Bem-vindo To Brazil: My Pantanal Experience

Sorry in advance for any errors. I haven't practiced English in a while and this was a rather long post. I hope you enjoy.

So two days after I arrived home from Bahia I went on the Pantanal Side trip offered by AFS. I have to say that so far it's been great! It is definitely worth the money. If you can, go on this trip or one of the trips. They make them an unforgettable 10 days.

The first couple days were really boring and consisted of mostly sitting in a bus. I first had to drive to São Paulo which is about five hour but it took longer to arrive because another bus broke down and so we waited a half an hour while the driver made sure everything was okay. We finally arrived in São Paulo at about 2:50 where we were met by one of the staff of Belo Brasil who took us in a taxi to the hotel we would be staying at for the night. The first night at the hotel I had to pay for because it wasn't included in the cost. I did get to meet many of the other exchange students while I was there that night. The next morning we started for Campo Grande by bus together. It was a very long day which included sleeping, eating junk food, bathroom breaks, talking, and movies. We left at like 9 in the morning and we arrived at like 10 at night. We didn't go straight to Pantanal that night because it would have taken longer and we needed so rest from the bus.

The next day we left early in the morning and arrived at the lodge we would be staying at in Pantanal in the late afternoon. The only way to get to this lodge though was to get on another more simple bus (without our precious air conditioning) and drive for an hour on the bumpiest road ever. Actually, it was more of a dirt trail. That's because most of the year the road is submerged under several feet of water. I the spring you have to go the lodge by boat! Pantanal is one of the largest wetlands in the world.

After all of our stuff was put in our rooms and we had a short meeting everyone went straight for the pool because it was so hot!!! I mean it was close to 40 degrees Celsius (over 100 degrees far.) and had high humidity. We swam until it got dark then got ready for dinner.

Dinner was so good. The food everyday was delicious. There was salad and boiled yucca and there was beans that were so good. I normally don't like beans that much but these beans were seasoned and had some other vegetables. There were usually two different types of meat. For dessert there were different types of candied fruits like apple, banana, and pumpkin. There was also doce de leite and a sweet rice soup. Afterwards we had some free time to explore the area more before a presentation about pantanal and the lodge we were staying at. There was this deck that lead down near the river where all these crocodiles were sitting in the last of the sun. You could get so close to them and take pictures.

The presentation was very informational. They explained the different times of the wet lands and about the different animals and plants that we'll be seeing. This is also when we split into our different groups to do our activities the next day. My group was called tuiuiú (pronounced to-you-you). This is a very tall bird that is the symbol of Pantanal. Its all white except for it's head and neck which are black.

The next day started all the activities. My group started off with the safari trip after breakfast. At 7:30am we all got into the truck and drove off. We saw so many animals especially birds. We saw the tuiuiú, red and blue macaws, vultures, cafezinhos and so many more. The best time to see animals is in the early morning or late afternoon because its not so hot. Animals don't like the heat either. It was hard to take pictures because my camera wasn't made for speedy pictures or pictures which require lots of zoom. Lots of times we would be driving around and it would be bumpy and then the animal would take off and so it was getting farther away so I didn't take as many good pictures as I wanted to. After 3 hours in the truck though, we finally arrived back at the lodge. We had some free time until lunch so we all hung out in the games room because there was air conditioning and it was really hot even in the morning.

After lunch we had some free time until 3 o'clock. At 3 we went fishing for piranhas! You know the fish that eat meat and have lots of sharp teeth? Yeah we actually did catch some too. I didn't but a couple people in my group did. Their teeth are very scary looking. Eek! Something else you should know. All of our fish attracted crocodiles to be sitting literally a foot away! It was crazy how close they were. One was even bathing in the sun on the shore of the river waiting for the fish we caught. Also, because we were fishing with meat to attract the piranhas, a couple people accidentally caught crocodiles instead. Oops! In the end, I only caught two little fish that didn't have any teeth, but it was still cool.

After fishing, we went on a nature walk through the wetlands. Right now they are dry so we could see more of the animals. We were able to find a monkey up high in the trees that had a baby monkey. It was so cute and how they jump from tree to tree is incredible. We also found a footprint of painted jaguar. Jaguars only come out at night but just the idea that they had passed through was amazing.

