Chapada Dos Guimaraes, Mato Grosso, Brasil

24.02.13 Happy Birthday Lulu, my gorgeous wife, missing you like crazy. We're now on the downward turn, so not too much longer on this crazy adventure. Love you, Tony x x

Mato Grosso was once Brazils wild,wild West where explorers, poachers, gold seekers, indigenous hunters and naturalists all collided in an effort to obtain their bit of this incredible country. Well it still seems pretty wild to me and I'm loving every minute of it. Mato Grosso means "thick forest", comprising rolling hills, plantations, savannas and some of the best fishing rivers in the world. Three of Brazils major ecosystems the Pantanal, Amazon and cerrado thrive within its borders.
Another adventurers wonderland, mountains, waterfalls, crazy rock formations, in this seldom visited national park. We plan two days of medium treks, exploring the forest with our guides, from Pantanal Jaguar Safaris, Andreas and Lynn.

Our campsite for the next couple of days is really someone's large back garden packed full of all manner of fruit trees. A purpose built shelter and cooking area at the rear of the garden is a welcome retreat from the sun, the rain and a place to relax,eat and chat. Tents up, Geoff and I have a walk around the village square, locate the laundry, deposit our clothes, which are so badly in need of washing, they walk in on their own. Having found a small bar to have a quiet beer we are joined by Steve and Karen, lovely couple, apart from the fact that they are Liverpool fans, no danger there then. A few more join us, more beer, even more beer, it's been a tough couple of days you understand, the talk turns to football, come on Utd, disgruntled fans the mood turns sour. Ok lets talk about rugby, ha ha it's even worse, the jocks, the Irish their not interested. Ah well after several toasts, and a final "Up the Stags" we head off back for our meal. Despite the heat, the rain, the little niggles etc Geoffs and my envious school boy humour is winning through and ensuring we're having an absolute ball.
Basically it was a great couple of days trekking through the forests having all manner of plant life, bird life and surrounding countryside pointed out to you. Thankfully our destinations were all to waterfalls or lagoons where a welcome swim awaited otherwise the blistering heat and humidity would have claimed some victims.

The pain at the moment are not so much the mossies but the sand flies which are lethal and cause big itchy weeping sores. The nearer we get to the Amazon the more people are covering up. I have started the Doxycycline (anti malarial) now bring on the long sleeved shirts, long trousers, wide brimmed hats with mossie nets we're going in........:)))

Tchau

Tony x

1. One of the many gorgeous sunrises at a bushcamp
2-3. A parrot at one of our hotels
4-6. Scenery from our first trek ending with the waterfall.
7. Geoff and I
8. Joined by Francois, readying himself for the wooden spoon.
9. Jeanne a monster from the deep
10. Looking up to the waterfall
11-12. Geoff creeping around the edge and deep in thought
13. My good self
14. One of many beautiful forest plants
15. Whilst having a snooze a butterfly lands on my knee
16. Nearly falling off a submerged log
17. Underwater eyes closed so the contacts don't go swimming, pretty scary really
18. Robin contemplating
19. Heather reading sat on a log over the crystal clear stream
20. Pete and Kirsten relaxing
21. Ithaca driving through the forest, there's not much that stops her.
22- 23. Beautiful scenery around this 180 ft waterfall.
24. Andreas our guide
25. Lisa, our own little Irish fan, cooling down anticipating a win against Scotland....sadly it wasn't to be.