After a 2 1/2 day Truck ride in the hottest most humid weather imaginable, we arrived in the Pantanal. If you have read John Grisham's book "The Testament" - you will have heard of this part of Brazil and the towns of Campo Grande and Corumba. It is a huge "wetland" half the size of France or the size of Iowa and it is beautiful. 70% of the Pantanal is in Brazil and the remainder is in Bolivia and Paraguay. The predominant vegetation is described as "savanna" with low small trees, and acres of shallow lakes, rivers and islands out of which lush green grasses grow.There are about 206,000 people living there and the main activities seem to be eco-tourism in its infancy, and cattle farming. The area is also brimming with wildlife including caimen, marsh deer, capybaras, and otter (all of which we have seen) and ant eaters, anacondas, tapirs, jaguars, and wolves, which we have not seen. There are over 652 species of birds including macaws, parrots, parakeets, herons, and kingfishers. Apart from the malarial mosquitoes - it is paradise!!
We are visiting in the wet season and because the grazing lands are reduced, we passed many trucks on the way which were taking the cattle from the richer famrs to better grazing lands further south. Tony, our driver also told me that it is not unknown for less well off farmers to walk for a month with their cattle to find better grazing ground. Along with rain forests, wetlands are essential to our eco system. They provide water supply, flood control and water purification among many other things - such as the kidneys of South Americas. We have lost about 50% of the world's original wetlands and today the Pantanal faces the same threats due to major developmental changes including an expanding infrastructure, population growth, and industrial and farming expansion. Also, many of the wildlife species are endangered, for example, the river otter, and marsh deer. This is due in part to habitat destruction but also to poaching, over fishing, and the capture of wild animals and birds for the illegal export to other countries such as the US and Canada.
We stayed at the "Fazenda Santa Clara" which is also establishing its reputation as an eco lodge. We have been very pleasantly surprised at the good quality of the places we have stayed at so far. All have been exceptionally clean, free from too many ugly smells and quite attractively furnished.
The road we drove in on was quite an experience. Shortly after leaving a town called Miranda, it turned to dirt. Although it was wide enough and long and straight - imagine lataritic mud travelled by over 40 25/26 ton cattle trucks a day and baked in the blazing sun - you've got it - one hell of a bumpy ride! Anway, it was so much fun and we wouldn't have missed it for the world.
One of the other overlanding companies had a bit of a mishap. The road through the Pantanal has hundreds of rickety wooden bridges which were adequate enough before the traffic into the area increased so dramatically. However, many of them are now full of holes which are patched with strong railway type planks to take the weight of the trucks across them. On one of the longer bridges, there was an enormous hole on the one side and one of the Budget trucks was crossing a few hours ahead of us, keeping well to the opposite side to avoid the hole, and the inevitable happened - the ground underneath the front, right tyre gave way, burying the wheel. The Truck came to rest about 1/2 inch from the wooden support at the side of the bridge. They were so lucky it was not more disastrous. Anyway, we are well prepared by our tour leader to expect the unexpected! We all walked over the bridge to commiserate with the poor driver, who very expertly jacked up the axle with a couple of hydraulic jacks, freed the wheel, placed some strong timbers underneath, reversed to straighten out the truck, and was able to drive off the bridge amid a chorus of loud "hoorays".
While in the Pantanal, we took a day safari ride and went for a fun horseback ride, lay around the pool, and generally relaxed.
PS - Thank you all for the comments - its exciting to get to the Internet cafes and hear from you.
We are now in an International hostel in Bonito - a bit of a tourist town on the edge of the Pantanal. Tomorrow we are doing a snorkeling trip in some remote area. Hope you are all well - and that the snow storm is not too bad! We'll look out for the full moon on Saturday.
We are visiting in the wet season and because the grazing lands are reduced, we passed many trucks on the way which were taking the cattle from the richer famrs to better grazing lands further south. Tony, our driver also told me that it is not unknown for less well off farmers to walk for a month with their cattle to find better grazing ground. Along with rain forests, wetlands are essential to our eco system. They provide water supply, flood control and water purification among many other things - such as the kidneys of South Americas. We have lost about 50% of the world's original wetlands and today the Pantanal faces the same threats due to major developmental changes including an expanding infrastructure, population growth, and industrial and farming expansion. Also, many of the wildlife species are endangered, for example, the river otter, and marsh deer. This is due in part to habitat destruction but also to poaching, over fishing, and the capture of wild animals and birds for the illegal export to other countries such as the US and Canada.
We stayed at the "Fazenda Santa Clara" which is also establishing its reputation as an eco lodge. We have been very pleasantly surprised at the good quality of the places we have stayed at so far. All have been exceptionally clean, free from too many ugly smells and quite attractively furnished.
The road we drove in on was quite an experience. Shortly after leaving a town called Miranda, it turned to dirt. Although it was wide enough and long and straight - imagine lataritic mud travelled by over 40 25/26 ton cattle trucks a day and baked in the blazing sun - you've got it - one hell of a bumpy ride! Anway, it was so much fun and we wouldn't have missed it for the world.
One of the other overlanding companies had a bit of a mishap. The road through the Pantanal has hundreds of rickety wooden bridges which were adequate enough before the traffic into the area increased so dramatically. However, many of them are now full of holes which are patched with strong railway type planks to take the weight of the trucks across them. On one of the longer bridges, there was an enormous hole on the one side and one of the Budget trucks was crossing a few hours ahead of us, keeping well to the opposite side to avoid the hole, and the inevitable happened - the ground underneath the front, right tyre gave way, burying the wheel. The Truck came to rest about 1/2 inch from the wooden support at the side of the bridge. They were so lucky it was not more disastrous. Anyway, we are well prepared by our tour leader to expect the unexpected! We all walked over the bridge to commiserate with the poor driver, who very expertly jacked up the axle with a couple of hydraulic jacks, freed the wheel, placed some strong timbers underneath, reversed to straighten out the truck, and was able to drive off the bridge amid a chorus of loud "hoorays".
While in the Pantanal, we took a day safari ride and went for a fun horseback ride, lay around the pool, and generally relaxed.
PS - Thank you all for the comments - its exciting to get to the Internet cafes and hear from you.
We are now in an International hostel in Bonito - a bit of a tourist town on the edge of the Pantanal. Tomorrow we are doing a snorkeling trip in some remote area. Hope you are all well - and that the snow storm is not too bad! We'll look out for the full moon on Saturday.
4 comments:
Hi Anne and Ray, I don't know whether my comments are getting through or not. Anyway, sounds like you are having a great time.
Cheerio, Liz and Allan, Jersey
Hello Liz and Ray:
Haven't heard from you for 9 days and wondering if you are well. I hope it is just that internet cafes are getting hard to find.
R.
Morning Ray and Elizabeth.
Nice to read your experiences so far. Wishing you all the best and safe trip.
John and LOu
Hi Ray & Liz,
I'm enjoying reading your your adventures. And what an adventure you are having.
I've been away in Arizona for 2 weeks, I'm just catching up on your travels.
Be safe,
Helen.
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