The biggest wetland in the world certainly did not disappoint. After our 15 hour coach ride from Sao Paulo we arrived at Campo Grande met by Ronaldo (of course) to arrange for our trip to the hostel and promote the pantanal tours. Having arrived at 9.45am we were told if we wanted to go the pantanal that day we could, but had to decide by 10.30am. With no cash, having spoken to no other tours agencies and no real idea what was going on we thought why not so off the to pantanal (via a cashpoint which thankfully worked using a travel card) we went meaning another 5 hour journey to the edge of the pantanal followed by 2 hours ´jeep` ride along a rather stony road.

Despite the 20+ hours of travelling it was worth it as on the journey alone we saw literally hundreds of caimen, capybarra, deer, monkeys, rhia, great ibis, storks, eagles, toucans etc... We also had our first glimpse of the rains in the wet season as 10 minute torrential downpours soaked everything, only to be dried by boiler sun 10 minutes later before repeating the process again. The journey was however briefly interrupted by some cowboys who were moving there 1400 cattle south in anticipation of the rainy season. After we had negotiated our way through we found a baby calf tied to a post some 2km further on- it had been abandoned by the cowboys as it was too weak to continue and seemed certain for a nasty end with a jaguar. However, Fabian our guide decided we could save the calf and so a machete swipe later he was free (well dumped in the bank of the jeep with us). Fabians reward for such an act was to be urninated on by the calf as he hugged it.

Having ensured all passengers were left with no feeling in our derriers we arrived at the Paraguay river, and a short boat ride later at our lodge which seemed remarkably pleasant considering the location. After a well needed shower and dinner it was time for the night safari. Although relatively uneventful watching the caimens eyes light up everywhere was a pretty cool sight as the river glittered like a disco ball. That evening gave us an opportunity to meet the rest of the group consisting of a Swede (Lena), Fin (Tina), Spaniard (William) and Dutch couple (Kim + Laurel?) - but we retired early as a 6am start approached.

Our buffet breakfast was followed by Anaconda hunting, which consisted of a boat ride up river followed by a trek along sandy banks and wading through caimen, anaconda and pirahna infested water trying to find giant snakes. Unfortunately, the anacondas were not to be seen but plenty of other fauna was. After more caimen, capybarra storks, jabarus eagles and king fishers the calm boat was suddenly rocked by a jumping Harriet - the cause was a school of fish that had jumped out of the water with one individual hitting Harriet in the shoulder and landing in the boat.

Unfortunately for the fish he was killed and with some serious waving from Fabian the nearest eagle was offered an easy breakfast. As the dead fish hit the water the eagle swooped down for one of his easier meals right in front of us before returning to his perch.

A little further on and we found a romp of giant otters (yes romp is the collective term for otters), 8 in total. The romp glided through the water seemingly plucking up fish before ripping them to pieces with their sharp teeth. We watched them for around 10 minutes and they even left the water for a short while so we could appreciate their size. They are meant to be the most aggressive animal in the waters and have earned the name ´river jaguar´so of course we went as close as possible.

We returned to the lodge and had a few hours to kill relaxing before the pirahna fishing at 3pm. It seems pirahna fishing requires only a basic level of equipment as our stick, line, hook and bait was placed about 1m from the waters edge and seemed to work. Despite my best efforts in the 45 minutes i could handle in the sun i didnt get a single fish, whilst Harriet on her first cast caught a small catfish which was released, and a pirahna on her second, which was landed and then flapped back to the safety of the water. From there it was a relatively quiet affair as only 3 fish were landed between 7 of us. WIth the sun burning a flip flop outline into my feet we decided a swim just where we were fishing was required and cooled off, before Kim suggested that we swim across the entire width of the river. Im still not quite sure how i survived as i nearly drowned yet alone considering the caimen, giant otters and pirahna that infested the water.

That evening we ate the pirahna and were also met by Olly (Australian) and Ruben (Dutch) who joined the party as we played cards and pool and had a few beers to cap off the day, We were also met by a boring version of Mr Chow from the Hangover, identicle in looks, style and voice but from Bolivia??!!

The agenda for the next day was jeep safari (which meant 2 hours back down the only road out of the pantanal) followed by a 1 and a half hour hike and then horseriding. A fairly uneventful hike was interrupted by sightings of howler monkeys and a caotis - either the constant talking of Mr Chow or pungeant sweat smell from me seemed to keep the amimals at bay.

We relaxed at a campsite as we waited for lunch before saying our goodbyes to everyone in the group who were only on a 3 day tour and heading off on our horseride. Fabian, Harriet and I were given our stallions and headed off into the middle of nowhere - we found some blue macaws and eagles but the focus for me was hanging on, especially as my boots were too big for the stirrups so only my knees and grip on a rope kept me on top. The end of the 1 and a half hour ride involved both me and Harriet trying to get our horses to stop galloping and even running as they knew we were nearing home - not an experience i will forget anytime soon. When we returned to the lodge Olly and Ruben had had more luck pirahna fishing than we did the day before and brought 9 fish to the table between them. A BBQ was also lit for a locals birthday and we were told by Fabian that his neighbours had got back together having 2 days earlier split up after 15 years of marriage because the bloke had sold their cow which they had had for 2 months to buy beer!

The next morning we changed guide and set off with Olly and Ruben for a repeat of the morning before with a jeep safari and trek we spotted more toucans and monkeys and red macaws before i was kindly given the name sweat man for the rest of the day. Rather than return to a campsite we found ourselves dropped off at a house where we would wait for a few hours for the right time to get a bus out to Bonito. 20 minutes in we were told the jeep was needed elsewhere but would return in 10 minutes - having known the guide for a few days we let him drive off with all our belongings in the rear... After 45 mintutes in 38 degrees celcius hea and no sign of our jeep we decided to try and sleep under a tree as there was nothing else to do. Our sleep was broken shortly after though as a gunshot went off nearby and so we found ourselves lost, groggy, without any belongings and near a man with a gun somewhere out of view - one of the more uneasy moments of my life. A little while later the jeep returned with our belongings in tow and we continued out of the pantanal and transferred to a minibus to Bonito.

The name sweat man had by now well and truly stuck and the major topic for the 4.5 hour journey to Bonito was inventing scenarios for sweat man to save the day using his unusual talent. In Bonito we greeted once more by Tina and Lina, bought 4 crates of beer between the 5 of us and had a good and proper knees up in the sleepiest town so far.