Green Coast

Schooner trips, clear waters, islands, beaches.

 

Surfers.


Builders and fishermen.



 

Owl in the amendoeira tree.

Colonial buildings.

Brazil in the world cup.

Beaches as they once were.

Home-grown sugar-cane and an artesanal cachaça still.

A motorised canoe trip up a mangrovy inlet.

A Pantanal adventure

This was an incredible and adventurous two-week trip with cousins to the Pantanal.

It started with us setting off from Rio before dawn, to get out of the city before the morning traffic, with the lights of the city still shining as we crossed the bay. We had a two day trip ahead of us, passing through three states and 1600 kilometers: the mountains and rainforests of Rio de Janeiro state, miles and miles of sugar-cane fields and eucalyptus plantations on gently rolling hills of Sao Paulo state and then the cerrado savanna country with escarpments, cattle herds and cowboys of Mato Grosso do Sul. Along the way, we stared out at passing scenery for hours on end, listened to bossa nova cds, stopped off for tangerines and barbeques, caught parts of world cup games at gas stations and flew over hidden sleeping policemen time after time!

Our first destination was Jardim, a neat and tidy farming town, where we slept well and had delicious fried river fish, whilst everyone was celebrating the June festival. Just outside Jardim, on private ranches, there are crystal-clear rivers, which meander through preserved savanna forests. You put on a wetsuit, life-jacket, mask and snorkel and go with a guide, to float down-stream, making sure you don't touch the river-bed or sides, in order to avoid disturbing the habitat. The waters, whose springs are in limestone caves, are like an aquarium, filled with schools of colourful fish of all shapes and sizes (and the occasional caiman, which we were lucky to see). Brazil has the greatest diversity of fresh water fish in the world, and it was no surprise to see why. After the river-trip, we stayed on at the farm to have lunch on the terrace and relax in the hammocks, before galloping (myself not entirely in control) around the farm, along red-earth tracks. 

 

I then headed off on my own to the western part of the Pantanal, the world's largest inland swamp, near the border with Bolivia. The first couple of days were on the river at Passo do Lontra.

About an hour by dirt road and multiple wooden bridges from Passo do Lontra, was an old working ranch (fazenda) which has been set up for eco-tourism. I loved it there and spent a week. There was all sorts of wildlife (armadillos, anteaters, capybara, a three-meter python, coin-sized sucker frogs in the toilets, thousands of caiman on the edges of lakes, and the evening grunting sound of leopard). Birdlife, though, is the Pantanal speciality and there are hundreds of species, including toucans, macaws, parrots, rhea, herons, storks, woodpeckers, fly-catchers, kiskadees...you name it, the Pantanal's got it.

These are the palm nuts that hyacinth macaws crack open.

The best way to get around and see wildlife is on horse-back. At the age of four, Leticia, the caretaker's daughter, has learnt young. She was more confident on the back of a horse than on her bike, and used to come out with us on our horse rides around the farm.

The vegetation is also amazing. The Pantanal is essentially a low-lying inland area, crossed by several large rivers which flood annually, leaving lakes and swamps which gradually dry out through the dry season (May to September). Between flooded areas are islands of woodland, composed mainly of date palms and aloes. 

The area was also great for walking, along sandy roads and fields, although it was blisteringly hot during the day and you had to be aware of leopard and snakes.

The hammock in which I tried to sleep. After a week, I was slightly better, but never really got the hang of hammock-sleeping, waking up each time I turned over, and ending up a with stiff neck in the morning.

The world cup Pantanal-style, from a farm-worker's house, cachaça bottles by the window, horses in the background.

More horses and horse-rides.

 

More wildlife- an armadillo seen from a horse- and spectacular sunsets over flooded fields.

A stork, parrakeet, rhea (South America's version of an ostrich) and endangered hyacinth macaws.

The caiman-crossing by the sleeping hut and cows herded up for the evening.

Friendly Pantanal faces of the fazenda.

 

Back in Aquidauana, and on the road again, for a three day return trip to Rio.

Stopping off on day one at the escarpments and village of Piraputanga (named after a large local fresh-water fish, famed for its good flavour).

Back on the road again. More hidden sleeping police-men in Mato Grosso do Sul, then miles and miles of eucalyptus and sugar cane in Sao Paulo, before reaching the mountains and sea of Rio state.

 

Well worth the trip. Recommended for adventurous souls.