A typical day on the truck

Pirhana Fishing

Dinner! And Im not kidding.

I was a little dismayed to pull a fish from the river that was kind of barking. When I expressed this to the Brazilian guy beside me he said... dont feel sorry for them. If you fell in the river and were bleeding they would eat you! He pulled its lips apart to show me the teeth, careful not to lose a finger in the process.

I ate that fish for dinner about 4 hours later!

Using bamboo rods, fishing line baited with horse meat and a little recently acquired skill, I managed to snag this guy. The other 3 I caught were, shall we say, not suitable.

Actually one of the staff laughed a me when out of the water came this tiny little fish - that no-one normally catches. They assured me that when I tugged quickly on the line, the little fish was just swimming past and got hooked! A case of wrong place at the wrong time, poor thing.

We got bored after a while and resorted to feeding our catches to a close-by caiman (small alligator).

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He waited patiently in the river all afternoon.

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His patience was rewarded.

This lucky caiman only had to be slightly baited with a fresh pirhana onto the river bank next to us before getting his free lunch.

Seeing Double

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You know you miss your dog when something like this shows up on your camera... and you dont remember taking it.

(For those of you who arent familiar with Marley... this is a good look alike. Im sure they would get along great too, if they spoke the same language.)

Paraty Boat Trip

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After leaving Rio our first stop was Paraty. A quaint Portuguese colonial town on the ocean, where jungle meets inlets and islands. Unfortunately this day the weather didnt cooperate... but it is the wet season afterall.

This boat was our transport around island after island for a day.

Aye Aye Captain

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Our little captain was very happy to have us on board and didnt even seem to mind posing for pics with Niko. At 6 foot 6, Niko probably makes Captain look smaller than he really is... which Im guessing is closer to 5 feet 2.

Niko is a constant source of jokes. Squeezing him into a little tent was endless laughter for us. He loves the attention and has a long history of being a clown!

Paraty

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My favorite little town in Brazil was Paraty. A cute Portuguese colonial town on the water. Vibrant, artsy and completely walk-able.

We spent two nights here... where we did the boat trip I have already mentioned.

Yes I did eat the cake from the local vendor... and yes it was DELICIOUS!

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Bush Camping

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Often times we have long drives to the next destination. A 400km drive can take all day with 22 people needing toilet stops, snacks, lunch and other supplies as we hit towns.

Between Paraty and the Pantanal we had 2.5 days of driving. This picture was the first night. We pulled off the highway and onto this mostly unused dirt road in a forest. Pitched tents on said road and began the nightly ritual of preparing dinner (background) and sitting around. Every inch of the truck has a space for something... whether it be kitchen supplies, tents, a safe or truck fixing gear.

The forest rangers did about 5 drivebys that night. Not entirely happy about us camping on the road (there was room to go around us) but apparently unable to get the message across effectively in english - so we stayed anyway!

The next morning we were packed up and back on the truck fairly early. Unable to find a suitable bush camping site the next night, we ended up on the lawn of a gas station. Stinky and noisy the entire night and we woke to some reasonable growly and barky dogs the next morning. Yes, I have been vaccinated for rabies!

Brazilian Countryside

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Another pee stop.

Local Agriculture

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Into the Pantanal

The Pantanal is a wetland area the size of France and is in 3 South American countries. This time of year usually sees most of it under water as the rains in the north rush down about 12 large rivers and pool here. However, it has been unusally dry this year and we were able to walk on land!

Our truck was left at a local police station and we packed day-bags to head in for 3 nights. Our accommodation - a farm/poussada. Luxury! It had air conditioned rooms, a pool and bar tab!

From here we rode horses, did jungle safaris, pirhana fished and boat safaris. It was also our first real chance to do laundry and get to know each other better. (Drinking games? Who me?)

The Pantanal was also the site of our first serious truck injury. Archie took a dive during a volleyball game and landed his knee on the sharp edge of a concrete border, slicing it to the bone and requiring a 2 hour ride to the ``local`` hospital for 15 stitches. Once the medication kicked in, he was smiling again! He has since managed to get a hold of crutches and can almost keep up!