Paddling the Pantanal

It was so great to talk to you guys yesterday! Familiar voices are always welcome. Now, most of you asked for pics of me with the tarantula to be posted. I'll try to do that in a few minutes.

Today we went by canoe to the two of the oxbows. In between the oxbows, we had to maneuver the canoes through flooded "jungle". It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It's so hard to imagine that in a couple of months, animals will be walking on the ground where the water is now. I'm not sure how deep it is, but my paddle could not reach the bottom, so it's at least 5 ft. deep.
Edson took us by motor boat up the Rio Negro (black river, in case you were wondering), and we unloaded two canoes; we got into the canoes and away we went, straight into the flooded forest. After we exited the forest area, we entered the first oxbow. The wind was blowing against us (it seems strong today), and paddling was quite a challenge. Although we saw signs of otters (more scat), we have not seen the actual animal yet. We did, however, get out of the canoes and were greeted by some angry peccaries grunting their warning at us. We looked around in that area for a bit, but no otters.
After turning around and paddling back to the other end of the oxbow, we exited the same way we had entered, through the aboreal forest. There are plants in this area that look similar to yucca or wide-leafed ferns, but they have ominous needles that protrude from the stem (the needles are about 1 to 1- 1/2 inches long--OUCH! We met Edson back at the motor boat, but then decided to canoe back to the farm. It took us an hour and a half and we were just in time for lunch!
After hand-washing some sweaty, stinky clothes and hanging them out to dry, I decided to come write on the blog. We begin our focal observation soon (around 2:30), which means we get back to the motor boat, get to the bridge, and sit to watch for otters--wish us luck and keep your fingers crossed!
I hope to get close-up pics of toucans and hyacinth Macaws, as well as otters. Time will tell!