The nature reserve here is most famous for its variety of birds, and the first day was enough to understand why. In a few hours I saw large jabiru storks , vultures, hawks, toucans, macaws , parakeets, egrets, and even rheas, a cousin of the ostrich, which ran away with the deer as the car approached. I felt like I was on an African safari, the only difference being the vast herds of cows and hundreds of horses. The atmosphere reminded me of an old Wild West movie. My guide explained that although the Pantanal is a nature reserve, all of it is cattle farming land.
Rich owners hire poor farmers to keep part of their land.
I was surprised to see a six year old boy riding a horse fully loaded with lassos and bags accompanying two cowboys. Paulo's father was a Duruvao Indian from Hauta Foresta, a region of the Amazon. His mother was from Corumba, the main town on the border of the Pantanal. He grew up as a cowboy, his school the wild fields of the Pantanal. He explained that in the Pantanal people know nature well, and can catch most animals by hand.