Brief encounter with a jaguar... and 3 anacondas !!!
The next day we were able to hook with Roberto´s brother in law who had come over with a high open truck (bliss as it was a more safari feel than an A/C 4 wheel drive) to take a Belgian couple on a river boat trip to try and spot jaguars and other creatures. This was not in my itinerary but turned out to be the best day! Orignally the plan was to leave at 4am but none of us tourists wanted to do that.... it would have meant having slept just 4h30 the night before and it felt like madness. So we pushed it back till 8am departure so that it was at least daylight for decent photos. I must say that the night safaris just do not work for me at all... if anything they frustrate me SO much before Roberto will be pointing at something and asking me if I can see the fox / deer / whatever and 10 times out 10 I just cannot see the shape through the binoculars, it is as if my night vision is just not adjusting the way his does (maybe through being older or through lack of practice ?).
But there we drove a further 2 hours deep into the Pentanal and reached some greener swamps and it did look a lot more scenic for a while. We did not spot any new birds but it was just a relaxing drive... and we most enjoyed watching the families of capybaras, many of which have 2 weeks to 2 months old babies in tail... and they just look so cute when they swim together, daddy at the front, babies in the middle and mummy at the back... they are really cuddly and a soft beige when younger. Little soft toys on the move. There were many storks feeling their babies in nests too... which made for some nice shots too, without the cuteness about it !
We then boarded this boat which had no shade at all nor life jackets. Hum, another big breach of H&S... and considering we set off at 10:30am and came back at 12:30pm we were exposed to the worst of the sun... but we shan´t report them because everybody does it here and it would make no difference. We spotted countless more crocs and some iguanas but for 2h45 what we had most hoped to see remained elusive... Then JUST as we had given up all hope and had increased the boat speed (mainly because, among other things, we were all bursting for the loo having drunk 1 litre each of water to keep hydrated and make up for the lack of shade) Ricardo (the other guide) shouted ´jaguar !´... we first thought he was having us on. But he was dead serious... and when Roberto pointed it out to me I was like ´wow´... it just felt like a mirage... and a miracle. Some people search for them for months and never see one. But there it was, on a cliff like edge by the river, in a bushland opening, lying down watching the world go by and for a few seconds seemed totally oblivious to our presence. It looked as unconcerned as the tigers in India do so I was really hoping for a decent shot. Roberto gave me his binoculars and I took a good look for about 4 seconds and then thought ´I really have to try and take picture´... we were about 20 meters away but trying to get closer. The lady next to me filmed everything on video, her husband shot digital shots with his zoom lens and I grabbed my camera and... shock and horror, realised I had my smaller zoom lens on. I was horrified. 95% of the time I had had my 300m lens on just waiting for that moment but 15mns earlier I had taken a shot of a water flower and since we were coming straight back after that, I had not done what I usually always do by default, which would have been to switch back to my 300m immediately. So I had to look into my bag, dig the lens out, change it, then looked up (all of this took about 10 seconds no more) and in the meantime the jaguar had got up and walked away... I just managed to frame his beautifully patterned ´derriere´... and that was that. We called them with groans (sometimes they come back, curious to see if another jaguar has entered their terrirtory) but to no avail. I was totally crushed. I mean, my mood went from right up to right low... I kept thinking it had been SO stupid to grab the binoculars first (not a reflex I would normally have either) but Roberto seemed so excited for me I didn´t want to disappoint him. Obviously there was no way of knowing we would only get 20 seconds. He even saw another jaguar get up right behind the way who was seated by the river edge but as there was just a small opening in the folliage, we could not see that from where we were standing.
