Birdwatching Paradise in the Pantanal

Last known Location: 19°2´50.5" S 65°15´34.5" W

From Brasilia we caught a bus to the town of Goiania, where we spent a day birdwatching in the city parks, ticking off some amazing species including a Blue-capped Motmot. Then a 12-hour overnight bus to Campo Grande, where, for the first time in over a month we experienced sub-20°C temperatures (FREEZING!) and had to haul out our sleeping bags. In Campo Grande we organised Bolivian visas and a tour to the Pantanal - the huge wetland reserve in western Brazil.

The tour began with a 4 hour bus ride to the edge of the Pantanal, through pretty flat savannah-like vegetation. Before we´d even entered the Pantanal proper, we had spotted our first Giant Anteaters, and Greater Rheas, as well as loads of other unidentifiable birds. At the entrance to the Pantanal we transferred to an open-back 4x4 for the 3 hour trip to the base camp. The rough dirt road followed a water course, which in the dry season (now) is dried up into isolated ponds. I guess the fish from the river are concentrated into these ponds, making easy pickings for predators. The banks of the ponds are lined with literally hundreds of caiman (alligators), and kingfishers, storks, birds of prey, ibis´s and other fish-eating birds abound. It is a birdwatchers paradise.
Other common animals are capybara and peccory (wild pigs). Once at the base camp, the tour consisted of walks into the surrounding areas, characterised by patches of palm tree/fig forest which would be islands in the wet season, and open grassy areas often with small patches of water in them, which would be completely inundated during the wet season. Apart from spectacular birding which included good sitings of 2 species of toucans, 3 species of macaw and a trogan, amongst others, we also spotted 3 types of deer and 2 species of armadillos.

After 3 days in the dry and dusty conditions of the Pantanal we were ready for a hot shower and clean clothes, which we found in the town of Corumba, on the Bolivian border. We didn´t spent long here before crossing into Bolivia, our first Spanish speaking country. Unfortunately the month in Brazil speaking (well, trying to speak) Portuguese had completely confused us, so now it feels like we´re back to praça uno on the language front.

From the border we caught an overnight train to the town of Santa Cruz, the largest city in Bolivia with a population of about 1 million. What a refreshing change from Brazil with it´s huge skyscraper cities! While maintaining a lot of its colonial feel, the city has a much more international flavour than anywhere we´d visited in Brazil, and we managed to find English books, muesli, Chinese food and other treats. Still, we´ve had more than enough of cities, and the flat topography of the lowlands, so we moved on to the sleepy village of Samaipata in the foothills of the Andes, where we went for long walks in the hills. Our tight schedule unfortunately didn´t allow us to linger too long and we travelled overnight along some hairy mountain roads (fortunately it was dark so we couldn´t see how bad it was!) deeper into the Andes to the city of Sucre, the so called "Athens of the Americas". Having never been to Athens I have no idea why it´s called that, but it is a pretty place high up in the mountains at an altitude of 2660 m. The landscape consists of big rivers carving their way through big mountains, and in many ways is reminiscent of Tibet. The effect is enhanced by the locals in their traditional dress - brightly coloured woven fabrics, women with sun-beaten faces in skirts underlain by layers of petticoats and bowler hats!

From here we will be heading south east to Potosi and then Uyuni, higher in the Andes, from where we will do a tour of the massive salt pans and volcanic peaks & lakes.