A Useful Map

We are now in Corumba - Brazil, just about to return to Bolivia via a 21 hour train journey. This got me thinking ... other than Uruguay and Peru, we will soon have returned to every country we have visited in South America at least once. In fact, regular followers of the blog will have noticed that in the past month we have been jumping between Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil almost weekly. This is very confusing (not least of all to us!).

As I have noted in a previous blog this is all to do with the Inca Trail. We were not able to book the dates that we had originally planned for, and so ended up having to do the Trek a month earlier. This threw our entire schedule (which was originally surprisingly sensible) completely out of whack, resulting in the bizarre seemingly random wandering route that you see above.

To expand the map simply click on it. A smaller version has also been included on the right hand side under "The Route". I shall update this from time to time, all at no extra cost to you. Please contain your excitement ...

Bonito

We made it out of the wilderness of the Pantanal and arrived in a lovely town aptly named Bonito. Bonito means beautiful in portuguese. While the town itself is not all that beautiful, there are some ´bonito´things to see around it! Bonito is famous for its incrediably clear rivers surrounding it, with thousands of tropical fish swimming around. So we walked 8k to a natural swimming pool south of town , the water was so clear it was amazing. And there were literally hundreds of fish, we hired snorkels for the day and swam around with all the fish!

The next day we made a trip to the Gruta do Lago Azul. We put some very attractive hard helmets on and entered the magnificent cave. There was hundreds of amazing stalacite formations and the lake within the cave was the most beautiful blue, the pics wont do it justice...it was the best cave we´ve ever been in.

The final ´sight´we did in Bonito was a visit to the Project Joboia. It is a snake show by this guy who is VERY enthusiastic about snakes. It is a 2 hour talk about snakes and he is basically trying to change people´s opinions on snakes and get over their fear of them. I thought I would be terrified and not really enjoy this show at all, but it was great...I was the first one up to touch the red tail boa he had draped over him all night! (Sorry Mum) By the end of the night Chris and I both had the snake round our necks and had even had a quick kiss from it!!

But the highlight (sort of) of the night was watching a very hungry snake gobble up a live rat-something I never thought I´d see, it was quite disturbing as the rat was very much alive but it was over quite quick and really fascinating watching the eating process and how the snake managed to get this giant rat into its mouth...disgusting, but certainly an experience!

Walking in the Pantanal

As Liz has explained in her blog below, we settled into the Pantanal way of life pretty quickly. Each day we'd have a 3 hour activity in the morning, and a 3 hour activity in the afternoon. The rest of the time would be spent either eating, or lazing around in hammocks. Absolutely perfect. We didn't want to leave.

One of the more energetic activities we participated in was the "sunrise walk", an activity that unsurprisingly requires getting up very early in the morning. The night before it was scheduled we were joined by 3 guys from England - Jack, Andrew and John (big shout out to you guys) - who were immediately greeted with the news that they had to get up at 4 the next morning. "I didn't sign up for this," was the response.

So, at 4 the next morning, we all somehow roused ourselves and hitched a lift on a jeep deep into the Pantanal. We got off the jeep, watched the sunrise, then set off walking through a wooded area next to the track.

The first part of the walk was great. We saw a troop of howler monkeys, a few alligators, numerous capybara (enormous rodents) and a couple of scarlet macaws. We also all laughed at our guide Paolo, who it seemed had forgotten his shoes, as he was walking barefoot through this rough terrain.

Apparently this was all planned however, for after about an hour or so he waddled straight out of the forest and began trudging through a filthy swamp. "Maybe he's looking for water snakes," I whispered to Liz, "or looking at the trees from another vantage point." But Paolo didn't seem to be looking for anything. He just kept on wading through that swamp. And then, when he was about 30 yards out into it, and thigh deep in water, he turned around to us and beckoned. Oh no ...

After much debate we decided we had to follow to avoid getting lost, so we took off our shoes, rolled our trouser legs up disturbingly high (check out the pictures below) and waded out into the half-mud-half-water to a chorus of:

- I really didn't sign up for this.
- Are there leaches in here?
- I hope no one's got any open wounds, otherwise you'll definitely catch something.
- How much is a plane home?

At one point Paolo turned round to us and said, "You know, it's easier to see the animals if you are quiet." Needless to say, we spent the next hour or so in the swamp and saw nothing. The water got so high in one place that Paolo had to carry Liz on his back! Here are the pictures:

Fishing in the Pantanal

As Liz has exlained in her blog (below), the camspite we were staying at in the Pantanal was set in a wonderful location, right next to a river. On our first full day in the swamps, we went on a chilled out boat trip along this river breaking the journey with a swim on the way back. On Day 2, Paolo - our rotund tour guide - told us we were going fishing for piranha in the afternoon. Very exciting. Until, of course, we asked where this event was to take place ...

