By the middle of September each year we are ready for a break as over 180 trips to sea in a 5 month period certainly tires you out. One of my dreams in life was to see a jaguar and go to South America, I don’t think I am alone in this wish.
Unfortunately both Monique and I had very bad flu and neither of us were at all well so when we arrived in Brazil and the temperatures were in the high 30’s ( 100’s F) and we were spending 8hrs a day on an open boat in the tributaries looking for jaguars it was tough. That said it was all worth it as seeing the dappled coat of this huge predator was electrifying. I never realized just how much bigger they are than a leopard or how different the rosettes are on their bodies. They are really beautiful creatures indeed, having said that, seeing the other creatures that the Pantanal, the world’s largest inland wetland, is famous for was probably an even bigger highlight. We joined families of giant river otters as they went hunting, caught (and obviously released) anacondas, watched anteaters go about their business and sat entranced as hyacinth macaws and other beautiful birds screeched overhead. I even woke up and upon putting on my shirt found a tarantula sitting in the middle of my chest, Indiana Jones for real.
I must say however the highlight for me came from a rather unexpected source, caimans. I would never have thought that lying in caiman poop, being hissed at and generally getting close to and spending a lot of time with a massive reptile would have been quite as fascinating but it was. We watched them gorge themselves on fish, many I recognized as plecostamus sucker fish seen in the tropical fish trade. The highlight however was spending time with them at first light as red and then orange sparkles danced across their mist encased ponds as the sun rose above them. They were engrossed in mating displays, breaching and the most spectacular was the deep growls that caused bubbles to dance on their backs like a chandelier dropping crystals, simply beautiful and I could not get enough of watching them. The best thing was that all these animals were wild, not in reserves but just living there and thanks to protection their numbers are increasing throughout the area. I can’t wait to get back there and lie in caiman poop again and watch them do their dance in a sky of diamonds.