Afterwards was dinner and getting ready to go camping. We split into two groups. The first group left right after dinner and my group left an hour and a half later.packed all of our stuff for the night and went to the truck and drove for an hour. The drive was great because it was kind of like a night safari. There was a guy with a very powerful flash light that scanned around the car for animals. We did encounter some animals but nothing that we hadn't already seen. We stopped a little bit before the camp. All of our guides we talking so we figured something was up. Turns out during the day, a group of buffalo got really curious and destroyed six tents. So our guides decided that with not enough space for everyone and the chance that cattle or more buffalo arrive during the night was too risky so we loaded up as many people of the first group into the truck and went back. We arrived and 12:30am. The rest of the first group was suppose to arrive an hour or so after us but they didn't get back until 2:30am! Turns out that the truck got stuck in the mud so they had to wait for another truck to get the first truck out of the mud. They all arrived tired. Luckily, they got to sleep in more because the guides bumped up the time for their activities.

So my last day I got up early and we rode horses! This, I might add, is my first time actually riding a horse. I was kind of nervous that the horse wouldn't like the idea of me sitting on his back, but these horse were very calm and used to be ridden. To get on I used these steps they had. After everyone was on a horse, we left on our walk. My horse did not like be behind anyone but the guide and always went faster to pass all the other horses. I think that all the other horses were too slow for him. Well we through the different parts of the farm seeing more birds and beautiful landscapes. During this one part we walked through an area that filled with water and mud. On one side there was this tree that had a whole bunch of branches sticking out. One of the guys in my group wasn't able to properly steer his horse around the tree so his horse took him straight through the branches. He got a little scratched but was otherwise fine. A girl also wasn't able to do this but the branches ended pushing her right off the back of her horse and she landed on her butt in the mud. She was okay but her butt was now wet and covered in mud. We continued on and passed by this tree where a red macaw landed. It was on a lower branch and was a brilliant red. The macaws here are beautiful birds and there are so many of the here. I kind of understand why people steal and sell them. But remember these birds belong in the wild so if you see one of these birds for sale NEVER BUY IT! Save the beautiful wildlife of Brazil.

When we got back we ate lunch and then loaded everything on the bus. One quick group photo and then back to our original bus before heading to the city of Bonito. Another several hour bus ride later and we arrive at the hotel. This hotel we will be staying for the next five days. There we met the second Pantanal group. So many people go on this trip that they had to split us into two groups to go at different times so we wouldn't over flow the the activities. Everybody met even more exchange students from their country and there were happy reunions. I met another boy from the US and met up with Johanna again. She was one of the exchange students I met in Bahia. Everyone collected around the pool to talk and some people went swimming. The second group will be going to Pantanal and do the same things we did in two days. Our curfew is 11 o´clock because tomorrow we have to get up early to go to Estância Mimosa.

After a quick breakfast our group gets on the bus and heads to the farm Estância Mimosa. Here we got to go swimming in this river at different parts where there were waterfalls. Many parts of this river were very deep so we had to wear life jackets. I didn't mind because the water was extremely deep and therefore made swimming much easier and relaxing. The first part we went to had this really tall waterfall that had a part where you could swim behind the water. This was one of the deep parts and also hard a strong current from the waterfall. After about 30 minutes we moved onto the next part. Oh I forgot to mention that we also had these boots on so that way we could enter the water and afterwards hike to the next part of the river without changing shoes or being shoeless. The boots were kind of awkward to swim in because they expanded a bit when they were in water and therefore flopped around a bit when you kicked your feet. The next part of the river we went to had two parts you could go in. One part was more shallow and you could sit on these rocks under the small waterfall and the other side was much deeper and had this cave that was eroded from the waterfall where you could be behind the waterfall. There was also this little ledge where a bunch of people were sitting. The third part had a very tall waterfall and was also the deepest part of the river. It was 5 meters (16.40 Feet). There was also this ledge that was 6 meters (19.68 Feet) up where you could jump off into the water. I'm not going to lie. It was sooooooooooo scary and tall. Especially since everything is in meters here I forget how many feet that is so I was like 6 meters, psh that's not tall. So when I get up there and realize its almost 20 ft I was like crap this is really high up! I think almost everyone in my group jumped. I ended up jumping twice. The worst part was when you landed in the water and the force was so much that you get a huge wedgie. We went to one final part which was my favorite. It was a calm part and under the waterfall there was this ledge where everyone could sit on. It was really nice and relaxing especially after my 20ft jump experience.