Paolo: In the river right there.
Us: What - the one we were swimming in yesterday?
Paolo: Yah.
Us: There are piranha in there?
Paolo: Yah.
Us: Isn't that a bit ... dangerous?
Paolo: No.
Us: They don't bite then?
Paolo: Yah.
Us: Yes they don't bite, or yes they bite?
Paolo: Yah - they bite.
Us: Paolo, when we swam yesterday, could we have been eaten by piranhas?
Paolo: No, they no bite you when the water is high.

Having survived our swim, it was high time we caught and ate a few piranha to celebrate. We loaded up the boat with bamboo fishing rods and some cow fat masquerading as bait, and set off.

Paolo paddled us a few hundred metres downstream to a quiet secluded spot, threw us some lard to put on our hooks, and instructed us to cast off. Within seconds I had a bite, the line shaking dramatically in the water. "Pull up! Pull up!" shouted Paolo. I did so with all my strength and the line came out shooting of the water. And there ... for all to see ... was ... an empty hook. The piranha had claimed the bait and eluded the hook.

I muttered some anti-piranha comments, loaded up the hook and cast off again. Once more I had a bite moments after the hook was in the water. Once more I pulled up. Once more all that was left was an empty hook.

This pattern continued for the next 5 minutes or so, with me effectively feeding the piranha. "Stop losing your bait," said Liz supportively. "I don't see you catching anything ..." I grumbled in reply.

And then the inevitable happened. With a banshee like scream (from Liz not the fish), Liz pulled her line out of the water complete with a very angry looking piranha at the end. With another wail she tried to bring it boatwards, swinging the rod sideways towards the boat in a direct line with my head. Fortunately (for both me and the piranha) the rod was not high enough, and fish, hook, line and all collided with the side of the boat, both freeing the grateful piranha and saving me a nasty whack to the head. Also, since Liz had failed to get the fish into the boat it did not count as a catch. My masculine pride remained in tact. Liz - 0, Chris - 0. Paolo dispensed advice:

Paolo: You need to bring the piranha in more slowly.
Liz: Aaaaaaa!!! I caught a fish!!! Did you see!!!
Paolo: You need to be more quiet or you scare the fish.
Liz: I think it was a piranha!!! Was it a piranha?!
Paolo: You need to stop moving, you are rocking the boat.
Liz: I just caught a piranha!!!
etc. etc.

Once everyone had calmed down we resumed business; I with steely determination, Liz with eager excitement, Paolo with languid confidence. Over the next 10 minutes I lost a whole load of bait, Liz lost a little bait and Paolo landed two with minimal fuss. Then the inevitable happened once more ... "Aaaaaa!!! I've got another one!!!" This time Liz pointed the rod skywards and brought it parallel to the boat swiftly, so that the piranha easily cleared the side. Unfortunately it then carried on towards me at some pace. I tried to move but was not quick enough - it hit me slap bang in the middle of my back - hook, line and angry biting fish with sharp teeth. Paolo dispensed advice: "Be careful! It bites!" At this point Liz dropped everything and we jumped up on our chairs whilst the piranha flopped around on the floor of the boat. Eventually it calmed down and Paolo threw it in the stern. Liz - 1, Chris - 0.

After the excitement we got back to fishing; the others as before, I with hurt pride, a sore back and one eye on Liz's line. Over the next hour I lost bait on an Olympian scale, whilst Liz caught 7, lost 3, landed 4 and hit me with another one. Paolo landed 5. Then Paolo said, "OK, let's go." I couldn't believe it. Through gritted teeth I replied, "Please can we just have a few more minutes? I need to catch something" Poalo looked to the sky, "But it's getting dark." It was time to beg, "Pleeeease?" He relented, "OK, a bit longer ..."

We resumed, and then (after I'd lost a bit more bait), oh joy of joys I had a bite. A real bite this time, one that stuck. I wrenched the line from the water, fish spinning on the end, and landed it in what I like to think was a calm professional manner - grabbing the line first time as it swung back towards the boat. I held the fish up grinning ...

Liz: It's not a very big fish is it?
Chris: You're just jealous.
Liz: It looks different as well. I don't think it's even a piranha.
Chris: Of course it's a piranha.
Liz: No, I don't think it is. Let's ask Paolo.
Chris: Ok. Paolo?
Paolo: Yah?
Chris: Is this a piranha?
Paolo: No.
Chris: What is it then?
Paolo: Sardine.

Liz - 5, Chris - 1 (sardine).

