Years of anticipation...

November 19, 2011:  In 2005 I tore out article in the National Geographic, August 2005 issue about the Pantanal titled:  “Brazil’s Wild Wet.”   It was eventually stored it in my future trip file with no real thoughts that it was ever going to happen.  But, since I set off on this trip back in April of 2009 and after years of anticipation…it finally happened.

During the 6 hours it took to get to the lodge, I was so excited that I talked and talked like a little kid without taking breathes for long periods of time to the poor French guy that so kindly didn’t shut me up.  Coming here for 4 days with the hope of seeing 2 new animals (that includes birds), it was a safe bet that it was going to occur since this area is the world’s largest wetlands. According to Wikipedia it contains about 1000 bird species, 400 fish species, 300 mammalian species, 480 reptile species and over 9000 different subspecies of invertebrates.  I also read that the pantanal has one of the largest and healthiest Jaguar populations on earth.  This explains on how I saw 2 Jaguars on the second day during a boat trip! 

My guides were a couple of interesting characters.  One guide was a professional drunk that would drink excessively and then attempt to incompetently satisfy the list of activities that was promised by the company.  Yes, there is nothing like having a drunken tour guide during a hike stating how he could kill you and not get in trouble for anything due to tribal laws.  I thought that if he wanted a tip…there are other ways to say this.

The Toucan is definitely my favorite bird.  One day we saw 9 of them in a 10 minute span.  It was great to see a Toucan doing a battle in the sky for air supremacy with the smaller birds before hitting a tree to snatch some babies.  He was like a B-52 vs. some modern day assault helicopters.

We went for a horseback ride and…it has been awhile for me.  This one Israeli wanted to gallop (later finding out he has never rode a galloping horse) but I suggested that we didn’t do my feet being so big; one of them didn’t fit well in the stirrups.  Though eventually, he got what he wanted.  Toward the end of our trip the horses knew they were almost finished.  I felt the energy of my horse shooting through him as he began springing on his toes, excited and perhaps even feeling some sort of joy, scaring me as my grip on the saddle locked and my thighs almost broke his ribs as I squeezed tightly.  Then it happened.  One horses started to run and then all the horses seemed to begin to run…in all directions.  There was no pattern so it seemed…off the trail we went and into a field.   Yelling, “stop – stop – stop,” the horse didn’t even flinch, only now I realized the horse must not have understood English.

When getting back to the barn we ran right past the manager of our tour company and even the boss of the stable.  There was a large sign posted in the barn yet seeing a little bit too late...clearly stating in Portuguese and English, “…no Galloping or Trotting.”  Our drunken guide gave us permission earlier in the trip…but I see that in his drunken state, he was clearly mistaken. 

After the Jaguar sighting, I really didn’t care if I saw anything else.  I was completely satisfied and then it was just day 2 of this 4 day trip.  But, it didn’t stop there.  Animal after animal, bird after amazing bird, this trip easily exceeded my expectations.  I would have liked to stay longer but the drunken guide was a little too much for me.  My high level of fakeness toward he was becoming harder and harder for me to achieve.