Afterwards, we all changed into dry clothes and went to eat lunch at the farm. I was really hungry and a lot of food. I think we all did. It was really tiring swimming in the river all morning. We had an hour and half before we would go to our next activity. There were hammocks we could lay in and chairs and benches we could sit on. I bought a nature guide of the animals and plants of Pantanal and enjoyed reading that until it was time to leave.

Our next activity was the Snake Project. He is a local man that lives in Bonito. He went on an exchange in Australia and there he found his love for snakes. Now he is trying to help preserve the snakes by giving presentations about snakes everyday. It was really interesting to hear the importance of the snake. Like we don't realize how much importance to the food chain a snake has. If snakes were to disappear, the rat population would grow tremendously. In turn, rats need to be feed to so they would eat all our food leaving us hungry. As well, other predators who relied on snakes for food would stave and die off leading to more imbalance to the food chain. Basic biology but very important to know. Afterwards, everyone was allowed to hold a snake that the guy brought to show. It was calm snake that was used to humans so it would most likely not bite anyone. Lots of people were excited but I was freaking out. I don't like snakes. They are great in zoos and to learn about and to see but, for me, touching was not something I had planned. Ever since you are little, you are told don't ever pickup or touch snakes. It's for your safety and plus the feel of their body just doesn't pass well with me. I did it but it was not something I enjoyed at all. Lucrezia cried and freaked out as well as a couple other people so at least I wasn't alone.

We went back to the hotel and had free time until it was time for the BBQ/dance/pool party. This was also the night that we celebrated Jorge's birthday. It was great we had great food and then we sang happy birthday in like 15 different languages. Then we went dancing until like 11:30. During the last part of the party, a whole bunch of people got into the pool. Some people even got in with their clothes on. It was crazy. I didn't go in because I didn't have my bathing suit and also I need the shorts I was wearing for the next several days.

The next day we got up early once again, ate breakfast and loaded up on the bus. To start off our day we went a little hiking to this giant cave. I mean this thing was massive. It was dozens of meters deep. All and all it was simply amazing. Walking down to it was kind of difficult and scary because the stairs were oddly angled and some what slippery and to top it all off very steep. This cave didn't appear to be the usual cave. You usually see caves that stick out of the side of rocks or mountains but this cave was more like a giant hole in the ground. But that's not what makes this cave famous. What makes it something to remember is the beautiful clear blue lake when you reach the bottom. This lake was so incredibly beautiful. The trick of the lake is that it's not actually blue but completely translucent but because of the lighting all the colors except blue are lost when entering the water therefore making our eyes see a lovely blue color.The guide said that it is several meters deep and that deep inside is the skeleton of an ancient animal. Although this lake is extremely clean almost no life exists except a few special species of shrimp. This cave and the lake in started off as a large hunk of rock that when the rain drained down through the grass and trees, slowly eroded away the rock. After 5 million years later the water continues to drip through creating stalagmites and staglagtites. Water even dripped through the ceiling onto us while walking down to see the lake. The name of this amazing cave is called Gruta Lago Azul or Blue Lake Cave. This is definitely worth seeing!