The humiliation failed to end there however. A couple of days later, we were joined by 3 English guys - Jack, Andrew and John. I suggested that Paolo take us all fishing again in the hope of restoring some of my damaged ego. It was agreed and we set off. Unfortunately, it came to pass that the cow fat we'd used as bait previously had been left to rot in the sun for a couple of days, turning it rancid, foul smelling and generally disgusting. This made the fishing a great deal more unpleasant, due to the smell and the hundreds of flies swarming round us and our boat. It also made it much more difficult, since no fish in its right mind would eat such horrendous rotten bait, so making it impossible to catch anything. Impossible that is except for Liz and Paolo who nabbed 11 between them. Liz - 4, Boys - 0. Final score on aggregate: Liz - 9, Chris - 1 (sardine). Painful.

(The one up side of this trip was that I'd managed to position myself as far away from Liz as possible to avoid injury. Jack, unbeknownst to him, had the hot seat. His reactions must have been quicker than mine however, since he managed to get out of the way of all incoming piranha. He described it afterwards as "one of the most terrifying hours of my life.")

We returned, reeking of rancid lard, to scale and gut the fish (well ... Andrew did one, I did another badly, then Paolo decided he'd sort out the rest). Poalo and the cook then whisked them away, and later we feasted on freshly caught piranha soup, and piranha/sardine fried in herbs and manioc flour. Delicious. Thanks Liz and Paolo!

P.S. Finally (and I know I sound biased here - but please believe me - it is the truth) of all the fish that we ate, I have to say, my sardine was the tastiest. And so, discounting all measurements of size, number of fish caught, ferocity of fish, sharpness or number of teeth, etc. and judging purely on grounds of taste, I think I can safely say: Liz - 0, Chris - 1. Come on!!!

The Pantanal

The Pantanal is located in the center of South America and is the world´s largest wetland- some 210,000 sq km. Most of it is in Brazil, split between the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. We had read all about it and were pretty excited, as apparently you can spot more wildlife in the Pantanal than the Amazon...in the Amazon the animals can hide in the dense jungle, but in the Pantanal they are out in the open for us to, hopefully, see!

So we booked a 4 day tour, as this is pretty much the only way to see the Pantanal, unless you have lots of money or have lots of time, both of which we don´t. Accomdation wise we opted for the camping as it was cheaper than staying in the lodge about 500m away. We were in the bus on the journey there with several other travellers and we thought they had probably chosen the more íntrepid´ option of camping too, however as we appraoched the lodge everyone but us started to get their bags ready...and yep everyone got out. Oh dear...we looked in at the lodge with the ensuite rooms, the huge swimming pool and the hammocks hung up from trees, we were quietly jealous as they got out and wished us ´good luck with the camping´ I definitly noticed them smirking. So were driven a further 500m and arrived at our home for the next 4 nights. It was absolutely beautiful and we were so happy we´d chosen camping straightaway! We discovered we weren´t actually camping but sleeping in great big colourful hammocks-brilliant!! We were right next to a river (who needs a swimming pool?!) and there was a cute little shack which they called a bar so we could get our caprivodka fix. They were hammocks hung up all over the place...it was paradise.

The location was fantastic and we felt much more ´ín´the Pantanal compared to the luxurious lodge! The first thing we did was walk along the river bed watching the sunset..it was lovely..until a huge aligator climbed out of the water to lie about 2 meters from us!! I was a bit scared to say the least but apparently this type of aligator- the caimon- will not harm you in anyway. This was good because they were EVERYWHERE. The next day we went on a boat trip up the river with our guide, a local who had lived in the Pantanal all his life, Paulo. We saw numerous aligators resting on the river bed or swimming alongside us with just their eyes poking out of the water-a terrifying sight! We also spotted some howler monkeys in the trees and lots of loud colourful birds which we have completely forgotten the names of!

We did lots of activities over the 4 days looking for wildlife- we watched sunrise over the Pantanal, we went on 2 hillarious walks, we went horse riding- on crazy horses- this was fun but we saw no wildlife as the horses were so wild! We did a couple of boat trips and fishing too- which I was exceptionally good at- more about that later. We also did a lot of lazing about in hammocks which was great! We had a wicked group of english guys with us which made the trip pretty funny, and Paulo the guide was a pantanal hero! I listed all the wildlife we saw throughout the trip- it goes like this...a giant anteater, lots of aligators, piranha, toucans, kingfisher birds, giant storks, a peccary, some howler monkeys (which we also heard-VERY loudly!) scarlet maccaws, parrots, tiger herons, a sardine, big hawks, cabybara´s (the largest rodent in the world) and a cute little kitten that lived at our camp. Not bad!

A Really Big Dam

So we just went to see the Itaipu Dam - the world's biggest hydroelectric power plant. It was ... big. Just quite how big is difficult to describe without resorting to the statistics printed in our guide book. So without further ado, here they are:

• The Itaipu Dam is built on the Parana river, 14km north of Iguazu Falls.


