Pantanal and Caracas - Day 5 21/7 - Chappada

Sunday 21/7/2019. Chappada and Hotel Mohave

We had a 4.45 start, finished packing loading up the van then breakfast at 5.00am, the usual lovely choice of cheese breads, bacon rolls, fruit, yoghurt etc. Before our 2 1/2 hour drive to Campo Grande airport. The checkin went reasonably smoothly apart from David’s case not being labelled with cases being manually transported to the trolley for the plane. We had a cup of coffee and tea, checked the internet and then we were ready to board the flight to Cuiaba. Because of a small hiccough in the checkin procedure we were in seats 10 A,B and D while David ended up in a seat 24D. We were offered a selection of drinks and a snack, I had cheesy puffs. The landing went smoothly and we collected our luggage, found our driver and drove across the road to the Grilleria. The buffet selection was amazing, with salads, pasta, chips etc. You collected your sides, salad etc.from a central island and went back to your table where you were given a card which said ‘meat’ on one side and ‘no meat’ on the other.  The waiters then circulated with an array of spitted meats, mainly beef, but also lamb and chicken, ribs and sausages. The meat was sliced at the table and you grabbed your piece with a pair of tongs. It was very easy to overeat. When you had enough, you turned your card over and they didn’t offer any more.

Our next stop was a valley in the chappada which we walked slowly along, picking up birds as we went.The track went through farmland and a field of gourds suspended from a lattice of wires. There was also an odd looking bee-hive hanging from a tree. We had a toucan in a distant tree which turned out to be a Channel-billed Toucan, the only one we saw.

Further along the track there was a tree with lots of lovely leaf colour and roosting on a branch was a Pygmy Owl which peered down at us but stayed put.

We then drove along to a view point with spectacular views and a kettle of swifts but no King Vultures. It had a marker to show that it was also the Center point of S America. 

A brief stop for ice cream and we drove on to a waterfall site where we hoping to see Red/green macaws, which come in around 5 o’clock. Unfortunately, it was closed and absolutely no chance of going to the viewing point, so no macaws. We scannedaaround incase any came by and we did find a pair of white-eared puffbirds in a tree full of lovely yellow flowers, giving great views. 

We then drove back to the hotel for dinner, and bed. A bit of a disappointing day but better to come.

Pantanal and Caracas - Day 4 - 20/7 Pousada Aguape

We set a 5.30 alarm for 6.00 breakfast. Then we set off at 7.15 on a boat ride. It was a small 6-seater boat with a driver. Down river we saw Anhinga, Cocoi Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Yacare Caiman, Grey-headed Hawk. 

Aquadauna River

We then beached on a sandy shore where we got out. Our guide called in a wedge-tailed Piculet, which wasn't easy to see and we also had helmeted manakin, motto grosso antbird, Ferruginous Pygmy owl, Grey-headed tanager, Orange-backed troupial and Rusty-margined Flycatcher among others. 

 Various stops along the river gave us things like WaterTyrant, Red-throated Piping Guan, Orange-backed Troupial, White-wedged Piculet, Rufous-backed Spinetail and we had a brief glimpse of a Neo-tropic Otter foraging along the bank. As we returned back to the Lodge we were surprised to see a Toco Toucan in amongt some roots by the water's edge.

Dotted about the river banks were several smart butterflies, some of which we managed to identify, including Black-fronted Prestonian, Cytherea's Sister and Florida Purple-wing.

Black-fronted Prestonian

Cytherea's Sister

Florida Purple-wing

We returned for lunch of beef or fish strips, with a wide selection of salad and then , after a brief rest,  we loaded onto a gypsy at 3pm and set off in a different direction, heading down a different track towards the river with another Anteater doing what anteaters do. While watching the anteater we noticed an obliging Roadside Hawk watching  us. 

We made our way round the fields, stopping and scanning as we went. We headed round towards one of the areas we did yesterday, scanning for birds. We had great views of a couple of Campo Flickers and Guiros Cuckoo taking advantage of the fence posts. We stopped to look at a huge nest in a tree and next second a Maribou Stork suddenly appeared and stood up. Then we went further on towards some wet areas where we stopped and got down for a scan. 

The area held lots of snowy egrets, roseate spoonbill, rufous tiger herons, a striated heron, plumbeous ibis, jacanas etc. There were several small birds including a pair of capped donacobius and black tyrant. We drove on to a small pool where we saw another Anteater, a couple of Capuchins came down to drink and an Atari agouti foraged at the edge of the wood. 

The light was getting dim but we managed to get some reasonable photos. We also stopped for undulated tinamou but although we heard several, none came close enough to see. We drove to an area of woodland spotlighting as we went and then stopped in a clearing, turning out the lights. We then tried for a variety of owls. We heard barred owl, southern screech owl and barred owl, but only saw a spectacle owl in the lights.

The drive back was nearly over and we were heading back up the drive when we suddenly drove across the paddock to a small animal grubbing around in the grass, it was a southern tamandua. An amazing way to finish out time in Pousada Aquape. 

We were a little late back for dinner which was fried chicken legs, an unknown veg and fried potatoes with tomatoes. We then packed up ready for our early morning transfer to China via campo grande.