Pantanal Experience

Hey Y'all,
  I spent about three days in Pantanal.  According to wiki, "The Pantanal is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay."  It's a gorgeous place filled with jaguars, monkeys, capivaras, exotic birds, and caimans. Our inn was a gorgeous place dedicated to eco tourism.The cows, horses, and pigs roamed free around the property and were often standing by the windows next to the dining hall. 

Wonderful dining hall

We had many activities to accomplish while we were here so we began the first night with horseback riding.I rode a beautiful and very stubborn horse. In the beginning he refused to move so my instructor gave me a branch to tap him with and get him moving. Towards the end he refused to stop or even slow down. I've always loved horseback riding and had a great time riding and getting to know everyone.

Brat and me

The next day we had Piranha fishing and a safari. I've never liked fishing. You just stand there with a pole waiting for a fish to bite and as someone seriously lacking in patience and the ability to stand still, this has always driven me insane. I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that I didn't catch any fish but oh well I had fun looking at all the caiman that came over to check us out. The safari was a great chance to check out all the local wildlife. We got glimpses of monkeys and tortoises. It was interesting getting to trek through this jungle like era but as we weren't allowed to talk it was a little boring. The most interesting part was the evil cows at the end who surrounded us. One of them was a giant. I'm not kidding! This guy was twice as big as the other cows. 

Caiman lurking

Preparing to fish

Frankenstein cow next to regular cow

I found Curious George

Other activities we participated in were another safari walk and a campout. The campout was amazing! It's where I made friends with other countries including Germany, three Belgians, and Australia. I also hung out with the friends I'd already made like Canada, Zimbabwe, and Arkansas. It was an awesome opportunity to talk to people about our countries. It was interesting to hear what other countries thought about America. We also talked about the politics and crime rates in our own countries. The only thing bad about this campout was the lack of s'mores. S'mores are only in America and this is some of the saddest news I've ever heard. I'm making it my mission to introduce as many people to s'mores as possible. We left Pantanal after three unforgettable days. The only thing I regret is that we didn't get to stay longer. Tcahu!

Here we have (from left to right); Germany, Australia,
Netherlands, Zimbabwe. The two in the back are
Denmark and Arkansas.