chance of getting stuck after the slightest rain and over a bridge that has huge signs around it saying limit 8 tons (we´re about 17 or so). Each time I’ve gone over it, I feel it cracking just a little more. The second way is about 200 kms longer, but in the end I feel is faster because you don’t have to drive so slow and there is no chance of having to pull Doris out of a river bed. After a bit of debate, I acquiesce, bury myself in the back of the truck and try to sleep. I really don’t like that bridge, but we make it over without falling through, though I swear if one more truck tries to go over that bridge they will be making a very awkward phone call.

Unfortunately, after the bridge, the road turns to muck and though we make it without getting stuck, by the time we get to Bonito its past 8 o’clock. We all get hamburgers in town and then drive out to the campsite.

The campsite is about 7 kms outside of the town and it’s probably my favorite campsite in South America because it has a river that runs through it with the most beautiful swimming holes I’ve ever been to. I’ll tell you about them tomorrow.