In early September 2006 I traveled to the Pantanal region of Brazil with three birding companions.    The images below are from that trip.

The Pantanal is the largest wetland in the world, covering 50,000 square miles in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. From October to March, the rainy season, up to 80% of the land is covered by waters which flow into the Paraguay River.   Toward the end of the dry season much of that water disappears and the remaining small pools attract large numbers of birds including egrets, ibises, herons and three species of stork.    The area is known for the Jabiru, the largest stork, and the Jaguar. It is also home to the Hyacinth Macaw, the largest of that species and the American version of the ostrich, the Greater Rhea.   The rich biological diversity includes over 650 species of birds, many threatened mammals like the  ocelot and tapir, and over 30 million Spectacled Caimans.   Much of the land is open rangeland with large herds of Brahman cattle, often seen moving in the middle of the highway.