I was able to watch again what I had missed (i.e. his getting up) via the video screen and the Belgian guy showed me his digital shots but they were all blurred. Which in some ways made me feel better I am ashamed to confess because I reckon that my potential great shots would have also been blurred since we were moving on the boat too much. We all got up the same time to try and be at eye level and of course, 6 people can make a lot of waves... even though we had to be careful not to go overboard either ! It would have been the perfect shot as it was just posing... and sometimes they stay like that for up to 1 hour but in this situation, because the wind was going from us to them, Ricardo said that they smelt us and didn´t like what they smelt, so, left. If the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction he reckoned we could have got a lot closer and they would have stayed a lot longer. My memory of the moment is very fresh right now and so I keep playing it back in my head but since visual memory only lasts a decade maximum (without photos as boosters), I know it will eventually fade...... sadly.
The first river trip I had done where I was thrilled to have seen a tapir swim across the river (remember?) was also a let down in hindsight because the Italian couple who had stayed at the lodge same day and went in the opposite direction (down stream instead of up stream) saw a jaguar swim across the river and they were able to take lots of great shots ... ahhhh. It was a lucky week as everybody who had stayed at the Jaguar Eco Lodge had managed to see jaguars... sometimes up to 8 groups can come and go and not see one. I shall have to remember this !
When we got off the boat (and all hurried to find bushes to relieve ourselves !!!) we had another exciting drive as we managed to spot not 1, not 2, but 3 anacondas !!! I actually spotted the first one because his skin was so shiny and smooth it just didn´t look like a caiman in the shallow swap. I told my driver ´is this a snake?´ and he was like ´you bet ! It´s an anaconda, let´s get off the truck and grab him !´... a classic ´boys will be boys´ statement me thought. I mean, would any of you girls actually even THINK of that ??? Exactly... so, he went back knee deep into the black water, again, all the baby caimans swam away instead of attacking him, again, and he took a close look at the snake to determine where its head was (it had just had a big meal so was digesting with its head in the mud and its end tail in the mud too) and sure enough, grabbed him by keeping his jaw closed tight and lifted him out of the water to put him around his neck.... a 5-7 meter giant snake. YUK. I took pictures with my 300mm lens and refused to get any closer but everybody else was enthralled. I feel total disgust for snakes so... I just took a photo for the record and that was that. It was the first one I had seen and they are yellow and black and actually have a nice coat but no thanks... He then said ´ boy, you girls are SO hard to please... I try to get you a caiman, I am offering you an anaconda and I still can´t seduce you !´... I said ´Sorry but I am a kind of candle lit dinner and roses type of girl, though a baby capybara or a lesser ant eater would do too´ ....
Within 10 minutes Ricardo spotted another one... this time it had just been trying to swallow an egret and the poor egret´s tail was sticking out of its mouth still. Again all the boys walked to it to take a close look... I was told it would make a great photo but I passed. It was just breaking my heart, especially as the egret´s partner was flying back and forth over the dead egret and making noises to try and stop this all from happening. It really proved to me that ALL animals have feelings and are capable of love. This poor egret was clearly distressed at not being able to do anything at all to save its mate. Thankfully the dead egret was already well dead when we got there otherwise I would have wanted to rescue it.... Anacondas only kill through strangulation and drowing their prey (in this instance) they have no poison and very small teeth (Roberto tells me as he has already been bitten by one when trying to impress another tourist with his balancing act). 250 meters later, we saw another one ! Just minding his own business this one... Ricardo said that whenever it is very hot all the reptiles come out as they love the sun. And the reverse is true, whenever it is particularly cold it is almost impossible to spot anything of interest at night as the animals stay in their burrows. He also said that he once took a photographer to the Pentanal who managed to get a fantastic shot of a jaguar eating something by the side of the road, the light was just right and the guy in question said ´with this shot I will be able to pay for my 50 day holiday in the Pentanal´... because the BBC Wildlife magazine was going to put it on the cover. This almost made me rethink about the egret in the anaconda´s mouth and whether it would have gone a long way to pay for this holiday but I still don´t think I could have coped with seeing it up close, call me chicken if you like !
