Brazil - Pantanal

Driving north from Bonito, we entered the Pantanal!  And nearly instantly we started to see more and more wild life, especially birds.   Just on route to the ranch/lodge we saw a number of southern crested caracara hawks, including one eating a snake, and lots of capybaras!  And then at the ranch, all you have to do is sit outside and there is a whole load of macraws and parakeets.  We even saw a yellow armadillo walk past our front door. 

Whilst at the ranch, we took a scenic safari tour, which was quite successful.  Along the route, we saw tons of capybaras, rheas and caiman alligators. We also saw some crab eating foxes, wild pigs, a few pampas deers with antlers, and a fantastic amount of birds. 

One things we did not have to worry about in the morning was setting the wake up alarms.  The chorus of birds promptly work us up each morning at sunrise (just before 6am). They at least rewarded us by having breakfast with us in the morning. It is amazing having these phenomenal birds nearly within touching distance of us… 

The girls had a blast one morning, by going on a horse ride.  They were both ecstatic to ride them.  Harriette got on first, and then they managed to find the biggest horse for little old Maxine!  Luckily they were both very well behaved horses.  Mish’s horse was a bit like our Daisy, with a complete dislike for anything wet.  This was a problem since it has rained at least 2-3 times a day, taking Mish on wide detours to avoid the smallest puddles!  Robyn eventually got on her horse, as it was quite mischievous and kept running away from our guides.  Once on the horse, it started to behave properly, it knew to respect Robyn!  The ride itself was a slow and very scenic, with us revisiting some of the animals we already saw on the safari.

We finished the Pantanal trip with a boat trip up Aquidauna river.  With the recent rainfalls, the water was quite high and very fast flowing. The clouds provided us with a very beautiful and dramatic sky, with the occasional rain shower… Along the river we saw more toucans, a few shy caimans and a few families of howler monkeys.  It was a nice way to end our visit.