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Pantanal on own boat (1 Viewer)

I would just like to note that the inflatable canoe that we have is probably more resilient to mechanical damage that many hard-sided boats, especially plastic ones. It's by a Czech company Gumotex, but it's well known among european water-sports enthusiasts and it's designed for white water (there are other similar models that can handle basically any difficulty that is doable in any kind of open boat, ours is less capable only because it does not have a system to get rid of water splash, which is irrelevant here). If anyone is looking for a travel boat that can take some abuse, it's really worth checking out Gumotex products - it's quite heavy (I think it has almost 20 kg) but it is worth it. We used to go on a "camping boat" which was much lighter but also much more fragile and I was always afraid it breaks; in Danube delta, we actually had a small "lifeboat" on a leash in case the main one breaks, but after what we did with this canoe, I think breaking is very low on the list of things I am afraid of, it is still behind being eaten by a jaguar :)
 
Regarding getting lost or not: I think it is worth pointing out that maps almost always are less reliable regarding water than roads. If you plan on going in and out exactly the same way then no problem using the GPS - but otherwise I would be cautious.

Niels
 
njlarsen said:
Regarding getting lost or not: I think it is worth pointing out that maps almost always are less reliable regarding water than roads. If you plan on going in and out exactly the same way then no problem using the GPS - but otherwise I would be cautious.

Niels
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I mean this is the general strategy anywhere in an unknown terrain, no? Plan a route possibly from A to B, if something goes wrong, make sure you can always backtrack to A using the way you came in (this also means having enough supplies).
 
As covidism abates, I have resurrected this idea and did some research. A few people actually paddled through Pantanal alone, one group reportedly did 900 kms (not a typo) on their own power. Another report describes insane people who camped on sandbanks listening to jaguar roars whilst telling themselves about statistical unlikelihood of death ... and then were escorted by some rangers from one place because the only reason people don't die there is that nobody ever camps there.

The rivers apparently flow a lot, so it's a normal downriver business, which brings difficult logistics as there are weeks-long stretches with no abort potential. I find some shorter jaunts more palatable and the rivers mentioned by Rockfowl look lovely, but I am not sure avout the return-to-car logistics. Anyway, we are pretty much set on trying something, but we also got our friend (who paddled with us in Costa Rica) hooked on this and she can go only next year because of her work and studies. We'll go in July, which has the most chance of us not getting steam boiled to death. Yes, wet seasons like oks more appealing visually, but the temperature+humidity is incompatible with us doing any physical activity.
 
One danger I notice in the Worldlandtrust report is "floating vegetation" which can close a river completely. Getting a canoe over a few miles of floating plants is far from straightforward.
Happened to us on the Mississipi.
 
Interesting idea, sounds like grand adventure! Some thoughts based upon cumulative years of birding in S America and plenty of time, generally, in Brazil:

I would assume that animal danger can be managed/mitigated. People have figured out how to camp in Africa, and Buffalo and Hippos are presumably bigger dangers than anything in the Pantanal.

I would assume that largely you can get permission or won’t need it. Speaking some Portuguese to talk to land owners would be very useful.

If going any real distance, I would be concerned about getting drinking water and avoiding getting stuck (floating vegetation, blacked channels, shallow water, changing water levels, etc).

If you go for it I’ll be really keen to hear how you get on!
 
Oh yeah the drinking water problem is something to consider and one of the things that discourages me from doing some long stretches. Yes, the people in reports filter river water, but I have no experience with that and am not entirely sure I should be getting it in Pantanal :) Floating vegetation is a good point, we had problems with that in Poland, but always short stretches.
 
Check out grayl water bottles, got a filter in them, would be perfect for something like this - I got one for exploring further back in Taman Negara but covid scuppered those plans - if you believe what they say as long as there's a fresh water supply, doesn't matter what's in it, you can have safe drinking water in a few seconds
 
Dave Boyle said:
Check out Grayl water bottles, got a filter in them, would be perfect for something like this - I got one for exploring further back in Taman Negara but covid scuppered those plans - if you believe what they say as long as there's a fresh water supply, doesn't matter what's in it, you can have safe drinking water in a few seconds
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The Grayl looks like an excellent system and a lot less fiddly than most of their predecessors.
 
