One Month Left?!
I feel like it was just yesterday that I wrote about my one-month travel anniversary. The time has flown by.
The longer I've travelled, the more I've realized that my trip is not really a vacation. It's life that's happening, with all of its injuries, hurts, and highs, and I just happen to be living it on the road. Although I'm starting to feel a little tired of always being on the move, I'm getting spoiled by (and accustomed to!) seeing something new and meeting new people every day.
I've been in Brazil now for over a week- first in the Pantanal, then in Bonito, and now in Foz do Iguacu. Even so, I don't feel like I've gotten a sense of Brazil yet becaue I've been in more remote places that are more nature than people or culture. It drives me crazy that I can't speak the language. Sometimes it seems like that game Mad Gab, where I feel like I'm really close to understanding, but just can't! Brazil is, as I expected, expensive. And as I expected, the people are much more open and expressive than in Bolivia. I'm looking forward to discovering more and hacking my way through a bit more Portugese. I do love the fact that "Hi!" is "Oi!" (pronounced like the Yiddish "oy" as in "Oy vay!") It's so fun to say!
The Pantanal
Soon after arriving in Brazil, I hopped off to the Pantanal for four days. At risk of sounding like an encyclopedia, the Pantanal is the largest wetlands in the world, roughly about the size of France, spanning the countries of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. In terms of seeing wildlife it's supposed to be better than the Amazon. I kind of ended up there because it was on the way, but I met a number of people who had made a special trip to this part of Brazil just to go to the Pantanal.
The Pantanal was a lot more developed than I had expected. Most of the land is privately owned and a lot of it is farmed, so in addition to the more exotic animals, we saw a lot of cows too.
Topping the list of animals we sighted were the capybara, which is the world's largest rodent (or so we were told- I'm starting to get a little wary of always believing tour guides, which reminds me that I need to look up whether it's true that black olives are black because they have been on the tree longer than green ones); howler monkeys; armadillos; caimans, which are like alligators; rheas, which are like ostriches; wild pigs; giant otters; an anteater; a coati; and a ton of birds, like kingfishers, herons, storks, and toucans.
Bonito
After the Pantanal, I headed to Bonito, which is a small town about 5 hours away known for its caves and clear waters. As soon as I arrived, I got convinced by some of my Pantanal friends to join them on an excursion to Abismo Anhumas, which is an underground lake and cave. Some of them had heard it was the best thing to do in Bonito, which was confirmed enthusiastically by the Lonely Planet, so I sucked it up and plunked down the money.
The hole that led to the underwater lake and cave looked totally inconspicuous, barely big enough to fit us through. The rappel down 72 meters into the cave was a little scary at first, but I think rock climbing has definitely helped with any kind of fear of heights. Then we changed into thick wetsuits because the water was only 18 C. My Pantanal friends all dove, but since I'm not certified, I snorkeled. The water was quite cold and devoid of fish, so we weren't in the water long at all.
It was like being in an aquarium.
The longer I've travelled, the more I've realized that my trip is not really a vacation. It's life that's happening, with all of its injuries, hurts, and highs, and I just happen to be living it on the road. Although I'm starting to feel a little tired of always being on the move, I'm getting spoiled by (and accustomed to!) seeing something new and meeting new people every day.
I've been in Brazil now for over a week- first in the Pantanal, then in Bonito, and now in Foz do Iguacu. Even so, I don't feel like I've gotten a sense of Brazil yet becaue I've been in more remote places that are more nature than people or culture. It drives me crazy that I can't speak the language. Sometimes it seems like that game Mad Gab, where I feel like I'm really close to understanding, but just can't! Brazil is, as I expected, expensive. And as I expected, the people are much more open and expressive than in Bolivia. I'm looking forward to discovering more and hacking my way through a bit more Portugese. I do love the fact that "Hi!" is "Oi!" (pronounced like the Yiddish "oy" as in "Oy vay!") It's so fun to say!
The Pantanal
Soon after arriving in Brazil, I hopped off to the Pantanal for four days. At risk of sounding like an encyclopedia, the Pantanal is the largest wetlands in the world, roughly about the size of France, spanning the countries of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. In terms of seeing wildlife it's supposed to be better than the Amazon. I kind of ended up there because it was on the way, but I met a number of people who had made a special trip to this part of Brazil just to go to the Pantanal.
The Pantanal was a lot more developed than I had expected. Most of the land is privately owned and a lot of it is farmed, so in addition to the more exotic animals, we saw a lot of cows too.
Topping the list of animals we sighted were the capybara, which is the world's largest rodent (or so we were told- I'm starting to get a little wary of always believing tour guides, which reminds me that I need to look up whether it's true that black olives are black because they have been on the tree longer than green ones); howler monkeys; armadillos; caimans, which are like alligators; rheas, which are like ostriches; wild pigs; giant otters; an anteater; a coati; and a ton of birds, like kingfishers, herons, storks, and toucans.
Storks at sunset
Capybaras Snuggling- it's hard to tell from the photo, but these guys are big! About the size of a midsized dog
Bonito
After the Pantanal, I headed to Bonito, which is a small town about 5 hours away known for its caves and clear waters. As soon as I arrived, I got convinced by some of my Pantanal friends to join them on an excursion to Abismo Anhumas, which is an underground lake and cave. Some of them had heard it was the best thing to do in Bonito, which was confirmed enthusiastically by the Lonely Planet, so I sucked it up and plunked down the money.
The hole that led to the underwater lake and cave looked totally inconspicuous, barely big enough to fit us through. The rappel down 72 meters into the cave was a little scary at first, but I think rock climbing has definitely helped with any kind of fear of heights. Then we changed into thick wetsuits because the water was only 18 C. My Pantanal friends all dove, but since I'm not certified, I snorkeled. The water was quite cold and devoid of fish, so we weren't in the water long at all.
Climbing 72 meters back up the rope, which was actually more fun than coming down!
Unfortunately, we all felt a little disappointed because our expectations had been so high. We found out that it's only one month a year when the sunlight streams in through the top of cave, illuminating the water and all the stalagtites and stalagmites. We still had a ton of fun anyway, in large part because we were there together.
Odd (Norway), Me, Phoebe (UK), Linda (UK), Abi (UK)
We all had a great time hanging out in the Pantanal and in Bonito. And in my travel life, spending a week with the same people is like dog years. There was one particularly hilarious moment when they thought I was being completely obscene until we all realized that the word "fanny" means something completely different in British English and American English.
The next day snorkeling down the Rio do Prata was the highlight for me. The river is incredibly clear because the minerals from the limestone clean the water.
I've been snorkeling in clear ocean water before, where the ocean stretches and surrounds endlessly, but being in a shallow and narrow river with jungle on both sides was a totally different experience.
We took lots of silly pictures,
and after several riotously hilarious flailing attempts at diving down to the bottom above a deep spring, which is quite hard in a buoyant wetsuit, I finally managed to do it!
My successful attempt
(I should post the unsuccessful ones because they are gut bustingly funny)
It's true. Green olives basically are not ripe while black olives stay on the tree longer and ripen. The tour guide was telling the truth...at least that time.
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