We got back to the lodge for 4pm, grabbed a quick shower (our hair was caked with dust from passing vehicles - not many but enough to make you feel yukky) and had some food and headed back to Sta Teresa. We didn´t spot anything of interest at night which so disappointed me at the Belgian couple had seen 3 ocelots, 1 margay, 1 giant ant eater and 2 tapirs ! That was incredible luck for their first drive. Actually these two made me envious in more ways than one... She was mad on travelling and would do 6 trips a year to all the best wildlife spots in the world, he just followed, drove her everywhere she wanted (say 3 weeks in Botswana @ 3 game drives a day) and paid for everything and took as many weeks off as she liked (as he was self employed). When their daughter turned 17 they celebrated with a world tour through all continents including Tahiti and Bora Bora (one place I really want to go to but just cannot afford on my own). I was stunned. Mind you she gave me lots of tips for Madagascar and Zambia and Alaska and other places where I want to go. I consoled myself thinking that she was 20 years older and by the time I get to her age I will hopefully have done as much but they made me feel like a novice ! Still, I have to admit they were very very nice... I just told her that I was gutted never to have found such a husband myself as it would have been the PERFECT match for me !!!! He was not materialistic, they just spent all their money travelling like mad going the most obscure and incredible places. They too had never seen as much diversity for birdlife as one does when entering the Pentanal... they too felt that every country in the world still offers something to blow you away if you look for it hard enough. They even loved Iceland and Namibia and encouraged me to go. She said that yes, Iceland has no trees but moss there is SO thick it is like walking on an amazing carpet ankle deep and that you can feel the heat of the earth right under your feet and that there is nowhere else in the world quite like it to ´feel the forces of nature´. Hum. So I might put Iceland on my travel list after all, one day... maybe when I get to 60 or so.
We got back to Sta Teresa on time for dinner... but by then I was SO bored with yet more rice and beans that I did what I usually never do abraod and went into big sulk mode. I told Roberto I could no longer handle such boring food and just had to have something a bit more exciting. I requested a mango milk shake (far more taste, as much nutritional value) and got my wish granted. He then wanted to go on yet another night hike but I declined... I just could not handle the frustrations of not seeing what I really wanted to see when it is right in front of me. It is like torture... so why bother ? I tried to take a photo of the beautiful starry sky instead (the milky way was really clear and I have never seen the milky way before except in the Amazon and in Egypt - i.e. places with zero pollution) but do you think I could work my camera ?? I read all the instructions on how to use the bulb function but it all failed. I was so frustrated, again. Using the bulb function is one thing I never got to practise during my photo workshop in Costa Rica, which was really stupid ( but as we know, hindsight is a wonderful thing !). Actually, I am ashamed to confess that my photo workshop was a complete waste of time altogether because I have forgotten pretty much everything I was taught, still then to switch to automatic instinctively, even forget to take off my polariser in darker conditions and then really feel puzzled when my camera will not work, etc. etc. I feel as if my brain is on holiday and just NOT working as fast as I need it to. I hope it is just sleep deprivation and not old age creeping in already, perish the thought....
This morning we had another lovely boat ride, with more paddling (much quieter and serene) but though we were due to start at 5am, our boat man had forgotten all about it and Roberto had to wake him up... so we started 45mns late. I was NOT impressed when I had to be up at 4:30am regardless. We only spotted a couple of giant otters (but they were shyer and did not interact with us) and a rare heron with a beautiful coat, though I could not possibly remember the name.
We had breakfast after that, I managed to picture some toco toucans on the lodge ground (nothing too spectacular as far as shots go, a bit too high up) and then we headed off for a fairly boring drive back. I did take photos of the road signs though as they are rather cool... I mean, nowhere else in the world would you have ´ Slow down, ant eaters may cross the road´... or ´slow down, a family of capybara may cross the road´ (with drawings to go with it). So, this was a must !
I have taken very few shots of me so far, but I did take one by the Pentanal gate that says ´Transpantaneira Road Park. The Pentanal begins right here´ as it is a very famous sign featured in all the main nature books here.
