But, on the morning of September 14th 2016, we set off from Tucson for a 26 hour journey that would land us in Cuiaba Brazil. We splurged for business class tickets and thank goodness we did. The 12 hour flight from LA to Sao Paulo was tolerable in business class but would have been unbearable for my long legs in coach.
We grabbed a taxi from the Cuiaba airport to our hotel for what is supposed to be about a 25 minute drive. However, our young driver proceeded to accelerate out of the airport at warp speed and take us on Mr Toad's Wild Ride. I stopped counting the moving violations after 5 minutes and just held on. We nearly sideswiped a couple cars but 20 minutes later we arrived at our destination shaken but thankful that we arrived in one piece. Welcome to Brazil.
The Prime Deville Hotel in Cuiaba was nice. It's often used by travelers to the Pantanal so we knew what to expect. The room was quiet and the bed comfortable. Before we arrived, we decided to be extra cautious with food and water this trip. So, this meant only drinking and brushing teeth with filtered water and only eating cooked food or food we could peel ourselves. So, the daily ritual of covering the faucet with a towel began. We learned this trick long ago since it helps us to remember to not use tap water when you are half awake and want to brush your teeth in the morning.
After a good night's rest and a decent buffet breakfast we gathered our stuff. Our guide, Julinho from Pantanal Trackers, was meeting us at 7:30AM. We had pre-payed our entire trip with him via bank transfers before we left so there was a slight worry that maybe we wouldn't be picked up at all. But, not only is Julinho's reputation online impeccable but he turned out to be one of the best guides we have ever had. Our phone rang at 7:20AM, Julinho was downstairs and was ready when we were.
We met Julinho downstairs, climbed into his Toyoto truck and headed to the Pantanal. We made a brief stop in Pocone for water and snacks and then proceeded to the Transpantaniera, which is a long, straight, and often bumpy road that is the only access point to the Northern Pantanal.
It's official, we have arrived in the Pantanal!
The Transpantaniera is about 150 kilometers long and you cross over 120 bridges along the way to the end point 6+ hours later which is Porto Jofre. Initially, our itinerary was to drive the whole distance that day to the hotel in Porto Jofre. But, Julinho had updated the itinerary to stay 2 nights at Pouso Alegre first and then 5 nights at the hotel in Porto Jofre. This change didn't bother us at all.
The drive to Pouso Alegre was about 3 hours and there was plenty to see along the way.
White-backed Stilt:
Little Blue Heron:
I think that one of the animal icons of the Pantanal is the Jabiru. But, until you see it in person you just don't realize how huge it really is. We saw lots of Jabiru this trip and all the great sightings really cemented this bird near the top of my bird list for the trip. There is something about their size, coloration, and the way they walk, that I just love.
Our first mammal sighting of the trip was of this beautiful male Marsh Deer along the road:
A sign along the road alerted us to another mammal that is everywhere in the Pantanal but we had yet to get a really good look at:
We made a pit stop at a bar along the Transpantaniera. It was here that we got great looks at the Yellow-billed Cardinal that turned out to be everywhere in the Pantanal:
Soon after, we turned down the driveway to Pouso Alegre. The lodge has a huge property and we knew the driveway was a long road that winds to the lodge where there is ample opportunities to see wildlife. It didn't take long for some Brown Capuchin Monkeys to make an appearance near the road including this juvenile:
There were lots of small ponds along the road to the lodge and it seemed like a Sunbittern was wading around in each one:
At one of the last big ponds before the lodge we got really good looks at the largest rodent in the world...the Capybara:
We now LOVE Capybara. As a matter of fact, we found out during the trip that the Capybara is Julinho's favorite mammal in the Pantanal. I can see why. They can be 4 feet long, stand 2 feet high, weigh close to 150 lbs and bark when danger is near. Basically, they are massive and exhibit tons of interesting behavior that we saw over the course of the trip.
We arrived at the lodge, dropped our stuff in our bare bones but hopefully comfortable room and set out to walk around a bit. The wildlife was seemingly everywhere at Pouso Alegre.
Black and White Tegu. There were 5 or 6 of these big lizards hanging around the lodge:
Campo Flicker:
One of my favorite all time birds is the Toucan, and the Toco Toucan in the Pantanal is a really pretty Toucan:
Chestnut-eared Aracari:
I was also really excited to spot a Greater Rhea. These are huge flightless birds slightly smaller than an Ostrich. We saw a few in the distance but didn't have to wait long to see one up close:
There was a tree fruiting right outside one of the lodge buildings where we spotted a Brown Capuchin Monkey munching away:
At 3PM, we met Julinho to go on a drive around the property which proved VERY successful.
Capped Heron:
Black-collared Hawk:
South American Coati:
Red Brocket deer:
Red-footed Tortoise:
The drive ended at a pond where a bench has been built. This is apparently a great place to stakeout for Tapir so we waited here until dark. But, it wasn't Tapir that we saw first. Instead, we got a glimpse of one of the target animals we came to see. A Giant Anteater:
The Giant Anteater came out of the bush, trotted about 100 yards along the edge of the field and then disappeared. I only managed to get these two decent photos which is too bad considering this was the only Giant Anteater we saw the whole trip.
As our stakeout at the pond continued, we saw more wildlife including a Crab-eating fox, Tinamou, Agouti, and a Great Potoo that flew towards our spotlight twice right after dark. Just as we were getting ready to leave for the night, a French lady that was waiting with us saw movement at the pond. Julinho turned on the spotlight and we saw this:
Our first Tapirs! The picture is lousy but the experience was great as we watched them in the spotlight. We owe our first Tapir to the couple from France..Viva la France!
As the Tapirs walked out of the pond and into some high brush we saw some movement at the pond again. This time the spotlight illuminated an Ocelot walking quickly on the far bank. I didn't get a picture because the sighting was brief but it was exciting none the less.
We left the pond and headed down the road again on a night spotlighting tour. We saw lots of Night Hawks along the road and then another Crab-eating Fox:
Then, we lucked out again as another Tapir was eating right off the road. We carefully snuck out of the truck so as not to spook it but it was fine with our presence and allowed me to get some photos:
Looks like someone needs a better dental plan...
As we were watching this Tapir another Crab-eating Fox trotted right behind it:
Wow, what a great evening and a great topper to our first day in the Pantanal. Unfortunately, the days of travel caught up to Karen and between the heat, bouncy truck ride, dehydration, and lack of sleep she began to feel lousy so she skipped dinner. But, after some rest, water, and sugar she was pretty much back to "normal" before bedtime.
Dinner at Pouso Alegre, like all meals, is served buffet style. There was always a choice of meat, fresh fruit, cooked vegetables, and Brazilian rice and beans. I really liked the rice and beans in Brazil much more than other Latin America countries. Julinho said the secret was how long they marinate the beans. Whatever they do with the beans...they do it well.
Anyway, dinner was great and I celebrated a great first day by grabbing a beer from the honor bar to enjoy with dinner. The Brazilians insist on really cold beer which is just one more reason I am loving this country.
