“What time are they picking us up?” Connie asked. “Ten. Weren’t you listening?” “Yes,” she replied, “but you were talking Spanish.” Actually it was “Span-ugese” but I was totally unaware that I wasn’t speaking in English! Thank you, Mrs. Morris.
We were at Pantanal Viagens & Tourism in Campo Grande, booking a stay at Passo do Lontra in the Pantanal do Sul. If getting there is half the fun, we should have a great time. It had taken us three days by boat, bus and plane to travel from Ihla do Mel to Campo Grande and would take the better part of another day by minivan and truck before we arrived at our lodge.
The Pantanal is sometimes referred to as “the Serengeti of South America.” It isn’t! What it is, though, is the largest inland wetlands in the world, 20 times as large as the Everglades. It is home to 190 species of mammals, between 10 and 35 million caimans and 650 species of birds. It has been a dream destination of ours for a decade but, truth be known, we would prefer to be farther north in Mato Grosso where many of the South American species at the Denver Museum were collected. The logistics of traveling in this, the rainy season, made that an iffy proposition even though this year, so far, has been extremely dry.
After three hundred kilometers in the worn-out minivan we parted company with a German couple and two fat, sunburned Belgian waffles, and climbed aboard an open truck for the last 8 km to Passo do Lontra with our guide, Fabiano. He speaks pretty good English and wears a fishing vest with a patch in the likeness of Che Guevara over one of the Brazilian flag. Until recently Passo do Lontra was primarily a fishing lodge on the Miranda River, but lately it has become known for its ecotourism. We are the only guests tonight and the empty dining room seemed huge. All meals are included in the package price and the food is hearty and plentiful. I am especially fond of the red beans and rice.
Fabiano learned a lot from Connie about birding
In spite of hearing that it has been a dry year we had two torrential thunderstorms, the kind you find only around the tropics, and we were caught out in both of them. We hurried back from dinner under Connie’s tiny umbrella and settled in our air-conditioned chalet. There are two settings, arctic “on” and steam bath “off’” so we ended up sleeping under a comforter, serenaded by the screeching of insects and croaking frogs that reminded us of our months in Uganda.
