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In the words of the inimitable Willy Nelson:

‘On the road again

Goin’ places that I’ve never been

Seein’ things that I may never see again…’

This time around our merry band of travellers, Robert and Hugh whom you previously met in Patagonia and on the Carretera Austral in Chile, are off again on what should prove to be our most ambitious adventure to date. We will be driving from Buenos Aires to Cuibaba in the Brazilian Pantanal, over the course of 3 weeks and over a distance of roughly 5,000 kilometres. Along the way we will be exploring some of the wildest and most interesting areas that we have yet encountered as we work our way through Uruguay, Paraguay and the wetlands of Brazil. Hugh has arranged for local guides to meet us at our stops along the way so that we will always have local knowledge with us in the truck. There is an enormous amount of background and history to absorb so the guides’ expertise will be welcome. Our objectives are principally to see and learn more about Paraguay, a country whose past, even by the standards of the chaotic history of South America, beggars the imagination as well as to track and photograph jaguars and the wildlife of the Brazilian Pantanal.

For those of you who are not familiar with Paraguay, and I include myself in this list, the best introduction is to be found in ‘At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: A Riotous Journey Into the Heart of Paraguay’ by John Gimlette. I hope you make the time to read it, well worth the effort.

As interesting as Paraguay will be, I’m particularly keen to explore the Brazilian Pantanal, whose name derives from the Portuguese word for ‘swamp’. It is the world’s largest tropical wetland and covers between 150,000 and 190,000 square kilometres whose ecosystem is home to some 463 species of birds, 269 species of fish, more than 236 species of mammals, 141 species of reptiles and amphibians, and over 9,000 subspecies of invertebrates. However, for me at least, the most compelling animal is its apex predator, the jaguar, whom I’m hoping to photograph.

We will be off-grid for portions of our trip so access to the internet will be sporadic but whenever possible I will be posting updates on our adventures.

I fly to BA later this evening on the first leg of the journey with a couple of changes of clothes and 15kg of photo equipment, can’t wait.

More to come!