Floating down the River

We just received some photos from the tourism agency we hired during our trip to the springs up in Nobres, up north of the Pantanal.  It was a good thing that the guide who accompanied us (everyone who visits the region must have a guide) brought a camera - and underwater, at that - as ours broke several weeks back when we got caught outside in a heavy rainstorm.  Enjoy the pictures - I promise they don't do justice to our amazing experience snorkeling down the river....

Ready to hit the river.....there was no one else there that day and the area was very wild...with dense jungle and the sounds of monkeys and macaws in the trees overhead.

trying to get a nice family shot....apparently John was not in the mood to cooperate

The walk down to the river was beautiful....

Carina testing out the water...it was a little cold and as soon as we stepped in,
hundreds of little fish swam up all around us

You were supposed to keep your feet off the ground at all times so as to not disturb the limestone sediment.
Because the river was shallow and we knew this would be difficult for Carina, we brought her tube so she could just sit in it and float down.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not convince John to put on his mask and snorkle and stick his head
under the water.....sigh.  Truly though, the water was so crystal clear you could easily see everything from above the surface.

Testing our gear in a little pool before entering the river where the fast
current would carry us quickly downstream.  Once we started, the current was swift enough that it was very
hard to stop.  There were a few fallen trees in the water along the way, and it was possible to climb
up on them to take a break and regroup.

Totally clear water due to the enormous quantity of limestone in the ground, which acts as a natural filter so that
impurities are deposited at the bottom of the river, leaving the water totally transparent.  

We weren't sure what John was going to think, as the river was moving pretty fast
and he wasn't supposed to touch the bottom - in fact, in many places he couldn't as it was too deep or
the current was too swift.  He absolutely loved it - as soon as he got in he told us it was 'amazing'.  It was a long
ride down - about 45 minutes and no stopping - so he was very cold by the end.