The Pantanal

June 2023

A brief summary of our journey to the Pantanal:

• Left Pedro in a car park in El Alto and flew La Paz to Santa Cruz (1 hour)

• Flew Santa Cruz to Sao Paulo (3 hours, 6-hour layover, 3-hour flight from Sao Paulo to Cuiaba, Brazil)

• 7 hour 4x4 transfer from Cuiaba to Porto Jofre (+ 4 hour delay getting picked up)

But my God, was it worth it! 

After a very long flight, we had a confusing night in an Airbnb in Cuiaba, where upon arrival at 2 am, we found someone was accidentally in our room. The only spare room was one missing an aircon remote so we endured a very sticky night. We spent the next day exploring Cuiaba and then got an early night. 

We got up at 5.30 am ready for our 6 am pick-up from the Airbnb. However, no one came. 9 am arrived and we could finally contact someone at the pousada office to find out what was going on. They made some vague excuse that he had been waiting at the airport and he was now on his way. So, just after 10 am, 4 hours after we'd expected to leave, we hit the road! 

To our surprise, we were picked up in a brand new, shiny, air-conditioned pickup truck. We saw so much wildlife on the drive, it was a good job we weren't driving ourselves as we'd have stopped every 2 minutes to take a photo of a bird. However, we did wish one of us was driving because our driver was insanely tired and kept falling asleep at the wheel. He fell asleep and started snoring at some roadworks after all of 30 seconds of waiting. We had to shout at him to wake him up when it was our turn to go again. We were watching his eyes in the rearview mirror just keep closing. One time he spent far too long on a blink and Em had to shout "Hey! Are you alright, you seem very tired?" He said yeah I'm ok as if nothing had happened. We were driving down the Transpantaneira which is 140km of dirt road and very bumpy. We couldn't believe the bumps weren't keeping him awake. 

On this road, there are hundreds of narrow wooden bridges over the swamp so it was more than a little unnerving having to constantly check if he was awake as we approached every one. We had a couple of stops to use the toilet at various pousadas and we kept trying to encourage him to drink coffee. Thankfully, we made it without slamming into a tree, but it was anything but a relaxing journey. We were trying to enjoy the views and look out for wildlife but kept having to check that our driver's eyes were open! 

With about 10km left to go to the pousada right at the end of the Transpantaneira, one of the wooden bridges had collapsed into the water. So close yet so far. There is only one road and it relies on these bridges to stay passable. There were a few men and a JCB trying to rebuild it. We sat and waited for just over an hour, which at least gave our driver the chance to have a nap, albeit a very loud, phlegmy one. Then we nervously drove over the fresh construction. 

We had very low expectations of the pousada, as we'd gone for the cheapest option we could find and it didn't have the best reviews. The advantage of having low expectations is you are easily pleased. The pousada was beautiful, right at the end of the road in Porto Jofre, directly on the river. It had a pool with loungers, a restaurant where all our all-inclusive meals were served, we had a private room with an ensuite bathroom, and best of all, wildlife EVERYWHERE! Other than the guy that showed us our room, there only seemed to be a few other people that worked there. There were two people at the bar who would help with food service, and that was it! It was very laid-back. There were also only about 5 or 6 other guests, so it felt very peaceful. Within a few hours of checking in, we saw curassows, caracaras, toucans, guans, deer, agoutis, guinea pigs, and capuchins. It was just pure magic! 

We went for dinner in the restaurant, which was another pleasant surprise. There was a huge buffet laid out with rice, beans, stewed meat, fried fish, salad, desserts, cold beer, tea and coffee. Exhausted from the drive, and pre-emptying the early start, we had an early night.  

On our second day, we had another early morning and 2 more boat tours. After breakfast, we set off with our guide again at 6.30 am and were treated to yet more jaguars...4 more! The first one was seemingly a vegetarian, and we watched it eat grass on the riverbank for a while. Then we spotted two more just resting a bit further down the river. Then we got really excited because we thought we'd spotted a Tapir, however on closer inspection, it had been killed by a proud and exhausted jaguar sitting beside it guarding its fresh kill. 

