Getting to the Bolivian – Brazilian border is one thing. Crossing it is a completely different thing. Although I took a night bus and arrived quite early at 7 in the morning, there was already a tremendous line on the Bolivian site to get the official stamp of leaving the country. The problem was, that almost all buses from different companies arrived at the same time or earlier. After 3 hours of waiting in the line under a higher and higher rising sun (and without any kind of roof or shade) it was finally my turn and three seconds later I had a stamp in my passport and could continue – to the Brazilian side with the Brazilian immigration procedure. And also here, the queue was not advancing at all. The reason could be discovered two hours later, when it was finally my turn. A totally relaxed officer was alone in charge of doing the immigration procedure, and the Bolivian passports were controlled in a very rigorous way. Me in turn, I got my stamp kind of immediately.

The first nights I spend in the Hostel Road Riders at Corumba, close to the boarder. It was the perfect place to get prepared to Brazil, getting more and more into Portuguese and the Brazilian vibes, also thank to the great atmosphere, that the owner Diego created along the guests.  After some days of “acclimatisation”, my next destination was the Pantanal region, the world largest tropical wetland area. During the rainy season it is almost completely flooded, while in the dry season there are huge rivers, pools and swamps, with a huge diversity of different animal species to admire. I booked a three-day tour and together with our guide and a group from Belgium we discovered the region: boat trips, piranha-fishing, bird-watching, swimming in the river (Piranhas don’t like clear waters, so that was our place to swim), swamp-hikes (with water up to the belly) and night-walks and a trip on a horse.

After the Pantanal region, I continued my journey to a small city called Bonito, which is known in whole Brazil for its wonderful natural attractions. Due to them, the whole city Back to South America part 3: Brazil weiterlesen →