Saturday, March 16, 2013

I want to correct a spelling error in yesterday’s post.  Peccary is the correct name of the pig like animals we spotted not “beccary”.

After a good night’s sleep we awoke at 5 to be ready to head out at dawn.  We rose to a cloudy day but a welcome cup of coffee.  We headed out at 5:50 am. Diogo warned us to be quite and step where he stepped especially in the forest.  As we crossed a cleared field of high grass we came upon an armadillo hole.  Diogo told us these holes were the single most frequent cause of accidents for cowboys.  The holes are nearly impossible to spot in the grass and as horses step in them the cowboy is thrown at best and at worst the horse breaks its leg.  Crossing the field we were joined by Jaurez who was equipped with binoculars and a machete.  As we entered the forest the long awaited rains began.  At first it was a light drizzle that did not make it though the tropical rain forest canopy.  But it grew in force until it became a torrent and soaked us even in the forest.  The rain limited our game spotting.  We heard and finally saw a large male howler monkey but that is about it.  We came upon a number of the tree pairings where one tree wraps itself around another to facilitate its reaching the light at the top of the canopy.

By the time we returned to our quarters, we were all drenched.  We settled in for breakfast and some reading with the calming sounds of the rain. Finally, by 10 am the rain had broken enough for us to head out.  This time we went in the modified bed of a truck that has seats, a cover and plastic “windows” around the load bed.  We pulled up the plastic and headed out.  As we headed down the road all of us kept our eyes peeled for good sightings and photo opportunities.  We saw macaws, hawks, peccary, and capybaras as well as the famous jabiru.  The peccary is from the wild pig family and the peccary is the largest rodent in the world.  As noted before the jabiru (a stork really) is the symbol of  the pantanal.  Here are some photos, first a jabiru, a rhea, two capybaras and finally a macaw.

We returned to the lodgings for lunch and a little break.  Soon we will go back out for a couple of hours walk.  We will return for dinner and then go back out after dinner looking for jaguars and ocelots.  I will post this and make another posting for the balance of the day.