Back from the Wilderness

Since our last post from Isla Grande, a large no-vehicle paradise that had lots to offer including a 10 km hike on our last day to the other side of the island (a beautiful 2 km long secluded surfer beach), we have been without internet access at our last couple of stops. The first of these was at Trindade, a small village on the east coast, south of Ilha Grande. We stayed at a lovely hostel run by a Montreal lady and her Brazilian husband who spend 6 months a year in each country (he barely survived one of our winters and doesn't plan to try it again but was very much looking forward to returning to Quebec for a summer stay at the end of the month). Their hostel was on the edge of the rainforest and only 2 blocks from a gorgeous beach. Unfortunately, it rained steadily while we there so we had to forego the waterfall and rainforest hikes, along with more beach time. We had good visits with the owners and other travellers in between card games where Caity has been a dominating force.

With rain forecast for another day or two, and tired of losing card games to Caity we decided to head inland, taking several buses to reach the centre of the continent, and one of the world's largest wetlands, the Pantanal. We stayed at a lodge / farm deep into the reserve at a spot recommended by another backpacker couple, and it was a good decision. Our package included 4 days of safari's (walking, truck, horseback, boat, nocturnal drive) along with piranha fishing (nibbles only) and tubing down the same river! While tubing (floating with the current) we were observed by caiman (small aligators) along the banks who seemed more interested in working on their suntans than us (until one agressive creature approached us just as we finished our float). Our most impressive sights during our stay were a giant anteater (rare for it's size), a tapir (endangered species), an ocelot (small jaguar), brown howler monkeys (to the delight of Caity who took over as tour guide at that point), and many colourful species of birds including macaws, toucans, jabiru storks and flamingos. We met some great people while we were there (Netherlands, Ireland, U.S. family with 4 young children) and enjoyed the great meals and nightly campfires with them. With no towns anywere close to where we were, the night sky was brilliant with the Milky Way clearly visible to the naked eye every night and shooting stars crossing the sky if you paid enough attention. Our final night was filled with caipirinha drinks and was very entertaining into the wee hours of the morning..........Mike was the only one drinking cervezas that evening and the next day!

From the Pantanal we took a bus several hours south to Bonito where we rediscovered the internet. Yesterday we took a full day tour to a reserve at Rio da Prata where we hiked and then snorkelled for almost 2 km's down a crystal clear natural springs river that was filled with colourful fish that we are only used to observing in the oceans. It felt like we were swimming in an aquarium. Some of the tiny fish would actually peck at you, which was initially disturbing since we had recently been in a piranha river, but they were too small to do any damage and we became more comfortable as we continued down the river where the current carried you at a modest pace. Today we wandered around the small town of Bonito and enjoyed a caiman lunch. Last night, Caity was out with our Pantanal tour guide (enjoying a few days off) and he introduced her to piranha soup.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Brazil, taking several buses to get into Bolivia where we will spend the next couple of weeks, and join up with Rachel in La Paz at the end of the month.

Only one month to go!