We left Rio the day after the Pope arrived, bringing with him numerous fresh-faced young pilgrims adorned with yellow JMJ backpacks and uncharacteristically cool weather.
Things didn't warm up much when we changed flights in Sao Paulo where, at 8 degrees, people were dressed in boots and winter coats. We began to wonder if we'd totally miscalculated with our lack of warm clothing. It is winter in Brazil after all.
Cuiabá, our final destination, which is very close to being the geodesic centre of S America, was bluer and we were met at the airport by Joel, the owner of our tour company, Ecoverde Tours. Going to the Pantanal under your own steam is possible but not easy and Joel came recommended by both Lonely Planet & The Rough Guide.
The Pousada where we spent our first night which doubles up as Joel's family
home, was very quirky with an LP of jazz or popular Brazilian music on the turntable from 7am to 10pm, 2 dogs & various family members wandering around, narrow single beds and communal bathrooms - maybe hints as to why it scored so highly with LP & RG, rather than with more upmarket guides.
Once it got dark the temperature dropped drastically and finding somewhere to eat proved quite a challenge. For a town of 900,000 inhabitants, it seemed incredibly deserted. Joel had been out that afternoon and brought blankets and it was one of the few nights in Brasil when we've ever felt cold.
The next morning over breakfast in the garden which was not yet in the sun, we met our travelling companions for the next few days, a young couple from Paris, Magali & Pierre and their four-year old son Isidore.
Our guide, Luis, turned out to be an interesting character. A single guy of 60, with a long grey ponytail, who originally trained as an architect, he had worked as a language teacher and tour guide but had always really wanted to be a sound engineer. He spoke excellent English, and OK French, was very knowledgeable about the Pantanal and held some very trenchant views. One evening we had an interesting discussion about modern Brazil when Luis told us that he loves the country but hates the people; thinks the governing party (who we tend to think are the good guys) is the most corrupt of all and what Brazil needs is a benign dictator. This is not the first time we've heard views like this.
Anyhow, back to the Pantanal. The 5 of us, plus Luis and our driver Engenaldo, piled into a VW camper van and travelled for 3 hours until we came to the start of the Transpantaneira, a flat dirt track that runs in a straight line for 167 km to the border with the next state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The Pantanal is roughly the size of France and is considered to be the largest freshwater wetland in the world and one of the planet's biggest wildlife sanctuaries.
Patrick is our knowledgable one in this respect but when we stopped by the side of the road, half an hour in, the abundance of birds & mammals was overwhelmingly obvious, even to me! Within very easy sight, hundreds of Caiman, (small alligators to you and me) lay alongside the water channels like discarded car tyres and Patrick had ticked probably 20 birds he'd never seen before off his Pantanal Bird Guide and we'd only just arrived!
We were there in the dry season but in the rainy season, most of the Pantanal becomes flooded and the wildlife is concentrated on the few remaining patches of dry land, one of them being the Transpantaneira with its 123 wooden bridges. When it was built in the 60s the animals used to congregate on the road and you had to chase them off to progress. Now they keep a safe distance.
We turned left off the TP to find our first lodge - Pousada Rio Claro - through woodland and scrub. Arriving in time for lunch. The farmsteads (this pousada owner didn't farm - other than tourists - but let out his pasture) sit on the (marginally!)higher ground, this one by a channel which provided bird life (and Caimans - and at one special moment Great River Otters) on the doorstep! Lunch - and all the meals - were very 'typical Brazilian' - salad, beans, rice and beef or chicken and fruit/sweet w/coffee. Soft drinks and/beer from the chest fridge (signing the tab). Functional, homely, and friendly! One night we had roast chicken and it was very nice - almost French! After some rest we set off on a trail from the pousada by foot. Some other guests pointed out a sleeping snake on a log in a pond! We walked through the wooded trail close by the water to a tower - Luis pointing out what not to touch along the way. Trees that send out armies of tiger ants if you tap them!! Climbing the forest wooden tower embedded in one of the tallest trees took us to above the roof canopy which appeared to stretch out to the horizon in every direction - "ah, this is what the Pantanal looks like". Engenaldo was on hand with the microbus to take us back to the pousada - as it was now dark - which was great and this became a common theme: Transport appearing wherever you thought you had to trudge home! Like having a car appear just as you reach St Albans Head!!! Some drinks, stargazing - no light pollution! - supper and bed with books. No TV in the Pantanal!!
Woken early by noisy parakeets, birds appear as I opened the bedroom door - beautiful red-headed Cardinals and an Emu! Wow - two more ticks in the book - and I hadn't even dressed! Functional, friendly breakfast and we were fortified for our morning boat trip. Luis and a guy from the pousada 'punted' us through the water hyacinth - sometimes it felt we were truly stuck! We passed many caimans, men fishing for pirañas, big kingfishers and jacanas running across the hyacinth (flower like ours - but they float!!) After a morning playing around in boats we arrived at the tower. As well as the microbus waiting we were screeched at by two Hyacinth Macaws. Big at 1.2m and a beautifully cobalt blue with yellow eyes - these really were signature Pantanal birds. Feeding and canoodling on the palm oil nuts! Ready for lunch again.
Afternoon was horse-riding and if we look a bit nervous it is because we haven't been on horses for 20 years!! Mind you these were the most tamest of animals - a breed left by the Spanish Conquistadors to make way for gold! They had adapted to spend half the year almost under water and to eat under water - the only horses in the world to be able to do this. It was also a relief to see the horse was unfazed by a caiman on the path! The next morning we walked again and saw special Toucans (Chestnut Eared Aracaris) and Rufous tailed Jacamars.
At the entrance to the second lodge - Pouso Alegre - we saw a large anteater gambolling amongst the ant/termite towers. The land on this estate was much more open - real savanna - and rich with capybaras, jabiru and caiman. The Toco Toucans and woodpeckers abounded and, at night two Great Horned owls and the sweetest little Pygmy Owl (it looked like a stuffed toy!) eyed us up.
More horse riding - putting up Nightjars from where they sat hidden and camouflaged on the ground and flocks of Wood Storks and Egrets - and 'racing' emus - they won!! (Kate's horse really was a slow old nag, this time around). There were some very big lizards and spiders around the lodge and probably good we didn't know about that the night before! This lodge had Dutch, Japanese, British, French (unexpected acquaintances of our 'adopted' family), Brazilian - quite international. Many were up and off on expeditions as breakfast finished.
Luis has a special treat for guests on returning to Cuiabá! It is an ice-cream shop with 100 varieties from local fruits - roast coconut, cajumanga being ones I remember! We dropped our French friends at the bus to Chapada do Guimares - spectacular canyonlands one hour or so away by bus for those wanting a different/complimentary landscape.
We flew out the next day - best not to expect too much from Cuiabá - no restaurants open on Sunday in the centre, museums not opening when they should and an airport bus that only just about got you there.
So - Pantanal: best trip yet! A remarkable landscape which produced a fantastic 120 bird and 15 animal species over our 3 night/4 day visit. The mosquitoes, splinters, ticks and extremes of hot and cold have long since been put to one side!