• The dam is 8km long and 65 stories high (200m)


• The concrete used in its construction would be sufficient to build a two-land highway from Mosco to Lisbon


• The iron and steel used is equivalent to 380 Eiffel Towers


• It cost $18 billion to build


• At the height of its construction, crews were building the equivalent of a 20 story office building every hour
  
• It provides 90% of Paraguay's electricity needs and 22% of Brazil's


• Construction began in 1973, and the final generator wasn't fully functioning until last year

Like I said ... big. It is also however, pretty ugly. I don't suppose aesthetics were at the forefront of the designers' minds (particularly in 1973). Still an impressive sight though, especially the force and power of all that water rushing out of the "Spillway", the Dam's very own overflow pipe.

Bird Park

I've been catching a fair amount of flak from Liz lately about hitting the grand old age of 26 (I am now closer to 30 than 20, I will be 40 in just 14 years, etc etc). She has also been calling into question my "new found" love of birds. Apparently I'm "always pointing them out" and "only over 50s do that". Naturally I have contested this vehemently, but lo and behold, in the way that these things sometimes happen, whilst looking through our guide book's entry on The Iguazu Falls, I stumble across the following sentence:

Five minutes' walk from the waterfalls is the worthwhile Parque Das Aves (Bird Park), a five hectare park where you can see some 800 different bird species

Now, come on, that sounds good doesn't it? I ventured it to Liz. "What? A park full of birds?" was the response, "How old are you again?". I then had to explain that the entrance price was even more expensive than for Iguazu Falls and, should we go, we'd be forced to eat from street vendors for the next few days. "I'll come with you, but only out of pity ..." she said, though I suspect she didn't want to miss the opportunity of laughing at me for spending so much money just to see some old birds.

Fortunately for me, the park was brilliant. Almost all the birds were multicoloured and tropical, and they lived in vast 15 storey high enclosures designed to replicate the different habitats found in Brazil. Visitors can walk through these enclosures surrounded on all sides by the curious and squawking birds. There was also a reptile section, complete with anacondas, turtles and alligators (though the walkway was sensibly raised for this area).

Highlights were numerous. There were the hundreds of multicoloured parrots:

The flamingo lake:

The friendly toucan that followed us around:

The anaconda, the emu, the peacock, and the enormous bird that looked like a dinosaur (I forget its name. It was kept behind a protective screen, because apparently this type of bird has a tremendous kick, and has been known to kill humans in the wild!):

The best was saved for last though - the Macaw enclosure! Not put off (for long anyway) by the numerous signs that said "Enter at your own risk" and "These animals bite!" we took the plunge and went in. We were greated by a cacophony of screeching, followed by a number of the Macaws flying directly at Liz's head, then swerving off to the side at the last minute. Strangely I was left pretty much alone. We took a seat in the middle of the enclosure, and tried to stick it out as long as possible. We were out within 3 minutes ... but what a 3 minutes! All the Macaws were wonderfully coloured, and great to look at ... before they dive bombed your head that is. Still, it was a fantastic sight and well worth the fear and potential minor head wounds:

Really Big Waterfalls!

Our final day in Argentina was pretty amazing. We went to visit the gigantic Iguazu Falls. There really isn´t too much to say about the waterfalls..except they are absolutely spectacular and really really big! We spent a day walking around the falls gazing up at them..and the views just kept getting better and better until we were at the ´Devil´s Throat´ right above the main falls where we were so close we got pretty wet!

We´d heard great things about Iguazu Falls but nothing actually prepares you for just how amazing they are...here are a few of the 200 odd photo´s we took that day to emphasise! My favourite part was all the rainbows!

The next day we crossed the border to Brazil and spent another day watching the falls, it was quite a different perspective, you get a more panoramic view of it all which is fab, but you don´t get as close to the action as on the Argentina side. Still..not a bad sight!

Oh and we found a cute little animal called a ´coati´to play with!

There was something in the air that night, the stars so bright ...

The route from Salta to the Iguazu Falls is a seriously long way. Since we've now had quite enough of long bus journeys, we decided to break the trip in Resistencia. Resistencia is a very pleasant place, with a spring-like climate, and one of the biggest central plazas in South America. It also boasts over 300 sculptures on public display around the city.

Of particular interest to us was the sculture of Fernando the dog. Fernando was a stray dog that one day befriended a bank manager. Every day the bank manager had breakfast with Fernando in the main square. At some point (and history does not relate how) Fernando then became a local celebrity, with the whole city fascinated by his carefree exploits in and around the square. When he died in 1961, the town closed their shutters in respect, and there was a funeral procession through the streets. His form was immortalised in the sculpture you can see at the beginning of this post, by the city's most famous sculptor (whose name I have now forgotten).

Also of great interest to us, was the fact that you can get a very cheap room with a private bathroom and TV in Resistencia. So basically we saw a lot of sculptures and watched a lot of TV. Here are a few more sculptures (check out the hippo):