rockfowl said:
Jan,

I've been to the Pantanal many times, as a tour leader in that particular region. Personally I don't think it's the greatest idea, especially on the Rio Cuiaba out of Porto Jofre. We use boats and cover vast distances in search of the main target species, and those boats often have twin outboards. To cover those distances by paddle would take too long and you would run out of daylight, not so pleasant in an inflatable on a big river with quite a lot of traffic. There is also a fair amount of debris in the river, hidden logs etc, so rigid over inflatable a huge advantage.
Yes Jaguars can be dangerous and there have been a couple of incidents with fisherman getting to close, particularly at night. The Caiman are actually rather placid, and I've never personally encountered a problem with them in that region.
Smaller rivers slightly further north in the Pantanal should be okay, providing the land owners are complicit, and I have canoed on the Rio Claro and Piquiri for example but I would think you slightly mad, in an inflatable canoe entering from Jofre.
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I came across this discussion by accident, interesting. After reading about your experiences in the Pantanal region, even your reasonable steps to travel safely there could have easily turned life threatening by either poor planning or bad luck. That being said, why anyone would want to travel in those regions by water in any type of Canoe seems insane especially considering the dangerous wildlife, not to mention such remote areas where one would expect to cross paths with bad humans. A professional guide, along with safe vehicles of travel either on water or land seems to me the logical and safest way to enjoy such a trip.
 
The reasoning laid out to not take risks in life by those who would have others be safe for them by proxy tends to suggest that a long and lukewarm life is worth more than one lived to the fullest. It also leaves out the fact that 100 years after you're gone, it's unlikely to have made any difference if one lived to 27 or 87.

People who value long life at the loss of their own living think that Chris McCandless was stupid, but he lived his own life as he chose, died with regrets, but is now just history.

Take the risks you choose for yourself, and if you like the idea of living a long time as well, try to mitigate/navigate the dangers as much into your favor as possible.
 
Let’s not confuse a persons desire to live life to its fullest and taking on some risks to achieve their goals with one who out of stupidity/ignorance makes bad decisions which could effect their longevity. From the movie Forrest Gump(Tom Hanks) …. Stupid Is As Stupid Does
 
opisska said:
Is there an actual record of elevated risk of violent crime in Pantanal, or is this just a conjecture?
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Just a little common sense. It’s always better to travel in pairs or more when considering any type of crime which could make one a victim on or out of the water(land), especially in remote areas of the world.
 
gcole said:
Let’s not confuse a persons desire to live life to its fullest and taking on some risks to achieve their goals with one who out of stupidity/ignorance makes bad decisions which could effect their longevity. From the movie Forrest Gump(Tom Hanks) …. Stupid Is As Stupid Does
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Since we're apparently responding to each others posts let's go ahead why don't you explain why it's up to you to make those determinations and also to deliberately misinterpret my post which you only partially read or understood?

Nothing daring in the world was ever accomplished by people with your view, who you see as stupid. Nice open-mindedness you have there. You haven't been insulted and there's no need for you to go that route here. You didn't seem to understand that movie either or you wouldn't be mis-applying quotes from fictional characters who took "stupid" risks themselves.
 
opisska said:
Now I am pretty sure this is one of the craziest questions you have ever seen on this forum, but basically

Can I visit Pantanal with my own inflatable canoe?

Although I have never actually been to Pantanal, this question has been bugging me for quite a while, especially because from what I read about the place I am not very keen on visiting it otherwise - being mostly accessible only by water means that normally, I would have to be boated around by someone hired for such purpose, which I simply don't like.

Thusly, the idea came to me that I could take my inflatable canoe, with which I can perform both short sorties and multi-day trips (if there is by any chance any dry land to camp?) and which just about fits as a checked luggage on a plane; then probably rent a car to get more freedom in choosing a launch location and just splash it through.

There are three parts of the problem as I see it:

  • is it forbidden/will someone stop me from trying?
  • is it dangerous (mainly regarding Caimans)?
  • is it feasible to get somewhere by own force? (on still water, we can to 30 kms a day absolutely max)

As expected, any attempts to Google anything of this sort yield absolute zilch. We desperately need a search engine with an option to nuke all commercial stuff from results, because once an area gets popular, Google starts returning nothing but tour operators (and by now, most BF regulars surely know how I feel about those).

PS: I apologize for the off-topic, but while writing this post, I just could not help but constantly think about this sketch - you may want to watch it to get into the proper mood before answering (or not, obviously).
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I would definitely not do it in any canoe especially an inflatable. My memory back to 2010 reading about Hendrik Coetzee … grabbed from his Kayak on the Congo River by a Crocodile, one minute there than gone.
 
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Trinovid said:
Since we're apparently responding to each others posts let's go ahead why don't you explain why it's up to you to make those determinations and also to deliberately misinterpret my post which you only partially read or understood?

Nothing daring in the world was ever accomplished by people with your view, who you see as stupid. Nice open-mindedness you have there. You haven't been insulted and there's no need for you to go that route here. You didn't seem to understand that movie either or you wouldn't be mis-applying quotes from fictional characters who took "stupid" risks themselves.
Click to expand...
 

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