Pantanal

You leave Sao Paulo when the sun is hours away. Weekend bags, a case of Dados, and sleeping bags in the backseat, headlamps and packs in the front. You drive northwest along the highway until you’re tracing the margins of BR-262 west of Campo Grande in the Pantanal. This tropical ecosystem rivals Wisconsin in size and takes the throne for the largest freshwater wetland in the world. From December to February the rivers and streams flood the mangroves and submerge into an aquatic world. A dramatic season of inland tidal pools and turquoise lakes. The sun is close to setting over the Paraguay River, a macaw starts harmonizing with a maned wolf, you pull out the last of the Dados. Over 1,775 kinds of birds are here, 623 mammal species, and the largest concentration of Caiman crocodiles in the world. There are 266 miles between “El Campo” and Corumbá on the border with Bolivia. You’ve driven for 11 hours and what can you say- each mile is as unexpected (and better) than the last.