We left for the Pantanal early the next morning. After a decent amount of time spent on the road, what civilisation there was decreased and decreased. The Pantanal is located in the state of Matto Grosso do Sul. A state with around 2million people, 3million Caiman, and 24 million cows. The Pantanal is the largest wetland system on the planet and is larger than France and Germany combined. I was devastated to find out that we wouldn`t be visiting all of the Pantanal. It was supposed to be extremely hot and humid, but due to the recent rainfall, it was thankfully remarkably cool. We disembarked our transport at a lodge, picked up some fishing rods and went about sorting out dinner. Within seconds, my line was straining under the pull of a creature of truly epic proportion. It was stuck on a twig. Having freed it, a few seconds later, something actually bit onto my hook. What kind of a stupid fish would do that I hear you ask. Well I am an expert fisherman. Only one so skilled as myself, would be able to catch a giant kingfish, when fishing for Piranha. Our guide actually said it was the tastiest thing you could catch in the day and after having a picture taken with my prize catch, de-hooking it, skinning and gutting it (well the guide did that) I returned to the open waters. I think the fish must have guessed my expert strategy as for the next hour, everything took the bait off my hook without impaling themselves on it. For a while whilst no one else caught anything, I simply assumed that I had plundered the rivers dry with my catch, but then everyone else caught piranhas.Heading deeper into the landscape by open top truck we arrived at our lodge for the night. Along the way we had passed countless Caiman and seen some snakes, much to the despair of certain members of our group. We would be sleeping in hammocks in a kind of giant dormitory. Our fish was brought out for dinner (the Kingfish was more edible and larger than the Piranha, but we were also thankful for the spaghetti Bolognese that was on offer). There was a bonfire after dinner and some amazing stargazing into the clear skies, before heading off for a relatively early night.The next morning we awoke very early. Not that I really minded, as hammocks are good to sleep in for no more than an hour. We were hoping to catch some nocturnal animals still active. We didn`t, but on our wildlife walk we saw howler monkies, birds, caiman, capybara, armadillo, and a half eaten carcass of something that had recently been killed, and was now being finished off by Vultures. Returning to our lodge for lunch, some of the group went horse riding. I opted for some sleep and more fishing. The sleep went very well, and I can only presume that the fish had a public holiday because I found none of them. Walking back to the lodge I became involved in a brief altercation with a cow, and spied a number of Caiman sunning themselves near the showers. That night we had a farewell bonfire under another perfect starry sky, and were encouraged by our local guides to try distilled Cachaca, (the Brazilian sugar cane rum). It is actually a very good cure if you have a cold.I know I havn´t really described the landscape, and having come under fire recently for doing so I will tone it down a bit. Water, land, water, tree, land, bird, caiman, water, water, plant, green, blue, water, ground, land, sky, person, tree. You get the picture yeah! Very green and lush, lots of water and vegetation, and some very nice reflections.Next stop Bolivia