In the afternoon, our activity was rafting. It was great except for the cloudy skies that had taken over our once sunny day. We went anyways of course because how many times will you get a chance to go rafting in Mato Grosso do Sul? So we all split up into our groups from Pantanal and headed for our boats. To start of, we only went on level 1 rapids because this river is a much calmer river but it was still scary to go over the waterfalls if you've never done this before. So to start out our adventure was the first waterfall. Everyone got into position and we rode over with several screams. Afterwards, we got ready to row the boat. 4 people row at a time plus there is a guide at the back to steer us in the right direction. On the calm parts you could go and splash the other teams with the oars and they also give you a bucket to. Everyone got soaked and we lost our bucket so the camera guy had to go retrieve it for our group and even threatened to sell it to the highest bidder on the other teams as joke. We ended up loosing it two more times. We just didn't have good luck as well as we were behind the other teams. So we paddled and paddled to catch up. We came to the second waterfall and everyone got into position. It was about the same as the first waterfall but everyone still screamed a little. Afterwards we all went back to sitting on the sides except when my friend sat down she slide off and fell out of the raft. It was funny and she was laughing too. The guide pulled her back in and she was fine but now more soaked than we were. Afterwards another long stretch until the next waterfall. We were far behind the other teams and trying to catch back up only the cloudy skies were getting darker and the wind was picking up. Then started the thunder and lightning. Then it was threatening to rain and 10 minutes later it did rain. No more like down poured. The rain was just beating down in huge heavy drops And it fell into our eyes making it hard to see. Also there was lots of lightning and thunder. We paddled on in the rain which made it much more difficult. Right before we reached the third waterfall the rain slowed down to a sprinkle. Lucky for us because the third waterfall was the steepest one yet. This one was much different and I know for sure I screamed this time. When we landed at the bottom they let us all jump out of the rafts and swim in the river. With my body and hair now accustomed to river water we all jumped right in. We didn't stay long because we still had a little more to go on the river before arriving. After arriving completely soaked we got on the bus and went back to the hotel to change and shower. It was still raining a little bit but out coordinator had already said he would take us out to ice cream. There was this place that sells ice cream made from fruit only grown in pantanal. I choose to flavors but I don't remember what they are called because the names were very regional and were not a name I had seen before. They were good and the taste was different than anything I had ever eaten before. Afterwards, we were allowed to explore the town a little bit and buy souvenirs. It was raining still but of course it was fun to run around in the rain. After a little shopping, we went to the hotel and had an hour of free time before curfew and bedtime.

Thursday we went to this adventure place that offers archery, a canopy walk, and tubing. Other people who wanted to could pay an extra $100 dollars to go scuba diving. I chose not to do this because I still have another trip to go on before the end of the year and the next day we were going to go snorkeling.

To start of the day, my group went and did archery. I've never practiced archery. I've only done it a couple of times at camp for a fun experience and always did really bad. This time though, it was a different story. Not only did I win in my group with 80 points from 10 arrows but even the instructors said I did a good job. Everyone got to go twice, each time with 5 arrows, but afterwards before we moved on to the next activity, me, our two instructors , the boy in second place all went up against each other. I lost this time but not by much. I scored a 39, the boy from France scored 42 and the instructors scored a 44 and 45. It was great and I have to say it was a lot of fun.

The second activity was the canopy walk. They had an adventure course up in the canopy of the trees. There were different types of ways to get across. Sometimes there were these sticks in the style of a ladder buy weren't connected to each other so they wiggled a lot, other times there was only a wire. One time there was a netting that you had to cross like you were a spider. Its was hard and required a lot of arm muscles. At the end of the course was a zip line. It was short but fun. The other part of the zip line was where you got to zip line into the river. The water was freezing so I didn't stay to swim like a few others decided to do. After everyone had gone, we went back to the main lodge and changed into dry clothes for lunch.

After lunch we returned to the same place and my group went and did bóia cross (tubing). It was so much fun. So you get on the tubes by laying on your stomach. We started by nicely floating down the river until we arrived at the first waterfall. Then you flip over and sit in the tube. The first waterfall, which we didn't know at the time, is where everyone falls out the tube. So we all went down and fell but the guides caught us and helped us back into the tubes. As we floated down the river the guides would spray us with water or push our tubes up and down. We splashed each other too because it was fun. Sometimes when we were going down the waterfall they would spin us so as you were going down it could possibly be backwards. We went down 4 waterfalls in total. Right before we got out of the tube and onto the deck to walk back, they flipped everyone of us out of the tube. So when we headed back we were soaked. So we changed and got dry and then waited for everyone else to finish their activities.

