November 2nd 2009 - Anna Marie (Canada) and Benni (Germany)

Jerry asked the two of us to report on our first day in the Pantanal.
After a short breakfast and an even shorter night, we headed off to orientation. There, Debora told us the rules for the next few days, what we would be doing and introduced us to the staff. We also received Terra Brasil backpacks, badges, water bottles and sexy baseball hats. We had a delicious lunch, followed by a couple hours of free time where we got to enjoy the pool. It was wonderful to go swimming in the hot Brazilian climate. Then we finally got to take part in our first events in the Pantanal. We were split into four groups, one group went fishing, one went horse back riding and one went on a safari. Our group went on a three hour hike through jungles, plains, and desert-like areas. Where we were eaten alive by mosquitoes and we all got a little rosy from the sun. It was great to see such extremes in such a small area. We saw many blue macaws, parrots, toucans, monkeys, capybaras, and various other animals. After our hike, we all went straight to the pool where we spent the next three hours. It was refreshing and a lot of fun! As soon as the dinner bell rang, we all made our way quickly to the dinning room where we had a buffet. After dinner, about twenty of us set out for a short night time safari where we saw thousands of alligators and more capybaras. The guides used a high powered spotlight that light up all the alligators eyes. All we could see where their eyes glowing. Unfortunately, we didn't see any snakes. We finished off the evening with exchanging pins and cards with the other students. By the end of the night we all had a sleeve full of  German pins as there are 18 students from Germany...approximately one third of the group.
Overall, a great day in Pantanal, Brasil.