Swamps and Wildlife = No, I know, this word does not exist. At least not untill I had been in the Pantanal. The Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland area, a flat landscape, with gently sloping and meandering rivers. The region, Pantanal or Pântano (this name derives from the Portuguese word meaning “swamp” or “marsh”, covers about 150.000 square km. The Pantanal floods during the wet season, over 80% of the area, and nurturing the world's richest collection of waterplants. It is thought to be the world’s most dense flora and fauna ecosystem. In the dry season, which is now when we were there, you can see more wildlife in half a day than you can in a week in the Amazone. It is home to a known 3,500 species of plants, as well as over 650 birds, 400 species of fish, around 100 species of mammals, and 80 species of reptiles, including the caiman, a species closely related to the alligator, of which there are an estimated 10 million. Threatened species include the Jaguar, Caiman, Maned Wolf, Giant Otter, Giant Armadillo, Capybara and Brazilian Tapir next to a number of birds of which I can't recall the names. We have seen all of these animals exept for the Jaguar and the wolf. I did see monkey's (not like in the Apenheul) and ant-eaters and racoon's and.....well more than I have seen in my entire life I saw in those 4 days in the Wetlands. And none of them were tamed or domesticated. We saw them in their natural habitat and mostly as soon as they saw us they mostly fled to avoid us. Just some pictures of extra-ordinary wildlife. (Forgive me for the cow, but it lookes so nice)
