Santa Clara Pousada, The Pantanal, Brazil

We got our first taste of the Pantanal...a vast flat wetland.

This was the vehicle that we took from the main road which was tarmac onto the Pantanal track which was a rough track built on a causeway to keep it out of the swamp. We left our truck at the police station and climbed aboard La Brutao, the name of this open backed truck.

It was hot and humid, but also full off mosquitos and we had been warned to put on DEET and wear long sleeves and trousers, plus hydrate and wear hats against the sun. This isn't a very good example of us taking note of the advice but we did once we got to the pousada.

A spare tyre in the back of the truck and some lemons. These weren't for eating but to throw at any jaguar that took an interest in us as drive along the road.

The road is built on a causeway and probably every kilometre or so is a bridge to allow water to circulate through the Pantanal.

A couple of shots of the wetlands.

There was a large bridge across a wide river. There was no flow, as the area is flat although during the rainy season there can be more movement.

The posada was a great place to relax.

 And there was plenty of resident fauna to keep us company such as parrots, parakeets and macaws.

 And other colourful birds.

Then we went piranha fishing with our guide, Tony in the centre of the photo taking a piranha of the hook that Rosy had caught.

 A piranha that Christine caught. Most of us caught at least one fish.

 Stu with a piranha.

 Shane fishing and in the background a caiman watching what was going on. They like to eat piranhas and they took the fish that were too small for us to take back to camp.

 Another watchful caiman.

 They came ashore to see whether there were any other fish for them. They had seen our catch and were trying to make off with our haul.

 Stu with our catch.