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Through my hotel reception desk and after a number of referrals, I booked Elionil Silva in early November 2009 for two days of tours. The first day, or rather half day, was a city tour, but as it was a Sunday on a holiday weekend, very few places were open, so we ended up spending most of our time at the UFMT Zoo, so that I could get an idea of some of the animals I might see the next day, when I would have a one day tour of the Pantanal. Photographs in the above slide show include Tapir (1), Giant Anteater (2), Coati (3, 7), Mantled Hawk (4), Rhea (5, 8, 10, 12), Otter (6), a couple of little girls who were also visiting the zoo (9, 11) and some cashew fruit (13).
On the second day, Monday, we started off fairly early on an overclouded November day, south-westward toward the Mato Grosso Pantanal National Park. The largest floodable wetland in the world, it offers a wide variety of flora and fauna. I learned that as it was the off-season, I would expect to see fewer birds and animals than I would in the high season of May to September, but I was here, I had my camera, I was prepared to see what I could and the good thing was that it was yet not the rainy season so I could expect to remain sufficiently dry.
We were on paved road for a couple of hours, made a stop in the town of Poconé just before the edge of the park to pick up some water as it had by now become another hot day, and then changed to unpaved road before entering the park gate. Immediately, off to the side, we spied a black tegu lizard (14) walking slowly and flicking out its long, bright red tongue to smell the air. There were also masses of birds some of which I managed to catch on (digital) film, including a Rufous Hornero (15), a Crested Caracara (16), and Monk Parakeets (17, 18, 19).
At about 11:30a.m., we arrived at the Pousada Rio Clarinho where we would have our lunch of vegetables, beans, rice and beef and pork. While waiting for our meal, there were hammocks to lie and relax in and natural bird sounds to listen to. After lunch, Elionil showed me a massive book containing pictures of hundreds of birds (some endemic) that could be found in the Pantanal.
We had another rest in the relaxing hammocks to digest our meal and then Elionil called me over to the river to watch a Marsh Deer (20. 21) that was walking along the bank. With domestic cows and horses lumbering near by, it was physically very close to them yet showed no fear. Meanwhile, Elionil had fetched a plastic bag of raw beef chunks, a large oar and two simple bamboo fishing rods, I changed into long pants and heavier boat shoes and we drove a short way along an unpaved road past a tree with a vine twisted round it (20) toward a clearing where there was a local family having a picnic lunch and fishing from the shore (25).
Elionil pushed one of the two boats that were lying there out into the water, suggested I hop in and then, standing at the bow, proceeded to pole the boat along the brown-coloured river. There was not a terrific amount of bird activity as it was a low season, but we did see Anhingas (23), Wattled Jacanas (24), Kingfishers (26, 27), Black-collared Hawks (29), Limpkins (30), Ibises, Herons and various other aquatic life that I was unable to identify. Elionil was good at imitating the bird calls and we were both very content in the silence as we moved upstream on our own. There were no other boats on the river and only another couple of men fishing from the shore. The only mammal we saw was a large, fluffy, light coloured (so female) Howler Monkey (31) that climbed toward the water along a tree branch but as soon as it spied us it doubled back quickly. There was also a rather amazing caiman (28) lying in the water, its eyes wide open but unblinking. We moved close to it, silently, in the boat. I took a shot with my camera, we floated even closer, I took another shot, and then, closer still, I dared to take a third shot but suddenly, still not having blinked, it made a quite surprising plash into the water and disappeared.
We had been on the river for more than an hour (32) when I suggested we head back. Elionil turned the boat around, set it to drift and then pulled out the rods and the meat and began to bait his hook so that he could demonstrate the knack of fishing for piranha (33, 34, 35). He had mentioned earlier that if I had brought my swimsuit we could swim among the piranha and I had laughed and asked, “Isn't that rather dangerous?” Well, apparently, piranhas don't actually eat humans, so it is quite safe to swim in the same water with them. After Elionil caught his first piranha fairly quickly, I managed to catch one and then Elionil caught another. It was not all that easy though because even though the idea is to dangle the line in the water and, when you feel the tug, flip the line back and bring the fish into the boat, more often the fish would grab the meat in small bites and knew when to quit when it felt you start to jerk the line. In any case the ones we caught were rather small and looked harmless. I read later that they are quite nice to eat and have aphrodisiacal properties, but we fed our catch to the birds as we were not staying for dinner and, anyway, I had no way to cook mine at my hotel in town!
Returning to the place where we had collected the boat (36) , there was a platform that had been built at the top of stairs that wound up the sides of a tree, so I climbed up and was provided with a fantastic overview of the area from above the arboreal canopy (37, 38, 39).
After freshening up at the pousada again and helping to put away the boating and fishing gear, I had time for a quick beer then we began the drive back to Cuiabá, first experiencing a sunset drive where we saw Capybara (40), Guan (41) and Red-footed Tortoises (42) and various wildlife crossing the road; one large winged insect (43) about 3 inches from tip to tail, was dragging a dead tarantula at such a quick pace that I had to chase after it to photograph it. The sun then set and our drive turned into a night drive where Elionil stopped the car, pulled out the searchlight and plugged it into his car engine battery. It was interesting to see eyes light up on the ground, in the bush, in the trees, but I did not have my extra flash so my photographic efforts in limited light were below par. However, I was lucky with a photo of a live tarantula (44), again about 3 inches across, that was walking across the road slowly at night time. Elionil with his 12 years of experience looking for wildlife in the dark, noticed it, stopped the car and held the car battery light closely over it while I managed to get my on-camera flash to go off as well.
We arrived back in Cuiabá at about 10:00p.m. so it had been a long but successful day; very relaxing and very much communing with nature. Just what I needed at the (almost) end of a long business trip. Elionil and I got on very well and I felt very safe. Moreover, he is a careful driver and excellent guide so I recommend him highly.
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