On Saturday we woke up in a new place for all of us, the Pantanal wetlands in the state of Mato Grosso.  This place is located in the beautiful countryside of central-western Brazil. The name of the resort we are staying at is the SESC Pantanal, which is a non-profit organization whose goal is to promote and protect the Pantanal region after years of exploitation. After waking up, we went exploring throughout the resort to discover what amenities it offers. The place offers its guests the chance to go horseback riding, see a variety of butterflies in a biodome, play soccer, and take a deeper journey into the natural beauty of the Pantanal by going on a wetlands boat tour.

Our favorite part of the resort was the boat tour, which one can take at 5AM, 9AM, and 8PM.  The sunrise, day, and sunset tours of the Pantanal region allow its guests to get an up close look with nature’s beauty. Most of the group chose to go on the 9AM tour.  It was similar to the night tour, without the flying fish.  The night tour brings out fish that jump into the boat at a moment’s notice.  These fish can range in size of a little baby tadpole to one that weighs several pounds.  If one does not watch out, they can be attacked by an adult fish. (This happened to one IBIP member on this trip.  Don’t worry though, he is a strong person and had a good laugh about the incident.)  One will see alligators sitting on the bank of the river, waiting to attack for their next meal.  

Those of us who went on the morning tour also saw monkeys and iguanas roaming the trees.  However, the best part of the morning was meeting Benedito.  Benedito is an indigenous person born in the Pantanal and employed by SESC.  He was hired to protect part of the land, part of which involves planting potatoes and fruit.  His house is located near the river and we were able to get off the boat to tour it.  We took a trail through the trees up to his house made of clay and palm tree leaves.  He had a fire going, ready to grill his daily catch of fish. He even entertained us with singing as he played on his homemade banjo.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the area or laying by the pool. One attraction visited by many of the students included the butterfly garden. A volleyball and soccer match broke out between a group of American and Brazilians staying at the resort.  Everyone enjoyed a little friendly competition.  Nighttime activities included some ping pong and dancing as a local band played. We all enjoyed the day of rest and are ready to travel to Lucas the next day to get back and do more company visits.

Be sure to like us on Facebook and we'll try to add more photos once the internet bandwidth improves!  Photos are also posted on our Flickr page.