Roberto didn´t seem too crushed letting me go... which confirmed to me that he had no major interest in me but was just trying his luck (boys will be boys, again)... I grabbed a few postcards and boarded my plane (30mns late), grabbed a lovely Guarana juice (tastes like a sparkling apple drink but it is yellow and made from fruits of the Amazon. I have never seen this drink on sale anywhere else in South America, stranglely enough). Flying over the Pentanal I still felt amazed that something SO barren from the air could hold SO many treasures down below in such overwhelming numbers... For instance, I had seen 5 tiger herons in Peru in 3 days and 1 in Costa Rica in 2 weeks... here I saw about 75 in 4 days and about 10 in the first hour. You just cannot keep track of the numbers... quite something.
I am now in Bonito, after a BORING 4 hour drive to get here where there was very little to see (oh, I did spot 4 rheas -like ostriches- and a dead porcupine on the side of the road !) but endless fields... I even dozed off half way through as the excitement could not keep me awake ! But having seen the brochures here, it should be fabulous. My driver only spoke Portuguese so we exchanged very few words (I had to get by in Spanish, the closest thing that they can understand... French they can read easily but not hear easily, and it is the same for us... I can read Portuguese quite easily but am unable to grasp it verbally). I was even told that there are many giant ant eaters a few miles away from here and I may see quite a few on the way back to my hotel after my snorkelling trip.... fingers crossed !!!
Roberto had mentioned that Bonito is too touristy and that there is a spot nr Cuiaba called Nobres that offered exactly the same kind of thrill (crystal clear rivers for snorkelling, turquoise lakes in caves).... but I refused to change my plans. It would have been too much hassle. It´s not as if an extra 2 days together was going to change my life around ! :)
Righeeo, gotta dash, my driver is coming back to pick me up in 5mns, and I have yet to have dinner (a bufftet I am told, thank GOD ! I shall therefore avoid rice and beans at all costs). To be continued....
The next day we were able to hook with Roberto´s brother in law who had come over with a high open truck (bliss as it was a more safari feel than an A/C 4 wheel drive) to take a Belgian couple on a river boat trip to try and spot jaguars and other creatures. This was not in my itinerary but turned out to be the best day! Orignally the plan was to leave at 4am but none of us tourists wanted to do that.... it would have meant having slept just 4h30 the night before and it felt like madness. So we pushed it back till 8am departure so that it was at least daylight for decent photos. I must say that the night safaris just do not work for me at all... if anything they frustrate me SO much before Roberto will be pointing at something and asking me if I can see the fox / deer / whatever and 10 times out 10 I just cannot see the shape through the binoculars, it is as if my night vision is just not adjusting the way his does (maybe through being older or through lack of practice ?).
But there we drove a further 2 hours deep into the Pentanal and reached some greener swamps and it did look a lot more scenic for a while. We did not spot any new birds but it was just a relaxing drive... and we most enjoyed watching the families of capybaras, many of which have 2 weeks to 2 months old babies in tail... and they just look so cute when they swim together, daddy at the front, babies in the middle and mummy at the back... they are really cuddly and a soft beige when younger. Little soft toys on the move. There were many storks feeling their babies in nests too... which made for some nice shots too, without the cuteness about it !
