The MOST AMAZING experience ever!

Me holding a wild anaconda. Scared? Hell yes!
see all photos »

One hundred and fifty bucks that i´d spend all over again! My God, the jungle of the Pantanal is unbelievable!! Rach and i arrived in Campo Grande after a 23 hour bus ride extremely exhausted. Not enough to keep us from going to a real Samba concert with two local tour guides. We were the only tourists there. Couldn´t understand a lick of the lyrics, but had a blast anyways. After a few hours of sleep we were on our way to the Pantanal...and thus the journey began!

The Pantanal is the home of hundreds of different species. Just in our short four days we saw tucans (like the fruitloop bird), alligators, caymans (similar to alligators), anacondas, monkeys, woodpeckers, huge furry spiders, emus (like ostriches), pirahnas, worlds biggest rodents (as big as pigs!), herons/egrits, and soooo much more!! We even held a cayman and an anaconda. It was imperative to hold their jaws closed tight. I was terrified out of my mind!

Anacondas usually go for small children...

Chilling in our abode.
see all photos »

Its nuts because we slept in this lodge built on wooden beams right in the middle of the marsh. An alligator coming up the shore was not uncommon. Its funny how in any other atmosphere i´d scream my head off and run like a mad woman. Not here. Instead we´d bate and play with the alligator with fish on a string! Plus we swam, tubed, and walked through the alligator/cayman/anaconda/pirahna infested waters. When in Rome. As long as you don´t encourage them...they wont attack. I also don´t think its a good idea to have a bleeding wound while in the water. Anyways, anacondas usually go for small children ;) Oh but it wasnt safe to walk alone at night because a jaguar or puma would more than likely attack you. Nobody wants to be dinner right?

River trip!
see all photos »

The mosquitos were a nuisance. I´m convinced that they were attracted to our bug spray, not repelled! Some activities we did during our stay were a river boat trip, horseback riding, river tubing, day/night walks, jeep safari, and pirahna fishing. Now pirahna fishing is the easiest form of fishing. You just bate your hook with raw steak or chicken and within five seconds you get a bite. So here i was thinking...yes i´ll finally catch a fish for once in my life. Nope...all the little flesh eating jerks did was eat all my bate. I felt even more pathetic when the five year old next to me caught two! I guess i´m no fisherwoman. Rach didn´t fish because she was morally opposed. How on earth someone can feel sorry for those carnivorous creatures, i have no idea!

Holding a baby cayman on our night trek!
see all photos »

We met some great people and again were sad to leave. On the bright side, we continue to make friends from all around the world! My only two regrets are that i did not see a jaguar/puma nor did i see a good anaconda/alligator fight. Eh well next time! Before i end this blog, I must apologize to my ma. If she has read this then i know she is relieved that i was not hurt...but would probably like to kill me herself now. This is my only explanation: What is life without adventure? And what is adventure without risk? You win some, you lose some. In this case I won.

Swimming with the alligators, caymans, anacondas, pirahnas...etc! I must be nuts!
see all photos »

P.S. Check out the pics..they´re great! Tchau!