Day 6 - 9: Pantanal - Wildlife Spotting

August 19 - 22, 2015

When we first did our research on Pantanal, Cuiaba (for Northen Pantanal) popped up across all the sites. The thought process focused on how much time we wanted to spend there and whether we wanted a jaguar spotting tour which would thus determine the cost. It was only after we booked the flights that we realised there was another entry point in Campo Grande (for Southern Pantanal) that was cheaper. The well-designed Cuiaba tour websites dominated the internet while you don't see anything about Southern Pantanal.

When Vik chanced upon it on a forum and compared the price differences, he made sure to check the reviews for authenticity. After a really quick discussion with Leann (more like a one way notification), he booked the cheapest flights from Cuiaba to Campo Grande, and quickly secured a 3D2N tour with Gil (http://www.gilspantanaldiscovery.com.br/) for R$850 per person for a private double room. Dorm beds go at R$700.

So after an entire day of flights within Brazil, we landed in Campo Grande where Gil picked us up and dropped us at our hostel, Nacional Hotel; really basic room with shared bathrooms for R$70, but with a rather sumptuous breakfast spread. Gil was an ex-football player plying his trade in the US until he pulled his ACL at a really young age and had to find an alternative career.

Lontra, symbol of Southern Pantanal

After breakfast the next day, we bought a 6L bottle of water (as instructed by Gil as tap water at the lodge is not potable and beverages can be costly), and took the 5 hr bus ride to Pantanal. The ride included a 20-minute break for lunch as well. We soon found out that we stayed at the Lontra Pantanal hotel, and our private double with ensuite bathroom was both clean and spacious. It was also close to the canteen, which was good not just because of the proximity to food, but also to the WiFi router. LOL. Dinner was buffet style and standard Brazilian (too sweet or too salty).

DAY 1

So we arrived and checked in at about 3pm, which meant there wasn’t going to be a lot of activities left for us. Our guide, Fabian then told us that the only activity for the day was canoeing. While we were dragging the boats to the water, we were told to switch the canoe around, which was a mistake on its own. The canoe felt awkwardly balanced when we went into the water, and the canoe kept correcting itself to move backwards.

We didn’t realise that these were signs that we were doing it wrong and within 5 minutes, the canoe gave up on us and capsized! Along with all our electronic equipment (minus Leann’s Canon 450D & mobile phone) into the Piranha infested river! So, you will now ask why we brought our electronics along.. because we asked Fabian, and he said it was a safe and relaxed drift down the river, and there was no way we would capsize..

Anyway, yes we survived the piranhas (lucky for us we didn’t have any open wounds), and fortunately Vik's stuff remained in his sling bag which was attached to him. However, his trusty and loyal companion, the Sony DSC-H10, didn’t survive and swam with the Piranhas. We climbed back on to the main boat, and went back onto the canoe, this time the right way around. We somehow still managed to enjoy whatever’s left of the first day’s scenery, before heading back to dry Vik's mobile phone.

Leann became a kancheong spider after the canoe capsized

black oil stained faces after we fell into the river and tried to get up to the boat

DAY 2

We began with a Jeep Safari tour, marvelling at all the animals we could find, trying to spot them out before anyone else did, especially the caimans, not knowing that we would be seeing way too much of them over the next few days. After a rather boring 1st 20 minutes, we would see something new every 5 minutes or so: a new bird, a huge gathering of sunbathing caimans, feeding lontras, and even came across a huge otter! We soon stopped to take a 45min jungle walk where we saw the beautiful monogamous blue parrots, and the flirtatious red parrots. We also chanced upon the only deer we saw on the entire trip, which didn’t seem too bothered by our presence.

After lunch was tubing, a first for both of us, and so we needed a quick introduction by the English ladies before jumping into the cold and murky river water. This was even though Vik felt inclined to avoid this nasty river that took his camera. Other than 2 caimans that we came close to, we didn’t see much. But it was quite fun to flow down the river with the 'noodle' (as our English friends call it).

caiman chilling out

This was followed by Piranha fishing, which we both caught a GRAND TOTAL OF…. a miserly 1 each, while the others snatched more than 2 each. We pretty much fed the piranhas rather than catch them. So Vik decided to join Andrea, the American girl who ran everyday even though she was on holiday. 10 miles was her norm and 5mins/km was her warm up speed. Vik managed only 6 miles on that difficult terrain, and luckily still managed to make it back to watch the sunset.

The only piranha Leann caught

After dinner, we went for a fruitless jaguar spotting tour, though kudos to Fabian, he did try for a really long time.

DAY 3

Left with one morning on our tour, we had one last activity, which was the boat safari tour. The boat brought us to the points where two rivers met, past some fisherman, and 2 carpinchos (world’s largest rodents)! We then docked to climb a small (20mins climb) hill to get a vantage point over the river networks. It was a rare standalone hill that had views over the entire area but the route isn’t really easy, and the views not exactly fantastic. With nothing much left to see, we fell asleep on our way back to the hostel.

Carpincho

Toucan reminds us of Guinness

Vik's phone was miraculously working again after 2 days of drying (rice, hair dryer and strong sun help), we bade goodbye to our new friends, and the lovely Pantanal. Next stop, the Iguacu Falls!

Note: We were there late August during the beginning of dry season which was apparently one of the best periods to visit. You won't be able to see many birds during wet season, less food for them in the river; won't be able to do much during peak of the dry season cos the river will be dry.