We then boarded this boat which had no shade at all nor life jackets. Hum, another big breach of H&S... and considering we set off at 10:30am and came back at 12:30pm we were exposed to the worst of the sun... but we shan´t report them because everybody does it here and it would make no difference. We spotted countless more crocs and some iguanas but for 2h45 what we had most hoped to see remained elusive... Then JUST as we had given up all hope and had increased the boat speed (mainly because, among other things, we were all bursting for the loo having drunk 1 litre each of water to keep hydrated and make up for the lack of shade) Ricardo (the other guide) shouted ´jaguar !´... we first thought he was having us on. But he was dead serious... and when Roberto pointed it out to me I was like ´wow´... it just felt like a mirage... and a miracle. Some people search for them for months and never see one. But there it was, on a cliff like edge by the river, in a bushland opening, lying down watching the world go by and for a few seconds seemed totally oblivious to our presence. It looked as unconcerned as the tigers in India do so I was really hoping for a decent shot. Roberto gave me his binoculars and I took a good look for about 4 seconds and then thought ´I really have to try and take picture´... we were about 20 meters away but trying to get closer. The lady next to me filmed everything on video, her husband shot digital shots with his zoom lens and I grabbed my camera and... shock and horror, realised I had my smaller zoom lens on. I was horrified. 95% of the time I had had my 300m lens on just waiting for that moment but 15mns earlier I had taken a shot of a water flower and since we were coming straight back after that, I had not done what I usually always do by default, which would have been to switch back to my 300m immediately. So I had to look into my bag, dig the lens out, change it, then looked up (all of this took about 10 seconds no more) and in the meantime the jaguar had got up and walked away... I just managed to frame his beautifully patterned ´derriere´... and that was that. We called them with groans (sometimes they come back, curious to see if another jaguar has entered their terrirtory) but to no avail. I was totally crushed. I mean, my mood went from right up to right low... I kept thinking it had been SO stupid to grab the binoculars first (not a reflex I would normally have either) but Roberto seemed so excited for me I didn´t want to disappoint him. Obviously there was no way of knowing we would only get 20 seconds. He even saw another jaguar get up right behind the way who was seated by the river edge but as there was just a small opening in the folliage, we could not see that from where we were standing.
I was able to watch again what I had missed (i.e. his getting up) via the video screen and the Belgian guy showed me his digital shots but they were all blurred. Which in some ways made me feel better I am ashamed to confess because I reckon that my potential great shots would have also been blurred since we were moving on the boat too much. We all got up the same time to try and be at eye level and of course, 6 people can make a lot of waves... even though we had to be careful not to go overboard either ! It would have been the perfect shot as it was just posing... and sometimes they stay like that for up to 1 hour but in this situation, because the wind was going from us to them, Ricardo said that they smelt us and didn´t like what they smelt, so, left. If the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction he reckoned we could have got a lot closer and they would have stayed a lot longer. My memory of the moment is very fresh right now and so I keep playing it back in my head but since visual memory only lasts a decade maximum (without photos as boosters), I know it will eventually fade...... sadly.
The first river trip I had done where I was thrilled to have seen a tapir swim across the river (remember?) was also a let down in hindsight because the Italian couple who had stayed at the lodge same day and went in the opposite direction (down stream instead of up stream) saw a jaguar swim across the river and they were able to take lots of great shots ... ahhhh. It was a lucky week as everybody who had stayed at the Jaguar Eco Lodge had managed to see jaguars... sometimes up to 8 groups can come and go and not see one. I shall have to remember this !
When we got off the boat (and all hurried to find bushes to relieve ourselves !!!) we had another exciting drive as we managed to spot not 1, not 2, but 3 anacondas !!! I actually spotted the first one because his skin was so shiny and smooth it just didn´t look like a caiman in the shallow swap. I told my driver ´is this a snake?´ and he was like ´you bet ! It´s an anaconda, let´s get off the truck and grab him !´... a classic ´boys will be boys´ statement me thought. I mean, would any of you girls actually even THINK of that ??? Exactly... so, he went back knee deep into the black water, again, all the baby caimans swam away instead of attacking him, again, and he took a close look at the snake to determine where its head was (it had just had a big meal so was digesting with its head in the mud and its end tail in the mud too) and sure enough, grabbed him by keeping his jaw closed tight and lifted him out of the water to put him around his neck.... a 5-7 meter giant snake. YUK. I took pictures with my 300mm lens and refused to get any closer but everybody else was enthralled. I feel total disgust for snakes so... I just took a photo for the record and that was that. It was the first one I had seen and they are yellow and black and actually have a nice coat but no thanks... He then said ´ boy, you girls are SO hard to please... I try to get you a caiman, I am offering you an anaconda and I still can´t seduce you !´... I said ´Sorry but I am a kind of candle lit dinner and roses type of girl, though a baby capybara or a lesser ant eater would do too´ ....
