Into the Pantanal

Pantanal, Brazil

After another fairly long day of driving we arrive to the Pantanal at 6 pm or so. The Pantanal is a giant wetlands about the size of Nevada in the eastern part of Brazil. This is the best place in South America to view wildlife because it’s much more open than it’s jungle counterparts. Here you can see pumas, jaguars, ocelots, yellow anacondas, cayman, piranhas and many other species of animals that could probably eat you, as well as 650 kinds of birds.

We park Doris at a jungle lodge where we meet our guides Max and Paulo. We stretch our legs, pack our bags, fill the cooler with beer and ice and hop into a truck with a bunch of seats in the trailer. This truck will take us down the road about an hour and a half to where we’ll be staying for the three nights. The looks on the faces of the pax drop from dubiousness to despair once we get going and the mosquitoes attack. For some reason, there is a small band of about 4 kms where the mosquitoes are as thick as fog. Eventually, the mosquitoes thin out, eagerness replaces despair and we pull into the farm.

The farm is where we stay in the Pantanal and it is from here we base all of our excursions. There is a large room where we all sleep in hammocks, a dining room where our meals are included, a small grass soccer pitch with bamboo goals, a kind of large bamboo pavilion where you can hang a hammock and read or snooze during the day, a fire pit where we have bon fires at night and a stables where the keep the horses for horseback riding.

That night, after dinner I have a few beers and play cards with Andy and Leigh.

Leigh is an absolute character. A self proclaimed Scottish Jew, this guy is one of those people who is hilarious without trying to be. He sounds just like Fat Bastard from Austin Powers (though he gets annoyed when you rub your belly and say ‘ooh I’m sooo sexy. Look et me sexy booooddy’ which makes it even funnier). Good guy to have around.