What is the Pantanal exactly? The name "Pantanal" comes from the Portuguese word pântano meaning wetland, bog, marsh or swamp. The Pantanal in Brazil is it's own ecosystem entirely, and makes for the largest wetlands in the world.
So here it is the end of the rainy season, and the Pantanal should be flooded, right? I prepare for muddy roads, puddle filled trails, fording knee-deep through muck, getting soaked, all that. Another year, perhaps. But not this year. The rainy season of 2008/2009 so far has been the driest on recent record in the Pantanal. The roads are dusty, not even a puddle; the air is scorching hot, no raincloud or raindrop in sight.

The water level is so low that our lodge, which is supposed to look out over flooded plain and wetlands, instead looks out over dry brush, not even a waterhole to be found. The climate is changing all over the world, and quite notably for the animals of the Pantanal.
The Pantanal adventure begins with the drive to the remote Cordilheira Lodge at the Caiman Ecological Reserve. The first sighting is a good one - a Capybara, the largest rodent on the planet. Awfully cute for a rodent. Especially when the whole family appears, adults and little ones, splashing in and out of the cooling waters of a river.

And just a few feet away, what's that? Caiman?!! Yep. Interestingly enough, caimans and capybaras co-exist peacefully. These caimans just aren't interested in expending any energy to chase down a big furry rodent. Instead, they can get a delicious seafood meal by just sitting in the cool water with their jaws open as the water flows over the rocks. They are not drinking. They are simply waiting for a fish to come tumbling into their mouths and snap, how easy is that? I've yet to see a caiman without a smile. They all wear a big ear to ear grin in fact. What's to complain about? Here they are living in the protected wilderness of the Caiman Ecological Reserve, in the heart of the Pantanal - best life to be had for these reptiles!

At last arriving at Cordilheira Lodge, I settle in to laze through the afternoon heat from my porch. The forest edge is nearby, and I spot a creature making it's way from the tree line across the cut grasses and straight toward the compound. I jump from my hammock and grab my camera, excited to capture another wild mammal of the Pantanal so quickly and easily! Turns out, the exotic creature in my eyes is an everyday nuisance to the Lodge staff - a pesky scavenger on par with a possum or a raccoon back home. Still, this Coati a wild animal, and living in the wilds of the Pantanal, and it certainly posed nicely....

The feathered wildlife sightings in the Pantanal are far more rewarding for both guides and visitors. In any season, the Pantanal is a bird lover's paradise. Here are just a few favorites:

Above: Toco Toucan, Greater Rhea, Jabiru Stork 

Below: Burrowing Owl, Yellow-headed Caracara, Great Black Hawk

Perhaps the Pantanal is best known as prime habitat for the Hyacinth Macaw. A visit to the Hyacinth Macaw Research Institute center doesn't guarantee a sighting. In fact, only the empty nest box stood as evidence of their existence. But when you least expect it, there it is. In the wild. And it is beautiful. THEY are beautiful. To watch these gorgeous Macaws in their native habitat is utterly amazing, and the true highlight of a visit to the Pantanal!

That's great and all, but isn't the Pantanal home to the elusive jaguar? Yes. I never saw it, but it more than likely saw me. They are quite rare to catch a glimpse of - the guide had only seen one four times in the past five years at the Pantanal. But there are other mammals to be discovered in the Pantanal, such as the Marsh Deer, the Howler Monkey, and the nocturnal Crab-Eating Fox.

The Caiman Ecological Reserve is, along with all it offers, a working cattle ranch, so there are plenty of bovine mammals to be found within it's boundaries.  The Pantanal's natural open grassland is favorable for cattle ranching with minimal impact to nature.

By the way, for those of you who wince at the thought of all the mosquitos in the Pantanal, let me just say that the joy of watching wildlife in the wild, zooming in on a Savannah Hawk in perfect light, or getting video of caimans gliding with capybaras in the rivers, well, moments like these make it all worthwhile. Yes, it's incredibly buggy, but the bites go away....the memories last a lifetime.

So the wildlife is to be expected, but even in the Caimian Ecological Reserve, there are children, and those children do attend school. I had the great pleasure of visiting the small classroom next door to the Hyacinth Macaw Center, where the children were learning....english! They were so proud of their english notebooks that I just had to share the picture here:

For more images of the Pantanal's people, lodges and abundant wildlife in the wild, visit my Brazil Gallery at Mira Terra Images.

All photos courtesy and copyright of Mira Terra Images.

Kymri Wilt

Nature and Wildlife Editor, Wandering Educators

Mira Terra Travel Stock Photography

Mira Terra Travel Blog

 
Kymri is the Nature & Wildlife Editor for Wandering Educators.