Later that night after dinner, we went back to the city and were allowed to roam the town for a little bit. It was fun to just hang out and talk with friends and be all touristy. We did get lots of weird looks from people because of the fact that we were all speaking a mix of English, Portuguese and other languages. Lots of people asked where we were from of course knowing that we were not from Brazil. People can always recognize my accent even when I talk Portuguese.

After returning back at the hotel, we had a little free time but I went to bed because I was so tired from all the activities that day.

Our last day in Bonito we went snorkeling. This was one of the best snorkeling experiences ever. I went snorkeling in Florida once in a clear river but it doesn't compare to the experience I had here. The river is called the Mimosa river. Yes, it is the same river that I had gone to earlier in the week but this is a different part of it. This river was simply magnificent! The water was so clear and beautiful. There were tons of fish that just swam right in front of your face. This 100% spring fed river was so beautiful. It was colder than the other rivers I'd been too but that's normal in spring fed rivers. It was an absolutely incredible experience. As we slowly drifted down the river in our wet suits and crocks, I felt so relaxed and calm just staring at the fish and plant life. For people that know me, I love studying oceans and rivers. I spent 4 years competing in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl. My senior year we finally won regional and got to go to nationals but I couldn't go because I would be in Brazil. So this experience reminded me of why I studied all that time and that's because rivers (and oceans) are beautiful.

Afterwards, we got to experience something really cool. There is this part where 4 rivers join together in one location. It's very deep so it's perfect to put a zip line. Thus zip line was a little different in which you go on it for 7 seconds and then you let go from about 5 meters up and drop into the water. I did it twice and it was so much fun. Afterwards we went back ans changed out of out wet suits and crocks into dry clothes to eat lunch. We ate lunch at the same place we went snorkeling. We had a little spare time before our next activity so I went to sleep in a chair with a few of my friends. I was tired from a week full of activities.

For our last activity we went to a day care full of little kids. Thus day care is full of children who come from poor families and the government pays for the children to go for free. This was a social/community service project. We were to bring one or two small toys or gifts to the kids and then play with them. Of course I love children and so this was the perfect activity. I brought a little makeup kit and the girl I played with loved it. We played on the play ground together and on the swings and talked. We ended up playing for an hour and a half with the children. A lot of people liked it and the kids had a great time. At the end, we took a group picture together. It was a great way to end a great week in Bonito and Pantanal.

After dinner we had free time to pack our suitcases and then went to bed early. The next day we were allowed to sleep in an hour because we weren't going to get on the road until 9 o'clock. We ate breakfast and loaded up our suitcases on the bus. Another long drive ahead until Araçatuba, São Paulo. We drove all day. Once again the day consisted of sleeping, watching movies, listening to music, and a little dancing. Lots of photos and hugs and the making of final memories. We arrived at the hotel around 9 o'clock at night and had two hours of free time. Some people had bought flags and had everyone sign them. A few people were leaving tomorrow so there was crying and hugging and goodbyes. It took a lot longer to get to bed than expected because everyone was saying good bye. Eventually our monitor got everyone upstairs to bed.

The next day was pretty much the same as the last. We got up some what late, had breakfast and then left on the bus to head back to São Paulo. The same activities. There really isn't much to do on a bus. A couple people were playing cards. When we arrived in São Paulo everyone started crying again and hugging. It was really sad. Because weren't likely to see each other again. We had all made good friends with each other. So people were then lead away to the airports and lucrezia and I went to the bus station for another long bus ride. We arrived at the bus station at 5:30pm. Our bus wasn't suppose to leave until 10:30pm. It was such a long boring wait. The bus station has even less stuff to do than the bus and it's crowded with lots of people. Finally, it became time to leave. I got comfortable in the seat and promptly fell asleep. I had an alarm set for 3:30am and woke up enough to get off the bus in Palmital at 4:00am. My host mom came to get me and it was so nice to sleep in my own bed again.

Overall it was a great experience. I had a great time. I learned a lot about Brazil and about other countries as well. I met many new people and I'm glad I got to go. It's deffinetly worth it to go.

Até Mais,

Cori