The Brazilian Pantanal nature reserve

hello friends,
here are a few photos and a video from the a great 7 days trip i made to the Pantanal, a huge swampy nature reserve in Brazil.

i arrived to a small town named Bonito in Brazil. just by the name of it ( Bonito = Beautiful) i could guessed it would be a tourist trap. and so it was. the area around the town is sure beautiful but it is also expensive as hell and every place should be visited with a guide, which takes the fun out of it.

i met some people on the local youth hostel and they were all taking a guided, all-inclusive "safari" trip to the Pantanal nature reserve. in all my travels i try to avoid these guided tours, but at this point, i wanted some more human company. eventually i decided not to join a tour and go solo with Chicho, my trusted bike. i have been warned about the rough road in the reserve, which was all dirt , gravel and stones. me & Chicho were going on an adventure and a challenge. a 150 k"m of off road driving, which would be a small warm up to the forthcoming journey to the Paraguayan Chaco (details soon..) and Bolivia.

i rode for 3 days in this amazing nature reserve, surrounded by millions of birds and Cayman alligators which could be seen all along the rout. in the second night i asked one of the few farmers in the area to camp in his Fazenda (farm) and he agreed without hesitation. i stayed 2 days with his family and he took me for a private horse ride and animal watching. i stopped missing any other travelers companion and just enjoyed the deeply lazy pace of farm life.

in the middle of the 3rd day of riding i finally met another bike rider. Pieter, a Belgian guy, was just starting his solo ride into the Pantanal. we switched some information and made a small plan to ride together for a few days. and so we did. we met again after 2 days and rode together back on the long road to Bonito. it was a great experience to ride together and share the adventures.

Cayman aligators

till the next one

E