Within 10 minutes Ricardo spotted another one... this time it had just been trying to swallow an egret and the poor egret´s tail was sticking out of its mouth still. Again all the boys walked to it to take a close look... I was told it would make a great photo but I passed. It was just breaking my heart, especially as the egret´s partner was flying back and forth over the dead egret and making noises to try and stop this all from happening. It really proved to me that ALL animals have feelings and are capable of love. This poor egret was clearly distressed at not being able to do anything at all to save its mate. Thankfully the dead egret was already well dead when we got there otherwise I would have wanted to rescue it.... Anacondas only kill through strangulation and drowing their prey (in this instance) they have no poison and very small teeth (Roberto tells me as he has already been bitten by one when trying to impress another tourist with his balancing act). 250 meters later, we saw another one ! Just minding his own business this one... Ricardo said that whenever it is very hot all the reptiles come out as they love the sun. And the reverse is true, whenever it is particularly cold it is almost impossible to spot anything of interest at night as the animals stay in their burrows. He also said that he once took a photographer to the Pentanal who managed to get a fantastic shot of a jaguar eating something by the side of the road, the light was just right and the guy in question said ´with this shot I will be able to pay for my 50 day holiday in the Pentanal´... because the BBC Wildlife magazine was going to put it on the cover. This almost made me rethink about the egret in the anaconda´s mouth and whether it would have gone a long way to pay for this holiday but I still don´t think I could have coped with seeing it up close, call me chicken if you like !
We got back to the lodge for 4pm, grabbed a quick shower (our hair was caked with dust from passing vehicles - not many but enough to make you feel yukky) and had some food and headed back to Sta Teresa. We didn´t spot anything of interest at night which so disappointed me at the Belgian couple had seen 3 ocelots, 1 margay, 1 giant ant eater and 2 tapirs ! That was incredible luck for their first drive. Actually these two made me envious in more ways than one... She was mad on travelling and would do 6 trips a year to all the best wildlife spots in the world, he just followed, drove her everywhere she wanted (say 3 weeks in Botswana @ 3 game drives a day) and paid for everything and took as many weeks off as she liked (as he was self employed). When their daughter turned 17 they celebrated with a world tour through all continents including Tahiti and Bora Bora (one place I really want to go to but just cannot afford on my own). I was stunned. Mind you she gave me lots of tips for Madagascar and Zambia and Alaska and other places where I want to go. I consoled myself thinking that she was 20 years older and by the time I get to her age I will hopefully have done as much but they made me feel like a novice ! Still, I have to admit they were very very nice... I just told her that I was gutted never to have found such a husband myself as it would have been the PERFECT match for me !!!! He was not materialistic, they just spent all their money travelling like mad going the most obscure and incredible places. They too had never seen as much diversity for birdlife as one does when entering the Pentanal... they too felt that every country in the world still offers something to blow you away if you look for it hard enough. They even loved Iceland and Namibia and encouraged me to go. She said that yes, Iceland has no trees but moss there is SO thick it is like walking on an amazing carpet ankle deep and that you can feel the heat of the earth right under your feet and that there is nowhere else in the world quite like it to ´feel the forces of nature´. Hum. So I might put Iceland on my travel list after all, one day... maybe when I get to 60 or so.
