Up Close and Personal with the Mythical Jaguar, the Cheeky Coati and the Laid-back Capybara.
During a week, my friends and I explored Iguaçu Falls and the Pantanal wetlands. They did not need much convincing to pay a visit to Brazil ‘s landmark, one of the 7 New Wonders of Nature and a designated UNESCO World Heritage site as well as to discover the wild side and exotic corners of Pantanal. Moreover, these magnificent places are home to an incredibly diverse wildlife. Iguaçu/Iguazu Waterfalls are naturally awesome; they are the largest waterfall system in the world. During our stay, the water level was abnormally high due to heavy rainfall upstream. There was so much water that the 275 individual waterfalls or cascades were all overflowing with milk-chocolate colored water. On the walkways to the U-shaped Devil’s Throat Chasm, our flimsy raincoats did not offer protection, we were soaked to the bone by the water spray. Information panels stated that the fall’s water had turned brown due to sedimentation resulting from deforestatio...