By this point, we'd been out on the boat for nearly 4 hours and Em was literally bursting for a wee. With it being so hot, you have to drink more water than usual and the boat was really testing her bladder this morning. We were still an hour's ride away from the pousada. There were another 2 jaguars somewhere on the way back, with a few boats trying to track them down the riverbank. However, we decided we were very satisfied with seeing 4 jaguars in one day and we would really very much like to go back and use the toilet! There were a few times when our guide "parked" the boat up against the bank and jumped off to have a sneaky wee. He didn't have any shoes on and was wielding a knife, you know, in case a jaguar fancied him for breakfast. One time, Justin jumped off too but came back to the boat absolutely covered in giant ants all inside his shoes and crawling up his legs! Everything out here is trying to bite you.

In the afternoon, we spotted another two jaguars. One of them was potentially one we had seen the previous day as it had blood on the end of its tail. The other one looked quite young and was nursing a wound on its nose and leg. This one didn't stick around for long - he checked us out and then backed off into the jungle. 

We had had a very long day out on the boat. It was approaching sunset and we were still very far from the pousada - probably an hour's normal boat ride away. As we were losing daylight quickly, our guide absolutely bombed it back. We had no idea the boat could physically go that fast! We arrived back at the pousada a few minutes before 6pm just before it got very dark, to our relief. There were only a few other fishing boats still on the water and our boat had been making some concerning spluttering noises and cutting out frequently from weeds caught in the engine - so we were glad to be back on land in time for dinner. 

To see more photos of wildlife we saw in the Pantanal, click on the 'Photo album' button at the bottom of the page. 

Bom Jardim

June 2023 

While we were in Brazil, we wanted to visit one more place. From Cuiaba, we rented a little car, and drove a couple of hours north to an area called Bom Jardim. Here, we spent a few nights in a converted container, and did some touristy things. It's a beautiful green area with a huge canyon and various natural water holes in which you can swim. However, as with everything in Brazil, you have to pay. They have a special talent for commodifying nature and making a fortune out of it. 

On our first day, we relaxed at a pool (£10 each - more if you wanted to go down the slide!) and went for a very cheap, local kebab for dinner. The next day, we booked ourselves into Aquario Encantado, where you can snorkel in crystal-clear pools with tropical fish. From reception, we got togged up in life jackets, snorkels, and water shoes and then all boarded a tractor-trailer to the pools. We understood none of the instructions (Portuguese) so just followed everyone else. We swam in one pool with the tropical fish before walking a short distance through the jungle to the start of a river where we floated down single file. It was beautiful and very relaxing. 

The main benefit of the container was its proximity to Lagoa das Arras, a 10-minute walk away. This was a very special lake with palm trees in the water, where macaws come to roost at sunset. We spent both evenings there watching them come squawking in to find their respective hollows in the trees. There were tonnes of Blue and Yellow Macaws. Everyone was silent which made it quite a spectacle. However, on the second night there, some nobheads with drones were disturbing the peace (despite signs saying No Drones). They of course got an earful from Em and eventually left. 

Our one issue with the container was how thin its walls were. A pack of street dogs had taken a shine to us and followed us everywhere we went. We think previous occupants of the container maybe fed them, and they just like to be near people, so they slept right outside and barked ALL NIGHT. Anything set them off - another dog, each other, a leaf falling from a tree a mile away. It was impossible to sleep so after two nights, we called it quits. We got in touch with the owner and he was very apologetic and understanding. We felt bad as it wasn't his fault, but we were quite sleep deprived so cancelled our last night and went back to Cuiaba early. On our way back, we stopped at a waterfall in Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Guimaraes and despite the very overcast weather, enjoyed an impressive view over the canyon.