In Gil’s Hands: Discovering The Pantanal

The Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland system.  Boasting some 650 bird species and 80 mammal species (jaguars, powerful, elusive, and fierce, rule the land), it is twenty times the size of the Florida Everglades.

I hadn’t considered a trip to The Pantanal until I decided that Bolivia would follow Brazil.  Once I determined my route, it made sense to visit the ecosystem on my way out of the country.  I pre-arranged a tour with Gil, and when I arrived at the airport, he had a young American couple thinking about joining the tour as well.

It was 2:45 PM.  Gil wanted to get us all on a 3 PM bus out of Campo Grande.  Meagan and Greg, the couple from Maine, and I boarded the bus, and  I soon had the opportunity to remark on what a small world it is when I learned that Meagan and Ihad both graduated from Bucknell University–she in ‘07 and me in ‘03. 

I was happy to have travel companions for this leg of the journey, and Meagan and Greg turned out to be very cool people, indeed.

Our decision to take the immediate bus was a wise one as we were the only people on the tour for the better part of the trip.  Two sweet Danish girls joined us, but it wasn’t until the last leg of our Pantanal tour that the number of travelers rose substantially (and the food quality declined noticeably). 

Our guide, Luiz, was an English-speaking Brazilian who, with his wife, Cida, owned the pousada (guest house) where we were to stay for the three nights and three day tour.  Taking us out on a boat ride down the Rio Paraguai, Luiz pointed stopped the boat to point out swimming sea otters, tree-swinging monkeys, capybara (world’s largest rodent), tiger herons, vultures, storks (the symbol of The Pantanal), marsh deer, a 1m-long iquana, and loads of caiman (fish-eating small alligator).

Boat ride up RioParaguai

Using bamboo fishing poles, we fished for piranha and saved most of them for dinner, though we caught so many (I’m the proud fisherwoman of the largest one that morning!), we shared a few with the lingering and anxious caiman.  (And thanks to Meagan and Greg’s 98% DEET insect repellent, I barely got bitten by the feisty and persistent mosquitos.)

In the afternoon, following a lunch where vegetables were plentiful (thank God!), we went horse-back riding through the vast land, now dry. 

The following day included a jeep safari ride, a long walk through the jungle and savannahs, and lunch at an outdoor bar and cafe.  Before this adventure, I’d never considered myself a bird person.  Before, they barely interested me, but it was quite a thrill to be so close to so many rarely-seen-elsewhere species.  We didn’t spot any jaguars or anacondas, but it was a worthwhile trip and one that now has me itching to head to Bolivia’s slice of the Amazon, in spite of the fact that I probably saw much more wildlife in The Pantanal than I’ll get to see in The Amazon.