O reino de mosquitos

Read / lees in : Nederlands

Well, after al those big cities and the natural beauties they have to offer it was time to admire some real wildlife of Brazil. And to get off the beaten track for a while in the worlds largest tropical wetlands, the Pantanal. From Cuiabá I was taken some 200 kilometers deep into the Pantanal by Jackie Chan. And after the hustle and bustle of São Paulo I was finally able to get some well deserved R&R. With a little hiking, fishing and horseback riding. Contrary to the Amazone it’s a lot harder here for the animals to hide behind the bushes, so we could enjoy the mosquitos, tapirs, mosquitos, caymans, mosquitos, monkeys, mosquitos and a shitload of birds. And of course there were mosquitos. Fortunately I came well prepared and had brought DEET with me in a concentration of 50% (the highest concentration legally available in the Netherlands). With that stuff you can keep ’em at an arms length. Good, because I am exposed to more than enough risks to catch some scary disease here in Brazil. On the watchtower we could enjoy the sunsets and sunrises, and I think it’s the first time in my life that I couldn’t see or hear any human activity as far as my eyes reached. Just the birds flying by and the sounds of all kinds of animals. That was really amazing. But all said and done I am glad to be back in the civilised world again with internet and without mosquitos. So the mosquito bites can heal just like my sore butt from all the horseback riding. After all, I’m still a city slicker.

UPDATE: the Pantanal photos can be found here.