Caiman Fatigue

If I see another caiman I am going to punch him on the nose! Well, actually that might be a bit too ungrateful. I spent an amazing four days in the Southern Pantanal and you could hardly move for the little buggers there. I stayed in a campsite which was basically a room full of hammocks surrounded by a mozzie net and that was all. The first night there was no electricity but there was caipirinhas so that was OK.

Up early the next morning- the Pantanal turkeys make sure of that- and off horseriding for a couple of hours. Another couple of hours of serious lounging in a hammock doing nothing followed that and then out on a little walking safari.

Which was awesome! We saw capybara, caiman, howler monkeys, armadillos, deer etc etc and emerged from the forest just as the clouds had really begun to darken. We clambered aboard the truck and the first spots of rain hit the ground. We drove for a bit and it got worse. The guides stopped and put on the rain cover and then it was as if we had just driven into a shower- a shower with more thunder and lightning than you would expect to see. It was dark now and we were driving along a caiman lined dirt track only catching glimpses of the world as it was lit up by the lightning. The truck was all over the road, sliding in and out of the various potholes. Bits fell off it and had to be reclaimed by the poor guides legging it through the downpour.

It had all the ingredients of a bad B-movie- a group of international travellers, some staying at the guesthouse and then us favela kids from the camp, dangerous unknown beasties making loud and threatening noises in the darkness, the storm etc. We kept thinking that any minute we were going to break down and have to send one of the guides for help, only for him to disappear forever into the dark tropical night. I couldnt work out who would be the survivors in this B-movie scenario but decided that I would probably be one of the first to go- the London girl complaining that the wilderness wasnt co-operating with her endless demands, being attacked by bugs shortly before the truck ride home.

Of course, nothing bad happened and everyone back at the camp had moved all of the stuff into the middle of the room to avoid the rain which was pouring in on all sides. And rain really cooled things down from the temperatures of over 40 that we had been suffering- I even slept rolled inside two blankets that night.

But my English stomach got the better of me and I missed the hike the next morning but made it for the piranha fishing- this time I caught two that I managed to keep from jumping back and one that I didnt. They were cooked in a stew that night. And we played the international backpacker card game of Shithead for a glorious couple of hours.

The last morning we went on a boat ride, one of the English guys was bitten by a piranha when swimming in the river and I was hit in the back of the head by a suicidal sardine- they all started to jump into the boat at one ponint but this one was guided back into the water by my bonce. Unfortunately this was also the first point in the last four and a half weeks that I got sunburnt. Huff.

Then I left the camp yesterday with an Israeli guy that I had met in Campo Grande and then gone to the Pantanal with. We met an Irish guy standing by the road waiting for the bus to Bonito and we all came here together last night. Today we have been snorkelling. Moti, the Israeli, said that it was one of the best experiences of his trip. But I will be honest with you, I get freaked out by water on my face, not great for snorkelling, so I got in the river but in the end opted out of the hour long float and took a boat to the end- after half an hour or so of playing with the little fishes. Even my limited experience was enough to prove to me that Bonito is a very special place indeed. Gorgeous out of the water and in it.

On the way to Rio do Prata we stopped off at a canyon which I forget the name of, but it is filled with large screeching colourful macaws swooping carelessly through the air below as you stand at the top and look down. This was also a very special place which I would recommend to anyone.

I have just booked all my tours through the hostels, whether in the northern or southern pantanal, I have been told that all prices are fixed so there seems little point shopping around plus the chanecs of being with an international group seem higher if you are booking in the international hostel. I have yet to be disappointed.

I think that I am leaving Bonito either tomorrow or the day after and continuing my journey south. Photos to follow of course!