Pantanal and on to Bolivia (25-29 June)

We're really proud of ourselves having found flights out to the gateway of the Pantanal - Campo Grande for only about £15 more than the bus. 24 hours on a bus or 3 on a plane? Sorry carbon footprint. We have to leave Christophe's at 530am, to get back to Rio for the flight, which touches down en route in Sao Paulo.

Campo Grande is a bit of a nothing town, reminds us of India in a lot of ways - but run down, with not a lot going on. We do see a toucan sitting on top of a building though. No restaurants of note, but we find a snack bar to keep us going until breakfast.

We're off the next morning on our Pantanal tour - an area of Brazil reknowned for its density of nature, matching the Amazon for piranhas, alligators, the world's biggest rodent (aka a capybara), and lots of birds. Occasionally even a jaguar, so we're pretty expectant as we check into our lodge, in the middle of nowhere. Its a working farm, which accepts tourists as a side venture, and is pretty comfortable with a swimming pool, great food (and lots of it) and very very strong caipirinhas.

We really enjoy our time in the Pantanal, which is packed with activities - boat trip by day and by night - at night seeing all of the alligator eyes reflecting the light is very eerie - fortunately they dont chomp on humans. Hikes through the bush where we encounter howler monkeys, who, after our guide jonny gets them sufficiently aggitated by shouting at them, shit and piss at us from the tree tops. We also go horse-riding and piranha fishing - two new activities for me, and jolly enjoyable ones too, despite the fact that Luce is a much more proficient fisher, winning 5-1, and see al the requisite animals, apart from the jaguar. After a last afternoon sunning ourselves, we leave the lodge fully natured out, and head off to Corumba, on the border with Bolivia with our new German friend Esther in tow.

Not much to report in Corumba - we're too late to get over to Bolivia, and the town of Quijarro where the train to Santa Cruz awaits us, so we're forced to spend a night here, and after a couple of beers and a chat with a local guy, we're pleased that we have decided to fly from Santa Cruz to La Paz, as although a fraction of the price, the busses sound like they are prone to take even longer than the predicted 18 hours (its one on a plane!)

Its been a great few weeks in Brazil, and the sheer variety of landscapes and activities on offer make it one of our favourite places - even though there is a huge area to the north that we havent even ventured towards, including of course the mighty Amazon. We will be back here to head back to Rio to fly home once and for all, and will pass the Iguacu Falls en route, but the North will have to wait for another trip...