Pantanal Safari - Day 2 - River wildlife

We slept like babies in this Pousada. There was absolute silence and proper blinds. 

This morning, we have a river tour planned and it starts at 7h30. We get into our small boat and start going up river. That was a great experience!
We got to see mostly birds – but with the binoculars, we managed to really make a difference between the species.  The ones that stood out the most for me were the Toucans and the blue Heron. Again, at the end I will list all the animals we saw. It was incredibly diverse.

The river is wide and serene, with floating plants – at times the boat had some issues getting through. There were 2 other boats with groups equipped with huge cameras. Since we are not that well equipped and my zoom is very small. We used mostly the binoculars to observe and moved through the river much quicker. This was great because we managed to see giant otters! If you arrive to late during the day, when it’s too hot, they are already gone.  We got to spend a lot of time watching them. Apparently, it’s quite rare to see them, we got lucky.

We also saw our first Capibara chilling on the side of the river and got really close. They absolutely don’t care about you.

Yesterday, I saw the staff fishing. Today I understood why. Our boat man kept a handful of tiny fishes. Sometimes, when we saw an eagle, a heron or a kingfisher. He would throw one in the water, and most times the bird would come and fish it. This way they came closer and we could see them well. He also did that with a caiman – making him jump a little out of the water!

This morning boat ride lasted a good 3 hours before we made it back to the accommodation. Jean offered us to try fishing for Piranhas. Of course, we accepted. 20min later, he arrives with fishing rods and a little bit of meat and we go to the docks.  There was another couple trying their luck by our side. As soon as we send flying our bait, 2 caimans positioned themselves not far. Jean tells us to fish a little further away, to make sure they don’t eat what we catch!

Piranhas are very difficult to catch. Closer to the surface are the small ones who nimble on your bait but can’t eat the hook. In seconds, your bait is gone – seconds! At the bottom are the bigger ones, the ones we are aiming for. Our lines have a little weight on them to sink faster, but most times, it’s really not sinking fast enough.

It’s when we are on our last piece of meat, that Alexis finally caught one ! Jean has gloves and we look at his teeth before feeding the waiting Caiman with it. That was a fun activity !
Since we started our day early, we have an hour to rest before lunch. We will depart for another Pousada after that. 

Alexis notices that it’s really hot today – and after checking the weather forecast, indeed it’s 37 to 39 degrees Celsius, when yesterday was a good 28 degree. The Sun is burning hot when we climb into the car. It’s incredibly how this heat changed completely the amount of wildlife that you see. We were on the road at about these times yesterday and it was full of life. Today we see a few hawks and Storks but not much more. 

Unsurprisingly, we arrive at Piuval Pousada quite fast and have a little time to rest before we start our afternoon drive into the private reserve.

I was just chilling on the edge of the property overlooking the reserve. ( there were hammocks – of course I would be there !). And I saw already so much !
Herds of Capybara came to the pond right by the building, and then decided to go into the lawn to graze. Said lawn 1m away from my hammock. I made my way very slowly ( even if , really, they are super chill ) and got some awesome close up shots of them. I was alone in my little corner of the estate and enjoyed myself. 

Big birds were also around, and started singing loudly – I got some good photos. What’s funny about these ones it’s their claws that look like a velociraptor!

A Jabiru was by the pond, as well as Caimans. We saw Blue Aras flying above us.

It’s 4 pm and Jean comes to pick us up for a drive through the reserve. That’s where having your private guide is awesome. Almost all the other used the Pousada open bus-jeep, like a safari car, which mostly follows existing tracks. With Jean, if we saw something interesting, he would go off-tracks or just simply drive anywhere he found something interesting to show us! 

We got to see really close, a pair of owls guarding their nest.  Incredible.

The group did a 1.5 hour drive, we were out there until nightfall. We were looking for the giant ant-eater, without luck. But we got something great instead, a tapir ! They are quite rare and we got to see upclose before he ran away. Fortunately, we had watched him for a long while via our binoculars before attempting an approach!

After a quick diner, we are back in the pick-up truck for a short night ride. We got to see foxes, capybara and deer this time. We had seen some very fresh Jaguar’s tracks during the afternoon. We were keeping our eyes out and crossing our fingers for one ! ( without success ).

I really enjoy the smell of the evenings here. It’s that scent of dry straw paired with the light moisture of the night settling in. It has the aroma of hot summer days – instant holiday mood.
Today was an exceptional experience. The Pantanal certainly didn’t disappoint so far and we have 2 more days to discover even more wildlife!