We got back to Sta Teresa on time for dinner... but by then I was SO bored with yet more rice and beans that I did what I usually never do abraod and went into big sulk mode. I told Roberto I could no longer handle such boring food and just had to have something a bit more exciting. I requested a mango milk shake (far more taste, as much nutritional value) and got my wish granted. He then wanted to go on yet another night hike but I declined... I just could not handle the frustrations of not seeing what I really wanted to see when it is right in front of me. It is like torture... so why bother ? I tried to take a photo of the beautiful starry sky instead (the milky way was really clear and I have never seen the milky way before except in the Amazon and in Egypt - i.e. places with zero pollution) but do you think I could work my camera ?? I read all the instructions on how to use the bulb function but it all failed. I was so frustrated, again. Using the bulb function is one thing I never got to practise during my photo workshop in Costa Rica, which was really stupid ( but as we know, hindsight is a wonderful thing !). Actually, I am ashamed to confess that my photo workshop was a complete waste of time altogether because I have forgotten pretty much everything I was taught, still then to switch to automatic instinctively, even forget to take off my polariser in darker conditions and then really feel puzzled when my camera will not work, etc. etc. I feel as if my brain is on holiday and just NOT working as fast as I need it to. I hope it is just sleep deprivation and not old age creeping in already, perish the thought....
This morning we had another lovely boat ride, with more paddling (much quieter and serene) but though we were due to start at 5am, our boat man had forgotten all about it and Roberto had to wake him up... so we started 45mns late. I was NOT impressed when I had to be up at 4:30am regardless. We only spotted a couple of giant otters (but they were shyer and did not interact with us) and a rare heron with a beautiful coat, though I could not possibly remember the name.
We had breakfast after that, I managed to picture some toco toucans on the lodge ground (nothing too spectacular as far as shots go, a bit too high up) and then we headed off for a fairly boring drive back. I did take photos of the road signs though as they are rather cool... I mean, nowhere else in the world would you have ´ Slow down, ant eaters may cross the road´... or ´slow down, a family of capybara may cross the road´ (with drawings to go with it). So, this was a must !
I have taken very few shots of me so far, but I did take one by the Pentanal gate that says ´Transpantaneira Road Park. The Pentanal begins right here´ as it is a very famous sign featured in all the main nature books here.
Roberto didn´t seem too crushed letting me go... which confirmed to me that he had no major interest in me but was just trying his luck (boys will be boys, again)... I grabbed a few postcards and boarded my plane (30mns late), grabbed a lovely Guarana juice (tastes like a sparkling apple drink but it is yellow and made from fruits of the Amazon. I have never seen this drink on sale anywhere else in South America, stranglely enough). Flying over the Pentanal I still felt amazed that something SO barren from the air could hold SO many treasures down below in such overwhelming numbers... For instance, I had seen 5 tiger herons in Peru in 3 days and 1 in Costa Rica in 2 weeks... here I saw about 75 in 4 days and about 10 in the first hour. You just cannot keep track of the numbers... quite something.
I am now in Bonito, after a BORING 4 hour drive to get here where there was very little to see (oh, I did spot 4 rheas -like ostriches- and a dead porcupine on the side of the road !) but endless fields... I even dozed off half way through as the excitement could not keep me awake ! But having seen the brochures here, it should be fabulous. My driver only spoke Portuguese so we exchanged very few words (I had to get by in Spanish, the closest thing that they can understand... French they can read easily but not hear easily, and it is the same for us... I can read Portuguese quite easily but am unable to grasp it verbally). I was even told that there are many giant ant eaters a few miles away from here and I may see quite a few on the way back to my hotel after my snorkelling trip.... fingers crossed !!!
Roberto had mentioned that Bonito is too touristy and that there is a spot nr Cuiaba called Nobres that offered exactly the same kind of thrill (crystal clear rivers for snorkelling, turquoise lakes in caves).... but I refused to change my plans. It would have been too much hassle. It´s not as if an extra 2 days together was going to change my life around ! :)
Righeeo, gotta dash, my driver is coming back to pick me up in 5mns, and I have yet to have dinner (a bufftet I am told, thank GOD ! I shall therefore avoid rice and beans at all costs). To be continued....
posted by Sylvie at 12:01 AM
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